Vicky Eldridge: So, welcome to the podcast. I'm here with Charlotte Body, she's the founder of Menopause in Aesthetics and PAUSE Live! Because October is menopause awareness, we are going to chat a bit about menopause in aesthetics and what the role is, and the partnership that you've got with Hamilton Fraser as well.
Charlotte Body: I was hit with a sledgehammer when perimenopause hit me. I then realised, we just weren't getting the answers that we deserved from our GPs. She was the one who pointed out, “look, you need to go and get some private blood tests done. You need to get the answers that you deserve. No one should be suffering like this.” PAUSE Live was a natural progression. What we're trying to do is level up women's healthcare, from the moment you start your period to the day it finishes. And all of that in between. It's a journey and everyone's got a different story.
Vicky Eldridge: We recently saw the Panorama documentary looking into BHRT, hormone replacement therapy. What were your feelings about that?
Charlotte Body: It's a difficult one to comment on. Most people just want to treat their symptoms and get on with the rest of their lives. You know, they've got families, they've got jobs, they've got all sorts of things going on. They haven't got time to bang the drum like we are about the menopause.
Vicky Eldridge: Charlotte, lovely to chat with you. Obviously, we've known each other for a long time. Decades, worked together loads - Menopause and aesthetics and PAUSE Live. You founded these two events and they've been really, really successful over the last couple of years. What was the motivation behind setting up an event for the B2B sector and one for the consumer sector focused on menopause?
Charlotte Body: Firstly, thank you so much for having me here.
Vicky Eldridge: Pleasure.
Charlotte Body: I'm really excited about talking to you today, especially in menopause month. I think it's really important that we get the message out there, and what made me start the menopause in aesthetics conference was very much my journey. As you know, I was hit with a sledge hammer when perimenopause hit me. And I then realised after speaking to various friends, including yourself, that we, we just weren't getting the answers that we deserved from our GPs. I think I must have gone to the GP eight times, which is shocking, isn't it? And then I actually went to see my aesthetician and as you know, I've been seeing her for decades as well. And she was the one who pointed out, “look, you need to go and get some private blood tests done. You need to get the answers that you deserve. You know, you shouldn't have to be suffering like this. No one should be suffering like this.” And she was already on her, you know, her journey. So sometimes it takes someone else to, to point out what's happening in our bodies. Doesn't it? Especially with perimenopause. You’ve got the symptoms, but you're not always sure that that's it and think it might be something else. So I think with menopause and aesthetics, when I spoke to you about doing an event, I realised after speaking to my own practitioner that they were really well placed to be the first responders we call them. And I love that, don't you? Because they are the first responders. I mean, you can see, you know, your patients, how they are. And you can usually look out for the signs of perimenopause and how to deal with that. Also, all the bodily changes that go on, I mean from head to toe. Well, we age, according to Dr. Nicola Clayton we age nine and a half years within our first six to eight months. Scary, isn't it?
Vicky Eldridge: And you can see it in the mirror. You look and you think, hang on, my hair's thinner, my skin, my eyebrows are thinner, my face has changed. It clearly happens noticeably.
Charlotte Body: Quite dramatically. And I think, you are navigating all the bodily changes. And you are navigating the changes to your mental health as well. So I think one of the best things I ever did was set up MIA, I am really proud of it. And you should be very proud of what you have done to help.
Vicky Eldridge: Well it's great working with you on it and you know, working on the conference side of things and bringing that education together. And I think we were surprised, weren't we, by how popular it was. We knew that there was an interest in the aesthetics market for menopause services and I think one of the important things - we'll talk about this - but I think one of the important things was that this is happening. This is becoming really popular. Aesthetic clinics are becoming those first responders. They're getting on board. But also, there's a potential when anything becomes popular for it to explode outside of people's remit of practice. And I know that with menopause and aesthetics, it was all about, right, what do you want to include in your own clinic? Where do you want to partner? Where do you want to refer? What's within your remit. And that's been a really underlying message, hasn't it? Throughout it.
Charlotte Body: Yeah, definitely. And I think we, you know, we see some real success stories now. We've got aesthetic clinics that we know that are really helping their patients. And that's what it's all about. Even though you might not offer those treatments within clinic, you can do referrals. And you can help them. And you are doing them a service. And let's face it, most of the practitioners that we deal with, they've been seeing their patients for many years. They've got good relationships with them. So it's how you approach that. And I think working with companies like Hamilton Fraser is really important because they have the same ethos as us. You know, they, they really want to help businesses to help their patients. In the right way. Say safeguarding them. So it's, it's exciting times I think, within our industry and exciting times within the menopause industry.
Vicky Eldridge: Absolutely. So you just mentioned the partnership with Hamilton Fraser, that's really exciting. So why did Menopause in Aesthetics decide to partner with Hamilton Fraser?
Charlotte Body: As I have just said, I do think it's a fantastic partnership because we share the same values. And I think that's really important. And I think we work within the aesthetic medical market. They work within the aesthetic medical market. And we're not, you know, there's no grey area with us. We're all in the, we're all in the same boat, which I think's really good. And also they're great supporters of women's health, especially Eddie Hooker, the CEO. He is very much - I think maybe having daughters and Yeah. I think he's got three, isn't he? You know, he really wants to understand. And I think we don't give men enough credit in general that most of them do want to understand this subject.
Vicky Eldridge: Yeah, absolutely. And we've just been talking about it this morning. I think if you had even five, well, less than five years ago, if you'd started talking about women's health just over your coffee at a conference in aesthetics, I just don't think there would've been that conversation. And it's menopausal awareness now. What have you been most excited about in terms of the, you know, how the awareness has grown in terms of menopause and sessions? Because you guys have been a big part of that now, especially with PAUSE Live from a consumer perspective.
Charlotte Body: Yeah, I think from a consumer perspective, PAUSE Live was a natural progression. Although Vicky, you did say to me, are you crazy during a consumer event? It's a passion project. And we've still got a long way to go. And I think what we're trying to do is level up women's healthcare. So, from the moment you start your period to the day it finishes. And all of that in between, it's a journey and everyone's got a different story. So, what we want is we just want women to stop getting fobbed off with that we should be suffering period pains, we should be suffering PDD or endro, whatever it might be. We shouldn't. We should be getting the help that we need so that we can live our lives, you know, to the best that we can and fulfil all of our, you know, our ambitions and dreams. And that's, it's actually not happening at the moment. And as I say, well we are a long way off, but it's very exciting with PAUSE Live. We've got our next event next October, which should be a menopause awareness month. It's amazing.
Vicky Eldridge: And it's been, I mean, you guys have been out on the street, haven't you? Campaigning, you've been direct body painting, you've been doing all sorts of things to raise awareness and to let women know what are the mantras this year. Don't suffer in silence and get your sparkle back. Which I think is really nice because it is that sense that, oh, you're going to go through all this horrendous stuff and, and you, I, remember you saying to me when we were doing the magazine as well, I want to make it fun. Why was that important to you? The fun element, because it can get quite like, oh, the word ‘menopause’. How am I going to struggle through However many years I'm going to suffer, basically.
Charlotte Body: Because there's so much positivity. I think midlife can be, and as you know, I am my target audience. And I've managed to treat my symptoms with hormone replacement and supplements, exercise, all of those things. And with a lot of laughter on the way, a lot of tears. But I've come out the other end and I am living my best midlife because I'm helping other women. And I think that's really important.
Vicky Eldridge: We recently saw the Panorama documentary, which was focused on, mainly focused on Newson Health. And it was looking into looking into BHRT hormone replacement therapy. What were your feelings about that?
Charlotte Body: It's a difficult one to comment on. However, I, we did release a statement. And I think the statement said it all, and what my initial reaction was, was how could you get all of this into half an hour? I didn't think it was, was fair to even try and get it into half an hour. It's such a big topic and we stand by the fact that we thought we've made a step backwards. And you know, if you look at the menopause mandate, what those wonderful women have achieved, I know that that was a general consensus that we seem to have taken a step back.
I also am very, very concerned that women are very vulnerable when they're going through the perimenopause. And it's a difficult time to decide whether to go on HRT or not. I can't help but think that the programme has now caused a scare, which just didn't need to be there. And I think to concentrate on one practitioner, when everybody within that industry, pretty much everybody that I speak to does prescribe off licence for certain patients. Yes, she treated 50,000 patients. So of course there was always going to be, some patients that were going to have problems, which we can't go into because we don’t know that every case, but I, I felt it was really unnecessary to use one practitioner. Same with the supplement companies. They used four or five supplements, the supplement market, yes, it's overcrowded, but to pick small four companies and destroy their businesses was unnecessary. It's a shame
Vicky Eldridge: It was a shame, wasn't it? Because I think there's been so many positive moves forward, because let's remember however many years ago there was the study that linked HRT and breast cancer and that put a lot of women off HRT. And then once that was sort of shown not to actually be quite what was reported that wasn't reported on widely. So a lot of women still believe even now, that study that was, you know, however many years ago, I'm frightened of HRT for that reason. And of course, it's not the fix for everybody, it's not a a one size fits all is it? But it can be really life changing for many women. And it's a shame when there's progress in this area and then things happen that, that sort of undo that.
Charlotte Body: It is a real shame. And I do think that people have got to make their own choices. And I think if we were getting the right help from our general practice, we wouldn't have to go privately. And that's what's happening. Most people just want to treat their symptoms and get on with the rest of their lives. You know, they've got families, they've got jobs, they've got all sorts of things going on. They haven't got time to bang the drum like we are about the menopause. And I think because they're not getting those answers, like I said at the beginning, it took me eight trips to the GP and then I still didn't get, I mean, they wanted to put me on anti antidepressants. And I hear that antidepressants are actually quite good for some things and even for perimenopausal treatments, but everyone's different. And I think that puts people off as well. Because they don't want to take antidepressants. I think that they put them in the same camp, the HRT and the antidepressants and they're not, and I hear women say all the time, oh, I'm not going to do HRT. And I say, is there a reason? Oh no, I just don't want to. And it's like, well why are you suffering? I would always say it's very safe. There is a lot of research about the health benefits of it. There are certain people that can't take it for one reason or another, but do try and get the answers you deserve from your GP. Go on to pauselive.com, download your symptom checker, take that to the doctors. And let's not take no for an answer, ladies. I think that's my advice.
Vicky Eldridge: I think that's an amazing point. Well let's just ask you to finish off, what are you excited about for the future of this market? Because we're only really seeing the menopause space just explode at the moment. What are you excited about for the future? What would you like to see happen?
Charlotte Body: Well, I think I'm already seeing it. I think at PAUSE Live when ladies come up to me and they say, I didn't know half of these treatments even existed. You know, there are so many fantastic solutions to our symptoms that we just don't know about. And I think people are caring more about the inside rather than the outside about what's happening. Because I think if you feel good in the inside everything seems to go that much better, doesn't it? So I think we're going to see some changes. I think as you know, functional medicine, longevity, wellness, the more that I've researched the menopause market, the more I believe that that's going to be the way forward in UK medicine and especially for women's health.
Vicky Eldridge: Amazing. Charlotte, thank you so much for joining.
Charlotte Body: Thank you. I really enjoyed it. Thanks for having us.
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