Why take a women’s hormone test?
A hormone level test can tell you a lot about your body’s well-being. The test results can point you to a hormone imbalance, which can affect your health. This is because hormones regulate many vital functions in the body by acting as “chemical messengers.” So out-of-balance hormones can disrupt your body’s normal, healthy functioning—and result in a variety of symptoms.
For example, if your thyroid-stimulating hormones are out of balance, you might experience hormone imbalance symptoms like fatigue, cold sensitivity, irregular periods, dry skin, thinning hair, and more.
Or if your steroid hormones are imbalanced, you could have symptoms like increased body fat, lowered sex drive, loss of strength, and so on. (Steroid hormones include hormones like testosterone and estradiol, the main form of estrogen in the body.)
Is the Everlywell Women’s Health Test a hormone blood test?
Our at-home Women’s Health Test uses two sample types to check hormone levels: blood and saliva. Collecting both sample types is simple:
- Blood test sample collection only requires a simple finger prick
- For collecting your saliva sample, you just spit into the tube that comes with the kit
How reliable is a salivary hormone testing kit?
Saliva testing can give you accurate information about your hormone levels. A large amount of research done in the past decades has shown that hormone levels in saliva correlate with hormone levels in blood (for many hormones). So saliva tests offer a convenient, noninvasive way to evaluate a wide range of hormones, and saliva testing techniques can be just as accurate as blood testing methods.
Example: Salivary Cortisol
Studies show that salivary cortisol reflects the body’s cortisol levels just as well as measurements of cortisol in blood.
Additionally, research shows that salivary cortisol is useful as a screening test for conditions like Cushing’s syndrome (a condition that results in excess cortisol in the body, sometimes due to a pituitary tumor).
Also, all sample collection and testing methods used for Everlywell kits are well-established and widely-used in scientific and medical circles. For this reason, our hormone balance test for women can give you reliable, accurate insight into your body’s hormone levels.
What can I do if my hormone levels are out of balance?
If a hormone panel test reveals that your hormones are out of balance, consider talking with your healthcare provider. A healthcare professional can take into consideration your medical history, a physical exam, and other factors to help you get the most value from your at-home lab test results.
Can hormone imbalances be treated?
In many cases, hormonal imbalances are treatable. For example, your healthcare provider may recommend hormone replacement therapy for certain thyroid hormone disorders, menopausal symptoms, and more.
Hormone therapy isn’t the only possible way to treat hormonal imbalances, however. For example, your healthcare provider may prescribe medication that blocks the effects of testosterone if your T levels are too high.