Dr. Betty Murray explains that topical progesterone creams don't penetrate skin well enough to protect the uterine lining. Oral micronized progesterone or vaginal formulations are more reliable. For sensitive patients, bioidentical progesterone in jojoba oil absorbs better.
If your symptoms are not hot flashes and night sweats, or if you're on estrogen, we often see an effect of that anyway. You can absolutely use vaginal protection to get that endometrial protection also, and you can use topical forms, creams or oils that you can rub on the skin. However, we don't have solid research showing that topical forms of progesterone have the protection for the uterine lining, which is extremely important. So I was speaking at the Women's Wealth Summit this weekend. It was great. It was International Women's Day. Super excited. And I got a chance to answer a few questions. And one of the questions I got as I stepped off the stage was, you know, do I have to take progesterone? I was like, girl, girl, you want to take progesterone in one way or another. But we want to make sure we're getting what it does, which is protect the uterine lining. And in those that don't have a negative side effect, the brain effects of progesterone. So the truth is, is the topical forms don't have really strong evidence. And here's why. The topical form of progesterone, progesterone's a big-ass molecule, right? And so we micronize it to give it orally so you can actually absorb it and break it down and utilize it. In topical forms, it doesn't make it through the skin very well. And so our preference is generally the oral form, or the vaginal form. Now, we also use, uh, with Minerva, we also use a bioidentical form in jojoba oil for people that are sensitive to all forms, and it absorbs better.
