Balancing Hormones

Feeling a little off? Is brain fog impacting your day? Tired of being tired all the time? Optimal Bio is a Wilmington medical practice offering bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for both men and women seeking to help with the side effects of aging and other medical issues.

Optimal Bio Chief Executive Officer TYLAR BRANNON says, “The goal of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is to balance your body’s hormones bringing them to the optimal levels your system was initially designed to maintain.”

Working from the Cary, North Carolina office, Brannon travels to each of the other five Optimal Bio office locations every six weeks. This April, Brannon will open a seventh Optimal Bio practice in Greenville, South Carolina.

Across all of the locations in Cary, Charlotte, Southern Pines, and Wilmington in North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, and Charlottesville, in Virginia, Optimal Bio has 30 employees including a physician, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, patient coordinators, and administrative staff.

Last February, Brannon hired ALLISON PADGETT (pictured above) to manage the Wilmington office. Padgett who grew up in many parts of the United States, moved to Wilmington from Arizona to attend the University of North Carolina Wilmington to study marine biology. Padgett interned at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center prior to her graduation from UNCW.

While she is labeled the office manager, Padgett says “I love science. And I love learning. The Optimal Bio environment is all about learning new things and growing as an individual. So, while I am a jack of all trades, my primary function is patient care, ensuring every patient’s journey is fulfilled.”

Padgett is also responsible for the office structure, making sure the Wilmington team is working well together, and for business development and networking. “I am fortunate to be part of a company that is genuine and does so much good for personal health,” she says.

Padgett has always looked to her parents for her inspiration. “I have always been close with my parents. They are genuine people who taught me the importance of relationships in the business world. I’m lucky to have them for advice for the working world and life overall. And I am lucky to watch them grow their business savvy,” she says.

Padgett explained that sometimes patients feeling a little off have bloodwork to confirm hormone levels that come back in normal ranges. “At Optimal Bio, we do things differently. We look at optimal ranges based on data from generations before us when there were fewer environmental stressors. Many people don’t know that testosterone is responsible for 500 functions in your body like anxiety, lethargy, and low libido. So, hormone health is really important.”

Brannon further explained that Optimal Bio uses all-natural hormones identical to the molecules of human hormones, so the body knows how to utilize them. The average age of patients who come from all walks of life is forty-two and about one-fourth of patients are in their thirties.

Hormones are administered in the form of a pellet the size of a grain of rice placed in fatty tissue of the buttocks or lower back. “Patients get into goal range within two to four weeks. Women stay constant for three to four months. Men stay constant for four to six months. Our patients get reminders for updated bloodwork and revisits to the office based on how they are feeling and their blood work,” Brannon says adding that when hormones are in an optimal range, it also protects the brain, heart, and bone health as well as improves overall health as a person ages.

Padgett concludes, “We want to be your biggest advocate for your personal health journey. Live the best you can live. Know your options and make the best choice for your overall lifestyle. We give our patients tools to be knowledgeable. We educate about the science behind hormone therapy.”

Brannon says, “We are what healthcare is meant to be – a patient relationship.”

To view more of photographer Logan Burke’s work, go to LoganBurkePhoto.com

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