Menopause Hormone Therapy (HRT) in Sterling Heights, MI

Bioidentical hormones in Sterling Heights: what it means

"Bioidentical" describes a hormone whose chemical structure matches one the body makes. Estradiol, the main estrogen the ovaries make before menopause, and micronized progesterone both fit that description. Neither has to be compounded: FDA-approved estradiol comes as pills, patches, gels, sprays, vaginal creams and rings, and progesterone as capsules.

Only 8 OB-GYNs list a primary practice address in Sterling Heights in the NPI registry. For 133,473 residents that is 6.0 per 100,000, under the US 17.8 and below Michigan's 21.0. That is about 2,340 women aged 45 to 64 for each OB-GYN in the city, a ratio rather than a count of open appointments.

Counting the area around it, 295 OB-GYNs practice in Sterling Heights or within 10 miles and 870 within 25 miles: 26.8 for every 100,000 of the 3,246,056 people who live within 25 miles, a dense supply. Whether or not you have an OB-GYN, you can ask a physician licensed in Michigan about menopause hormone therapy online from Sterling Heights, with no waiting room.

Compounded hormones are a different thing: a pharmacy prepares them for one patient, as a cream, a capsule or a pellet. Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, so the FDA cannot assure their safety, effectiveness or dose. The FDA says it has no evidence that compounded "bioidentical hormones" are safe and effective, or more effective than FDA-approved hormone therapy. The National Academies, reviewing them for the FDA in 2020, called their wide use a public health concern.

Through VevaMD, a physician licensed in Michigan decides whether hormone therapy fits you and, if so, the form: an estradiol pill, patch, cream or vaginal cream, with progesterone if you have a uterus. Pellets are not part of it. Since the pharmacy that fills these prescriptions also compounds, ask whether yours is an FDA-approved product or compounded. Two options are compounded for certain: testosterone cream for women and Bi-Est are not FDA-approved.

Then there are pellets, implanted under the skin at a clinic; compounded pellets are not FDA-approved. The Endocrine Society points to a study that found hormone levels well above the expected range in women using them. ACOG advises FDA-approved hormone therapy over compounded preparations.

Sources: FDA: Menopause · FDA: National Academies study of compounded bioidentical hormones (2020) · Endocrine Society position statement on compounded bioidentical hormones (2019) · ACOG Clinical Consensus No. 6, compounded bioidentical menopausal hormone therapy (2023) · CMS NPPES NPI full file, 2026-10-11