When you have a hormonal imbalance, you have too much or too
little of a certain hormone. Even tiny changes can have serious effects
throughout your whole body.
Think of hormones like a cake recipe. Too much or too little of
any one ingredient affects the final product.
While some hormone levels fluctuate throughout your lifetime and
may just be the result of natural aging, other changes occur when your endocrine glands get the recipe wrong.
Signs or symptoms of a
Hormonal Imbalance
Your
hormones play an integral role in your overall health. As a result, there’s a
broad range of signs or symptoms that could signal a hormonal imbalance. Your
signs or symptoms will depend on which hormones or glands aren’t working
properly.
Common
hormonal conditions affecting both men and women could cause any of the
following signs or symptoms:
- weight gain
- a hump of fat between the shoulders
- unexplained, and sometimes sudden, weight loss
- fatigue
- muscle weakness
- muscle aches, tenderness, and stiffness
- pain, stiffness, or swelling in your
joints
- increased or decreased heart rate
- sweating
- increased sensitivity to cold or heat
- constipation or more frequent bowel movements
- frequent urination
- increased thirst
- increased hunger
- decreased sex drive
- depression
- nervousness, anxiety, or irritability
- blurred vision
- infertility
- thinning hair or fine, brittle hair
- dry skin
- puffy face
- rounded face
- purple or pink stretch marks
Keep
in mind that these symptoms are nonspecific, and having them doesn’t
necessarily mean that you have a hormonal imbalance.
Signs or symptoms in females
Your
normal hormonal cycle also changes naturally during these stages:
- puberty
- pregnancy
- breastfeeding
- menopause
Symptoms
of a hormonal imbalance specific to females include:
- heavy or irregular periods,
including missed periods, a stopped period, or a frequent
period
- hirsutism, or excessive hair on the face, chin, or
other parts of the body
- acne on the face, chest, or upper back
- hair loss
- darkening of the skin, especially along neck creases,
in the groin, and underneath the breasts
- skin tags
- vaginal dryness
- vaginal atrophy
- pain during sex
- night sweats
- headaches
Signs or symptoms in males
Testosterone plays
an important role in male development. If you aren’t producing enough
testosterone, it can cause a variety of symptoms.
Symptoms
of hormonal imbalance in adult males include:
- gynecomastia, or the development of breast tissue
- breast tenderness
- erectile dysfunction (ED)
- decrease in beard growth and body hair growth
- loss of muscle mass
- loss of bone mass, otherwise known as osteoporosis
- difficulty concentrating
- hot flashes
Signs or symptoms in children
Boys
and girls start producing sex hormones during puberty. Many children with
delayed puberty will go on to experience normal puberty, but some have a
condition called hypogonadism.
Boys
with hypogonadism may experience:
- lack of development of muscle mass
- a voice that doesn’t deepen
- body hair that grows sparsely
- impaired penis and testicular growth
- excessive growth of the arms and legs in relation to
the trunk of the body
- gynecomastia
For
girls with hypogonadism:
- menstruation doesn’t begin
- breast tissue doesn’t develop
- the growth rate doesn’t increase
Causes of a hormonal imbalance
There
are many possible causes of a hormonal imbalance. Causes differ depending on
which hormones or glands are affected. Common causes of hormonal imbalance
include:
- hormone therapy
- medications
- cancer treatments such as chemotherapy
- tumors, whether cancerous or benign
- pituitary tumors
- eating disorders
- stress
- injury or trauma
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