Men and women, one careful method

Bellava offers hormone replacement therapy to men and women alike. A man whose testosterone is low is treated with testosterone replacement therapy, or TRT. A woman in perimenopause, menopause or the years after it is treated with estrogen and progesterone. Whichever applies, nothing is prescribed until your levels have been measured, and every plan is overseen by the medical director, Donna D’Alessio, MD, who is board certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

Hormones, or simply a demanding life?

Falling hormones are easy to blame on something else. A man may put afternoon crashes, a shorter fuse, a fading sex drive and muscle that slips away despite training down to work and age for years. A woman may accept night sweats, broken sleep, brain fog, mood swings and weight settling at the middle as the cost of a busy stretch of life. Sometimes that really is all it is. The way to tell is a consultation and a blood test, weighed together, and if hormones turn out not to be the cause, you will hear that plainly.

What the numbers are for

The target is a range, not a peak: levels brought back to where your body works well and you feel like yourself. For a man, that means testosterone dosed into a healthy range and then rechecked, so the result feels natural instead of overshot. For a woman, it means estrogen and progesterone adjusted against the symptoms that brought her in. A lab value on its own never decides the dose; it is always weighed against how you actually feel.

Choosing a form

Injections: precise and adjustable, for close control of your levels
Creams or gels: applied to the skin each day, for people who prefer flexibility

Your provider goes through both at the consultation and matches the choice to your routine.

The months ahead

Energy, mood and sleep often start to shift within a few weeks; libido, body composition and mental clarity tend to follow over two to three months as levels settle. Early on, some people notice bloating, breast tenderness or mood swings (mostly women, while estrogen settles), acne or skin changes, mild fluid retention, or soreness where an injection went in. Follow-up labs and visits steer the dose from there. Some patients use hormone therapy through one stage of life, such as menopause, and then taper off, while others carry on; the plan is reviewed regularly and the choice stays yours.

Seen in person in Bedford Hills

You are seen face to face by a team you meet, not through a questionnaire and a remote prescriber. From Pound Ridge, Bellava is about 19 minutes without traffic, roughly nine miles from the Town House by way of Routes 137, 172 and 22 and then Harris Road. The office stays open until 7 pm on Mondays and Thursdays and sees patients on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm.

Pound Ridge patients ask

Who should not have HRT? A personal or family history of hormone-sensitive cancers, blood clots or certain heart and blood-vessel conditions may rule it out, which is exactly what your history and labs are there to check.

Will insurance pay for it? Plans vary widely. Some cover lab testing and certain prescription hormones and others do not, so confirm with your insurer; the team can tell you what to expect out of pocket.

How do I start? Book a consultation online with Book Now, or read the main hormone therapy page.

Hormone Therapy for Pound Ridge, NY