More than 30 million American women are menopausal.

An additional 20 million more are within a few years of this personal transition. And as the number of women seeking hormone replacement therapy has grown, so has the mass production of pills, patches, and creams by the drug industry.

Still, not all women are the same, and commercially manufactured products do not always account for the unique difference between individuals. There is another option though: hormone therapy designed specifically for your own body.

Hormone replacement therapy for women is most often used for menopause. Typical symptoms of menopause may include hot flashes, vaginal dryness, low libido, weight gain, irritability, moodiness, and sleep disturbances. Yet any woman who has experienced endometriosis, PMS, weight gain, low libido, or fibrocystic breasts may also need to contact their physician or pharmacist to inquire about hormone therapy as an option.

Women have traditionally used synthetic estrogen supplements to protect against osteoporosis and heart disease. These synthetic hormone are appealing to patients because of they treat menopausal symptoms and offer some protection. Yet they often have side effects and finding negative attributes to these synthetic hormones for those who use them.

A better solution for women needing hormone therapy may be the use of more natural hormone rather than synthetic ones. Compounding pharmacies are meeting the needs of these women through the use of plant-derived hormones that are biologically identical to those naturally occurring in the body.

No two women are alike, of course, and the value of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is that it can be adapted to fit your body and hormone levels. In fact, hormones can be made in a variety of strengths and dosage forms including capsules, topical creams or gels, suppositories and sublingual lozenges. With the help of your physician and a compounding pharmacist, a woman can start and maintain a bio-identical hormone replacement regimen that closely mimics what her body has been doing naturally for so long.