Bioidentical Hormone Therapy (BHRT) for Menopause Relief in Lee’s Summit, MO
Jill H., Google review
What Bioidentical Hormone Therapy Does for Hot Flashes, Night Sweats, and Sleep
You wake up soaked at 3 a.m., and lie awake until the alarm.
You feel a hot flash rising in the middle of a meeting, and hope no one notices.
You’ve mentioned it to a doctor and heard it’s just your age.
You don’t feel like yourself, and you can’t quite say why.
These are common signs of the hormone changes of perimenopause and menopause, and you’re not imagining them. More on hormonal imbalance symptoms.
Bioidentical hormone therapy gives back hormones with the same chemical structure as the ones your body is now making less of.
- Relief from hot flashes and night sweats, the symptoms hormone therapy treats best
- Better sleep when night sweats are what wake you, and with it more energy, a steadier mood, and clearer focus
- Less vaginal dryness and less pain with sex
- A lower chance of the bone thinning that comes with menopause
- No daily estrogen dose to remember, since a pellet lasts weeks to months and an injection several weeks (if you still have your uterus, you’ll also take a progestogen, which can be a daily pill)
Physician-Led Hormone Therapy That Starts With Listening
Your first conversation is with Dr. Chow herself. She takes the time to listen to your symptoms, your goals, and your health history, the whole story.
Then she explains what hormone therapy can and can’t do. She gives you honest recommendations: whether hormone therapy fits you, which form would suit your life, and, if it doesn’t fit, she’ll say so. The plan is one you build together.
You may have heard “bioidentical” used as if it meant natural. It’s really about the molecule, not where the hormone comes from.
Some bioidentical hormones are FDA-approved products from a regular pharmacy. Others are compounded, mixed by a pharmacy for one patient, and aren’t FDA-approved. With bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), Dr. Chow explains which kind she’s prescribing for you, and why.
Liz S., Google review
Hormone Pellets or Injections: How Each Works and What to Weigh
Hormone pellets | Injections | |
How it’s given | A small pellet placed just under the skin, in a minor procedure in our office | A shot into a muscle, on a schedule |
How long one dose releases | Weeks to months, as the pellet slowly dissolves | Several weeks for a single estradiol injection |
Changing or stopping | Can’t easily be taken out, so a dose change waits for the next pellet | Changed or stopped by not having the next one |
FDA status | No hormone pellet is FDA-approved for women, so pellets are compounded | FDA-approved estradiol injections exist |
What Happens at a First Hormone Therapy Consultation
It starts with a call or an online booking. Call first if you’d like to ask anything before you book.
Then you sit down with Dr. Chow. She asks about your symptoms, your goals, and your health history.
Next, she walks you through your options. For each one, you hear the benefits, the risks, and the limits.
And you choose a plan together: a pellet, an injection, or neither. The decision stays yours, and nobody pushes.
Linda R., Google review
Dr. Chow, the Physician Who Prescribes and Manages Your Hormone Therapy
Dr. Chow earned her medical degree at Shanghai Medical College, then came to Kansas City to train in anesthesiology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She has been licensed as a physician in Missouri since 2000.
In 2018 she opened this practice on NE Tudor Road in Lee’s Summit, where she is owner and medical director. She believes a physician’s training belongs behind every treatment, so she manages hormone therapy herself and supervises the team. She wants patients who stay for years, which only happens when people are heard and never pushed.
Courtney B, Google review
What Patients Say About Hormone Therapy With Dr. Chow
★★★★★
Anita C., Google review
★★★★★
Julie T., Google review
★★★★★
teresa g., Google review
★★★★★
Pamela H., Google review
Worried About Cancer or Clots? Hormone Therapy Risks and Who It Isn’t For
For most healthy women who start hormone therapy before 60, or within 10 years of menopause, the benefits usually outweigh the risks for bothersome hot flashes.
Your own balance depends on your age and health history, which Dr. Chow goes over with you before anything is prescribed.
Elizabeth S., Google review
Does hormone therapy raise my risk of breast cancer or blood clots, now that the warning has changed?
For some women, yes. Hormone therapy can bring a higher chance of blood clots, stroke, heart attack, breast cancer, or gallbladder disease. Your own chance depends on your age, the time since menopause, your health history, and the type, dose, and form of hormone.
If you haven’t had a hysterectomy, estrogen on its own raises the chance of cancer of the uterine lining. Adding a progestogen, such as progesterone, protects against it.
In November 2025, the FDA asked for changes to the warning on menopause hormone therapy labels. Heart disease, breast cancer, and dementia were removed. Heart disease and breast cancer are still listed as risks elsewhere on the label, and the warning about probable dementia comes off completely.
Before anything is prescribed, Dr. Chow goes over your symptoms, goals, and health history, and the benefits, risks, and limits of each option.
Who shouldn’t take hormone therapy?
In general, hormone therapy isn’t for you if you:
- Are or may be pregnant
- Have unexplained vaginal bleeding
- Have or have had breast or uterine cancer
- Have had a stroke, a heart attack, or blood clot
- Have liver disease
Tell Dr. Chow your full history at your consultation, and your plan starts there.
What Decides the Cost of Hormone Therapy, and Your First Step
Chanel L., Google review
Common Questions About Bioidentical Hormone Therapy
How long can I stay on bioidentical hormones, and can I stop?
How long you stay on bioidentical hormones is a decision you and Dr. Chow make together, and your plan is reviewed from time to time. You can stop. A hormone pellet wears off over months as it dissolves and can’t easily be taken out, so stopping means not placing the next one. With injections, you simply don’t have the next one. Talk with Dr. Chow before you stop or change anything.
Are bioidentical hormones safer than regular hormone therapy?
No. Bioidentical hormones have the same chemical structure as your own, and both FDA-approved and compounded versions exist. There’s no evidence that compounded bioidentical hormones work better or carry less risk than FDA-approved hormone therapy, and compounded hormones aren’t FDA-approved. Dr. Chow explains the limited evidence on compounded hormones before you choose.
How soon will I feel a difference with hormone pellets?
In studies of estrogen pellets, hot flashes improved within days of placement, and better sleep tends to follow as night sweats ease. Those are study findings, not a promise: your own pace can differ, and Dr. Chow reviews your plan with you from time to time.
Will hormone therapy make me gain weight, or help me lose it?
Hormone therapy isn’t associated with weight gain, and it isn’t a weight-loss treatment. In one controlled study of estrogen pellets, women didn’t gain weight or body fat compared with women who didn’t have them. If weight is your concern, Dr. Chow offers medical weight loss care separately.
Can I have hormone therapy after a hysterectomy?
Yes. Women who’ve had a hysterectomy usually take estrogen on its own, while women who haven’t take estrogen with a progestogen to protect the uterine lining. Hormone therapy relieves hot flashes and night sweats after a hysterectomy too. Dr. Chow goes over whether your ovaries were removed, and what you take now, before your plan is set.
Do you treat men with low testosterone?
Yes, Dr. Chow also treats men with low testosterone. It’s diagnosed from symptoms plus at least two early-morning blood tests. Testosterone products are FDA-approved for men whose low levels have a medical cause; their labels say safety and benefit for low levels from age alone haven’t been established. Testosterone can raise blood pressure and isn’t for men trying for a baby or with prostate or breast cancer, so checks before and during treatment are part of care.
Book a Hormone Therapy Consultation With Dr. Chow in Lee’s Summit
Your first step is a conversation, not a commitment. Dr. Chow listens, explains your options honestly, and helps you leave with a plan you chose.
Patients come to our Lee’s Summit office from across the Kansas City area, including Kansas City, Blue Springs, Independence, and Raytown.
Karen H., Google review
Questions about hormone therapy first? Give us a call.
Know you’re ready? Book your consultation with Dr. Chow.
Not ready to call or book? Send us your question.
Send us your hormone therapy question, and we’ll call or text you back the same day or the next.
Visit the Practice
- Monday Closed
- Tuesday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
- Wednesday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
- Thursday 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
- Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
- Saturday 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
- Sunday Closed
Areas We Serve
Patients come to our Lee’s Summit office from these communities:
- Blue Springs
- Independence
- Raytown
- Grandview
- Raymore
- Belton
- Greenwood
- Grain Valley
- Overland Park, KS
- Kansas City, MO