Menopause Hormone Therapy (HRT) in Reading, PA

Bioidentical hormones in Reading: what it means

"Bioidentical" is a word compounding pharmacies often use in marketing, but what it describes is real: a hormone built like the body's own. Estradiol and micronized progesterone are both bioidentical: their structure matches the hormones the ovaries make. Both come in FDA-approved prescription forms, from estradiol pills, patches, gels and vaginal forms to progesterone capsules.

"BHRT" often means compounded hormones, a cream, a blend such as Bi-Est or a pellet that a pharmacy mixes for one prescription. 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. When the National Academies reviewed them in 2020, the evidence was mostly low quality, such as anecdotes and patient reports.

Reading has 16 OB-GYNs in the federal NPI registry, 16.9 per 100,000 residents, close to the US rate of 17.8 and below Pennsylvania's 20.0. Set against the city's 10,732 women aged 45 to 64, that is one OB-GYN for roughly every 670.

Even counting 25 miles out, there are 109 OB-GYNs (69 within 10 miles) for 985,785 residents: 11.1 per 100,000, below the national rate. Whether or not you have an OB-GYN, you can ask a physician licensed in Pennsylvania about menopause hormone therapy online from Reading, with no waiting room.

Through VevaMD, a physician licensed in Pennsylvania 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. There are no pellets. Because the dispensing pharmacy also compounds, you can ask whether your estradiol or progesterone is an FDA-approved product. Testosterone cream for women and Bi-Est are compounded and not FDA-approved.

Then there are pellets, implanted under the skin at a clinic; compounded pellets are not FDA-approved. The Endocrine Society cites blood levels well above the expected range in women using compounded pellets. ACOG recommends FDA-approved menopause hormone therapy over compounded hormones.

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