Why is it considered so bad to use HRT for reasons of "vanity"?

[santalisticle]

Taking off from another thread on here where it seemed one critique of HRT is that people take it for vanities sake and to delay aging and wrinkles. I am wondering would taking it for the sake of preserving the health and appearance of your skin, hair and nails be such a terrible thing?

To be clear I believe most women, myself included who use HRT do so after careful consideration and they take it to relieve the often times debilitating symptoms menopause brings. I just wonder why women are shamed for wanting and enjoying the positive effect supplemental estrogen has on your skin and overall appearance for many women? Yes there are risks with any mediation but there are also risks associated with not using HRT and its up to each of us to decide what is right for us in consultation with our doctors.

I notice a huge benefit to my skin especially when my HRT dose is at the right level for me in that dryness and lines vanish, my skin looks smooth, glowy and youthful again. Am I so wrong for enjoying that benefit or for that benefit being part of the equation as to why I do use it?

I see even women who are very pro HRT play this aspect down probably because they feel it somehow diminishes the validity of arguments for HRT in the eyes of those who seem to see HRT use as frivolous or cheating or as medicalising a natural process. We medicalise many "natural processes" which many illnesses are and save many lives into the bargain so is it really that wrong to take advantage of something that for many women massively improves their quality of life?

At my age, I do what I want and really can't begin to bring myself to give a shit about what other people think!

@bendypines Well of course! I wouldn't let anyone else's opinion dissuade me from doing what I felt was best for me but I'd still curious as to why this is seen as a kind moral failing from those who take HRT its come up time and again on the other current thread.

I started peri 20 years ago, and to be honest, in all that time since, I've never come across this kind of looking-down-the-nose attitude from anyone (not having read the thread you mention); nor have I really seen anything about taking HRT to improve your complexion.

Most people take it because life would be hellish otherwise. It is often hard enough to get GPs to prescribe it at all.

I don’t know of anyone at all who took it for their skin and I’ve never heard any criticism of this either. On the nhs I’d be surprised if many gps would advise taking it purely for better skin in terms of risk/benefit/cost analysis but there are invisible benefits too (bones, heart etc).

I'm not sure how you can judge this, though.

Women using HRT only know what they look like using it, not without.
They might look just as gorgeous without it as they do with- or the opposite!

Being serious, it is a controlled medication, so very few doctors would prescribe on the grounds keeping beautiful.

There is one every eminent gynaecologist / medical researcher (in an interview with Liz Earle) saying he would prescribe it for women who want to use HRT as a preventative treatment/ health benefits, (rather than to manage flushes etc. if they don't have those) obviously, adding that they must also be informed of the risks- but it would be their choice.

@bendypines Well there is plenty of that kind of attitude on the big thread on here right now and as estrogen is pretty important in maintaining your collagen levels it absolutely does have an effect on your skin and it is known about and discussed. As I say in my OP I and most women do take HRT for the debilitating symptoms of menopause but I was just curious about this particular aspect which does seem to be controversial. If you have no interest in that then fine.

It may be to do with that a lot of people take HRT just to be able to continue functioning in life so to be using resources purely for looking youthful seems a bit of a slight against them.
If brain fog or menopausal rage, not coping with stress or dealing with frequent hot flashes (especially during working hours) is meaning you are unable to do your job as you used to or fulfill other responsibilities (unpaid caring in my case) then to think that other people may be taking HRT purely to have less wrinkles and rosier cheeks may sting a little.
Not saying its right for people to be annoyed by this but I can understand.

@JinglingSpringbells Well for myself I do see a difference in my skin before starting HRT my skin was drying, more lined and had that mature texture. After starting and very quickly my skin became moist and plump again and lines faded away. When I started noticing my hot flashes and other symptoms coming back I also noticed my skin looking worse as well, this went on for several months and I was just thinking oh well we all get older, get wrinkles and so on but when I had my HRT increased my skin improved dramatically in just a few weeks. There are lots of women who say the same thing and it makes sense given the effect of collagen on the face.

As I say in my OP I say that most women take HRT for the the symptoms of menopause which can be debilitating and that skin benefits are a positive side effect for them. I also understand that the NHS is not there to issue cosmetic treatments but in my teens and 20's I had frequent NHS prescriptions for what was fairly mild acne and my concerns about it were mostly cosmetic as my acne didn't scar.

Is it because there is a small increased risk of cancer with taking HRT? In that light, taking HRT to offset health problems might be worth the additional risk, but risking cancer just to get lush cheeks?
I wouldn't judge other people's choices, but I can see why this might be viewed in the same light as the risks of cosmetic surgery, for instance.

I've never heard of any skin / nail benefits or anytime taking it for vanity reasons.

No other medication is as subject to comment and judgement and criticism as HRT. It’s eye opening. If you need it, take it FGS, and the world and her husband can bugger off with their negativity.

@EverySporkIsSacred So I do get that although I don't agree, surely if the risk profile is acceptable then women should be able to use HRT for any reason if it is beneficial to them if HRT helps women to age better and stronger then isn't that a good thing, why does it take away from anyone else? I really don't see why it would be a slight against women who use it for more debilitating effects of menopause as I myself do.

I can't see any women taking hrt 'just' for skin benefits.

The risk of BC is there, but it's still not clear how much, and women using hrt tend to be very aware of that.

They take the risk because they need to function (many women aged 50-60 are caring for teens, working, caring for elderly parents, or caring for grandchildren) or to prevent other illnesses they are at risk of getting.

It's frustrating that some other women don't understand this, yet presumably are happy to have vaccines, take antibiotics, pain killers and other treatment for diseases that are all 'just as natural' as loss of estrogen.

@santalisticle I'm not disagreeing with you completely, but it's all theoretical because most GPs wouldn't prescribe it for anyone without symptoms, or hoping to prevent other diseases, especially osteoporosis (where it is prescribed as a preventative drug.)

The licensing of it doesn't allow it for 'skin'.

@Eggless But there are increased risks associated with not taking HRT, for heart disease, osteoporosis, some cancers, possibly dementia and many other illnesses so you are really just swapping one set of risk factors for another, plus you get lush cheeks as you say into the bargain.

Again I agree I wouldn't judge another woman's choice and I think few women would take HRT for that reason alone, I think few women even think of it until they are already really suffering from the more serious symptoms of estrogen decline I am just curious as to why appearance benefits are marginalised or even frowned on by some.

I would hope that those who frown on appearance benefits also frown on cosmetic surgery.

I'm very happy for any benefits over and above the ones I am taking it for.

Yes, I'm not aware of anyone I know taking HRT just to get nice nails. Everyone I know who's perimenopausal like me is dealing with a shit tonne of unpleasant or debilitating symptoms. I'm not taking HRT for two reasons: 1 I don't think my symptoms are bad enough yet (although not great) and 2 I am obese, so I suspect my GP would tell me to bog off anyway.

I'm assuming no-one is judging the men with low testosterone who take HRT to increase it, btw. (That said, I wasn't aware of anyone being judged for taking HRT for menopause symptoms either).

This!!!

I think women should be able to take it if they feel it helps their menopause symptoms. I cannot say that I’ve noticed any change in my skin or the lines on my face and I’m not aware of that as a benefit tbh. Maybe I’m on too low a dose?

My GP said I could only have it for 2 years max. He said: 'I know you vain ladies like to keep taking it for your looks'.

My primary reason for using HRT is to relieve my symptoms. The secondary benefit is to slash my risk of osteoporosis, cardio vascular disease etc. It’s like the icing on the cake.

The cherry is how great I feel; it’s amazing to have the va va voom back. Part of that great feeling is the skin, nails, hair benefits so yes the vanity benefits. And it seems to have spiralled. Because I sleep well and am not struggling with flushes, mood swings and brain fog and feel good, this in turn has an effect on my behaviour and I have the energy and enthusiasm to exercise intensely for example. This then means that I feel even better, fitter, stronger, good posture,healthy BMI, can make sensible food choices.

So HRT enables me to have a lifestyle that is reflected to some degree in how I look.

I’m not too concerned about the teeny-tiny cancer risk as my risk profile is really low. I don’t drink and I’m not overweight or obese, both things that would give me a higher risk of cancer than HRT.

As to the “oh I’m going to do it naturally” brigade, I do think that’s mostly about education and they are perhaps not fully informed/don’t have access to information/don’t know where to start/are pressured by scare stories from friends and family/aren’t aware of the secondary benefits.

I do think though, tin hat time, there’s a cohort of women who do not want some/other women to have a real or perceived advantage; like using HRT is cheating or something. I work in a largely female workplace and I have seen this play out.

If HRT is having a positive effect on the things you can see, then surely it's having a positive effect on all things things you can't see? I'd like my internal ear and eye cells to be just as young, plump and luscious as my face, nail and hair cells.

What skin benefits?! I've taken it for 16 years and I look my age!

🙌 After 3 months of HRT I was surprised to find some of my white eyebrow hairs were growing in black. So I had some eyebrow hairs that were white at the tip and black at the roots. I asked my gynae and she said, oh yeah that’ll be the oestrogen.

Ironically, the only time I've ever come across the attitude that I take HRT for reasons of vanity, was from one GP.

I complained to the practice manager.