Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Navigate with Confidence - with Christine Horton | Epi.27

[00:00:00] Christine specializes in PCOS and the oral systemic connection, helping women reduce inflammation, reclaim their energy, and take control of their health using science-backed sustainable strategies. I really want to be what I wish I had when I was diagnosed. So some women, but not all women, have cysts on their ovaries. There's kind of three criteria. And to be diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome or disease are kind of interchangeable.

[00:00:29] I think the biggest thing is that I hear over and over is that they finally just feel heard. You know, there's just so many times that they deal with professionals and either they weren't taken seriously or, you know, it took multiple years for them to be diagnosed.

[00:00:50] So, and then something else is just slow down for a minute. We are so busy and in such a rush that it's almost like we feel like we're lazy if we take a hot minute for ourselves. You're not broken. You're not lazy. You've just been handed some genetic stuff that you're going to have to work through.

[00:01:16] And you don't have to do it alone. We know things. It's not that we don't have the knowledge. It's how do we incorporate that into our life?

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[00:02:05] Don't forget to check our merchandise for exciting goodies at activeaction.shop. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode. Hello. Welcome back to another episode of the Active Action Podcast. It's me, your host, Dr. Nazeef, back again with another episode with another amazing guest. I just wanted to guys let you know we did start our premium supporters program where if you become one of our premium supporters of the Active Action Podcast,

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[00:03:05] feel free to visit that in www.activeaction.shop. Today, we have with us a very special guest, Christine Harton. And we will be talking about Reclaiming Your Go, A New Way to Navigate PCOS with Confidence. Just before delving into the podcast, I wanted to introduce Christine with you.

[00:03:28] So Christine Harton, the PCOS Glow Hygienist, is a certified health coach, experienced dental hygienist, and passionate advocate for women's health. Christine specializes in PCOS and the oral systemic connection, helping women reduce inflammation, reclaim their energy, and take control of their health using science-backed sustainable strategies.

[00:03:54] Her own way with PCOS led her to shift from the clinical chair to coaching, turning personal struggles into purpose. Today, she empires women to stop settling and start healing with clarity, confidence, and compassion. Thank you so much, dear Christine, for joining with Active Action Podcast this evening, and agreeing to share your valuable words of wisdom regarding PCOS,

[00:04:22] which is a fairly common condition among women, and a lot of women and families who worry about PCOS. From today's podcast, learn some more about PCOS, and use those advices or use those knowledge to their benefit. And without further ado, let's just begin the podcast. Do you want to introduce a bit about yourself to the audience, apart from what I just said? Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you very much for having me.

[00:04:50] I really enjoy doing podcasts and talking about the things that I'm passionate about, so I do appreciate the opportunity to talk to your audience, talk to you. It means everything. So yeah, a little bit about me is this company is my heart and soul. After working in the wellness division of dental specific, I just wanted to be on a broader spectrum and use that knowledge in a bigger way.

[00:05:18] And I have dealt with polycystic ovarian syndrome my whole life, essentially. And it kind of just all came together to this beautiful thing that I want to help other women with. That's very inspiring. And polycystic ovarian syndrome, it's a fairly common condition among a lot of women and many of the families. And the women themselves actually are concerned about this, about their health, family planning, and everything.

[00:05:46] So I'm really glad that we got to talk about this topic today. Can I ask you, why do you do what you're currently doing and what sparked your mission to support women with PCOS? Right. So PCOS is very common. Statistically, one in 10 women have it. 70% are undiagnosed.

[00:06:11] So there is a huge gap between who has it and who knows they have it. And then once you have it, it can vary significantly depending on your specific situation, what symptoms you have. So it's endocrine based. It can affect infertility, fertility, and that affects a large percentage as well.

[00:06:35] But it's not one of those things that when you're diagnosed, it's like do A, B, and C, and then it's gone. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. I just have met so many women that were undiagnosed or that were just diagnosed, and they're just scared. And that makes me sad. It shouldn't be that way. Right, exactly. So that kind of started it. And then there was just more and more.

[00:07:00] Or, you know, when I was diagnosed many years ago, there wasn't very many women diagnosed or talking about it. And it's becoming more prevalent. So, yeah, I just wanted to help others. Really want to be what I wish I had when I was diagnosed. That's kind of my whole goal with all of it is to do that with women. That's wonderful, Christine. So you just abbreviated PCOS means a polycytic ovarian syndrome.

[00:07:27] Can you describe the condition a little bit so that our audiences can understand what is PCOS and what actually happens if a woman is diagnosed with PCOS? Yeah, sure. So there's different ways. And this is where the confusion part. I just wrote an article about it. Like, is this the right name for it? Because as soon as you say ovarian, you think fertility or ovaries. And, of course, that can be a part of it.

[00:07:54] So some women, but not all women, have cysts on their ovaries. There's kind of three criteria. And to be diagnosed with polycytic ovarian syndrome or disease, they're kind of interchangeable. You have to have two out of the three to have a clinical diagnosis. But things that a woman might notice and might go to a doctor for that might lead to that would be no periods or very long periods without a period.

[00:08:22] So some women, they could go years or some people, you know, it's every 60 days or whatever. But that's often one of the first things that women notice. And when they start having these symptoms, then obviously doctors or whatever health professional that they're seeing then starts doing panels to see, like, what's their hormone levels. And so often, you know, the testosterone will be very high or, you know, different things. So that's kind of how it goes.

[00:08:51] Okay. Thank you so much for explaining that. Yeah. I'm sure our audiences would appreciate the knowledge of the background that what the condition actually is. So that even if they are kind of experiencing these symptoms, they would get an understanding like what's going on. So, Kristen, how did your background as a dental hygienist lead you into health coaching? Yeah. So I was a hygienist for over 20 years, clinical, and I loved it.

[00:09:21] I love my clients. I love seeing them every six months. I love talking to them. I loved hearing about their updates and what's new with their kids and what trip they went on. And of course, you talked about all the dental things and the body things and all of that. But what I realized is I wanted to have a larger impact rather than just the one-on-one. And so I was going through my own health stuff as well, and it kind of led me down this avenue of oral systemic health.

[00:09:51] And that is how the body affects the mouth and how the mouth affects the body. And it just sparked something in me. And so I just started taking all this education, and I was like, how can I put this all together? Then I'm like, I want to get my health coaching. So then I did all the education and became a certified health coach.

[00:10:15] So it all came together, but my roots are still in the dental world, dental hygienist. That's wonderful. So can I ask you, your background is in being a dental hygienist. So then what does it mean to be the PCOS glow hygienist? And how did that identity come to life? Yeah. So I talked to many, many people, you know, you're networking and some are gentlemen, some are women.

[00:10:45] And they were like, how does this all work together? So I was working with other people and I was like, I think we need to like put this all together in a title. And at the same time with the women that I was working with, they were just telling me how since they were diagnosed going through this, they just don't feel like themselves. They've just lost themselves. So I'm like, I want to be for these women what I wanted. The PCOS is obviously what I specialize in.

[00:11:15] The glow part is, is we want you to come back and be what you were and better than you were. It's not about just comfortable in your skin. It's about radiating your very best so you can do all the things that you love. And the hygiene is kind of a throwback to my hygienist origin and also helping these women clean everything up to put it into where it belongs rather than it taking over their whole life.

[00:11:44] So rather it's just a diagnosis that they have to manage, not every day they're fighting with the symptoms that they're dealing with. Thank you for that perspective, Christine. Our body is a whole network of systems. So everything is interconnected with one another. And even the little bit of hygiene issue can actually have effects on the systemic connections within the body.

[00:12:11] I want to ask you this question because many of our audiences does not have health background. So for their benefit of understanding, for those who may not be familiar, what is the oral systemic connection and why does it matter for a woman? The oral systemic connection is what's happening in your mouth can affect what's happening in your body and vice versa.

[00:12:36] So when you're looking at disease, the basis of all disease, not just PCOS, but any disease is inflammation. So if you're looking towards hell, you want to decrease the inflammation in your body. And this is where the challenge comes in a little bit because different things can cause different inflammation in different people's bodies, men or women.

[00:13:01] So one common thing that's overlooked is oral diseases. So gingivitis, periodontitis, caries, all of those are disorders of overgrowth of bacteria and get that bacteria growth under control so that it cannot affect the rest of your body. And there's a whole field of it.

[00:13:28] So it's coming more and more that oral systemic connection. You know, some people read for heart, for diabetes, for Alzheimer's. There's all kinds of studies coming out, really strengthening those links and finding out more and what we need to do so we can not have those diseases and disorders. Right. That's actually valuable to know.

[00:13:52] And that can help our audiences understand a bit about the correlation, how oral hygiene and others can affect your whole body as well. Can you let me know from your experience, what are some of the subtle signs of inflammation that a woman often overlook, but that really has impact on their hormones and well-being?

[00:14:15] Yeah. So it's sometimes minor things, you know, that fatigue, that bloating, brain fog, orally bleeding gums, puffy gums, bad breath. All those things can kind of silently be telling you there's that inflammation and, you know, you want to pay attention to that and get some help. Right. Thank you so much for explaining that science.

[00:14:44] Follow up to that, like what would be your advice to someone who has been having these symptoms and signs? Should they like immediately go to a doctor or a physician? Or is there anything that they can even do in their home for home remedies or to get like some short-term relief? For the inflammation? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:07] Yeah. Yeah. So the things that you want to do as far as orally is you want to disrupt the bacteria. So bacteria organizes and then gives off toxins. And that's what causes the damage to the teeth and to the gums. So you need to disrupt the bacteria. And the ways that we can do that are brushing, interdental cleaning, whether that's a water pick or a floss pick. You just need to disrupt it.

[00:15:36] And then there's things like mouthwash and that kind of stuff. But if you brush or floss and you see any bleeding, that is a sign of inflammation. And you should see your dentist and see what the start of that is. Because sometimes even though we see that and we start doing those things, we can have a buildup of hard deposits. Sometimes we call it calculus. And it can be below the gum or above the gum or both.

[00:16:06] It kind of is like a sliver. So even if you start doing the things that could get rid of inflammation, you have to get the sliver out or the calculus off before it's going to 100% heal up. Right. Okay. Thank you so much for explaining that. Can I ask you, you work with women who feel overwhelmed or dismissed. What's usually the first breakthrough they experience when they are working with you?

[00:16:36] Yeah. I think the biggest thing is that I hear over and over is that they finally just feel heard. You know, there's just so many times that they deal with professionals. And either they weren't taken seriously or, you know, it took multiple years for them to be diagnosed. So just to have someone to go, yeah, yeah, I've heard that. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Nope. That isn't anything new. Okay.

[00:17:06] Yeah. We're going to make a plan. It's all good. Don't worry. You know, I think that's the biggest breakthrough that I see. Yeah. And that we can do something that it's not like you have to live like this forever and ever and ever. And we can break it down and we can make things happen and we'll do it together. And I'm sure our listeners would find that assurance valuable and have that comfort to speak to a health coach and express their problems and hoping to get remedies for that.

[00:17:35] So I appreciate your openness to helping the clients that you work with. Tell me what are the one or two small but powerful shifts women can make today to start feeling better both physically and emotionally? You know, it just starts from your mindset. You can start with this, like, what's wrong with me or why is this happening? And you kind of just want to start thinking about, like, what is my body trying to tell me?

[00:18:05] Like, why am I feeling like this? Like, why is this happening? Like, what could that mean? Because I think a lot of times we're out of touch with what's happening. So I think just making that first shift in how you're thinking, I think that's a good first step. And then something else is just slow down for a minute.

[00:18:26] We are so busy and in such a rush that it's almost like we feel like we're lazy if we take a hot minute for ourselves. And I think if you can just start there, you can then start building all the things that you need to do all the things you want to do. Thank you so much, Christine, for sharing that.

[00:18:50] And I'm sure a lot of women that who are listening to the podcast can connect themselves with those feelings and for sure use those tips for their own physical and mental well-being. You know, you are growing a business all entirely by yourself. You're the founder of the Fusion Health Coaching. But at the same time, you're managing your own family life.

[00:19:15] So it all comes down to work-life balance, which we really see a lot of people struggling nowadays to maintain that. So how do you find that balance between your professional mission and everything else, women juggle from day to day? Yeah. For me, family comes first. But this is such a passion that some of these women feel like family after we work together

[00:19:42] because we just have so much in common and we can just make so much headway. And there's nothing more personal than not feeling like yourself and then being able to feel like yourself. So I always, in building all of this, want authentic connection. And I would rather have less people that I work with, but that we can work on a really deep level and work all together and balance it.

[00:20:12] And I know it's hard. I know all these women who are executives and they've got kids and they've got husbands and they want to get away for a girls trip because they haven't seen their friends in a year because everybody's busy doing their thing. And so I have such a heart for that, having four kids of my own that, yeah. So yeah, it is a balance. That's for sure. Yep. Sure. And, you know, you're also then an inspiration for a lot of women out there who are actually

[00:20:41] doing a day job, but also taking care of their family because taking care of the family and the kids is a full-time job entirely to itself. Although we have sometimes like husbands supporting the, or the partners supporting the family, but, you know, as mothers, women have to endure a lot of responsibilities and go through while maintaining their job, which is doing two full-time jobs at the same time. So I appreciate how you mentioned, you know, those tracking that balance between work and life.

[00:21:11] What's the one piece of advice you would give to a woman listening to the podcast who actually feels stuck in her symptoms, but want to take action? Right. I would just say that you're not broken. You're not lazy. You've just been handed some genetic stuff that you're going to have to work through. And you don't have to do it alone.

[00:21:38] There's all kinds of help out there. And just reach out because there's so many that are willing to help. And the best thing that you can do is just get yourself a team that are going to help you get there. And obviously the doctors diagnose and they monitor, but they are able to do the day-to-day things, the week-to-week things. Often you'll have your hormones tested, your blood sugar tested, all those things. Then they have their recommendations for you.

[00:22:06] And that's often where I come in that they're like, okay, I need to lose X amount of pounds. I need to lower my A1C or my blood sugars. You know, I'm in a pre-diabetic state, but I'm not sure how to do that. Or, you know, I've tried and I'm just not getting the results. And I really feel like that's a sweet spot for a health coach because that's what we do. We have the time. Doctors and nurse practitioners and like they are so busy and their job is the diagnosing

[00:22:36] and the monitoring. Where a health coach is really your personal guide to what you're trying to achieve. Because sometimes in health and wellness, we know things. It's not that we don't have the knowledge. It's how do we incorporate that into our life? For example, I always use, we all know we should probably drink more water, right? Yeah. There's a big difference between trying to drink more water and then actually making that

[00:23:05] into your day-to-day life. Right. And so those are the things that a health coach is, you know, set up to help you do, look at your exact day when, you know, how much would need to happen. So at the end, because you know how it is, you get up and you have the best of intentions. You get doing the things with the kids and you get to work and whatever. And all of a sudden it's the end of the day, like, oh my gosh, I drank one glass of water, you know? Right. Right. Yeah.

[00:23:32] So it's like kind of integrating that system into your life for your own well-being and betterment. Thank you for letting us know about your work and your endeavors. Where can our audiences connect with you or learn more about your coaching and your community? For sure. So as far as my coaching, my website is the place to go. So www.fusionhealthcoach.com.

[00:24:00] And all of the information is there, how to work with me, what I do, the details of it. And then I'm very active on LinkedIn as well. And I'm starting my own communities, Women's Wellness Way and Reclaim Your Glow, which is specifically for our PCOS people. And those are on the Skyler Network. But all that information is on my website. So if you go to my website, you can link to anything else that you think you might need.

[00:24:28] And I am always open to answer a question. I always offer a free consult. If anybody has something they want to just throw out, no commitment whatsoever. I am happy to listen and hear people's stories and help them in any way that I really can. Thank you so much for being open to help people, Christine. I really appreciate that.

[00:24:53] And also in regards to your website and other social links to your audiences, we have Christine Horton's webpage in our website. So if you visit www.activeaction.fm.com. Our webpage will come up and it has her bio as well as her links to the website and social. So if you do want to reach out to Christine, you can have that information in our webpage.

[00:25:22] And I encourage if you do have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to Christine and she would be happy to answer your questions or support you with your needs. Thank you so much, Christine, for joining today's podcast. And I sincerely appreciate your words of wisdom and the discussion we had regarding polycystic ovarian syndrome and your practice as a health coach. Thank you. I appreciate it.

[00:25:50] Dear listeners, we were talking to our guest, Christine Horton, and we got to learn a lot about PCOS today. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. Stay active, take action. Until then, take care, everyone. Thank you for joining us on the Active Action Podcast at activeaction.fm.

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