What is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)?

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a condition that a lot of women find really confusing. To start with, the name is misleading because:

1. You don’t need cysts on your ovaries to be correctly diagnosed with PCOS

2. Having multiple cysts on your ovary can be a completely normal and transitory situation

First up, let's talk about the normal function of your ovaries. Ovaries are cystic by nature. On the road to ovulation, multiple ovarian follicles will develop with one eventually becoming dominant. This is the egg that is released at ovulation.

However if something happens and life gets in the way - let's say you experience a stressful event - this process can be disrupted. If this happens ovulation can be delayed or skipped entirely. If you happen to have an ultrasound around this time you’ll see multiple small cysts on your ovary. Except in this case they aren’t a problem, your body will reabsorb them and try again next month.

This is why ultrasound alone can’t tell you if you have PCOS – although you can see you didn’t ovulate, it doesn’t tell you why. However, it’s time to dig deeper if you’re also experiencing symptoms like:

🌸 Hirsutism – darker, thicker hair growing in places it shouldn’t

🌸 Irregular Periods or periods that have stopped completely

🌸 Difficulty falling pregnant (in my experience, with proper naturopathic care this can be corrected)

🌸 Anxiety or depression

🌸 Acne

🌸 Weight gain or high blood sugar readings

In Australia, your GP will run tests to rule out other causes and use the Rotterdam Criteria to formally diagnose PCOS. That means you need to have 2 of the following:

✅ Oligo/Anovulation – Or irregular menstrual cycles. If your cycle is shorter than 21 days or longer than 35 days, its likely ovulation isn’t happening.

✅ Hyperandrogenism – This means that your androgen levels (usually testosterone) are higher than they should be, throwing the rest of your hormones out of whack.

✅ Polycystic Ovaries

In my opinion, hyperandrogenism is the key feature of PCOS and the one that drives most of your symptoms, however it isn't the root cause of the problem. To understand why you have PCOS we need to look at you as a whole person and consider your diet, lifestyle, mental health and other aspects of your personal circumstances.

So, if you’ve been diagnosed with PCOS, what now? I'll cover natural treatment options in another article but if you'd like to start working on addressing your root cause you can book an appointment here or get in touch here.