Board-Certified OB-GYN
• 25+ Years Clinical Experience
• Hormone & Functional Medicine Specialist
• Crystal Lake, IL
PERIMENOPAUSE, MENOPAUSE & HORMONE SPECIALIST — CRYSTAL LAKE, IL
Your Labs Are “Normal.”
But You Know
Something Is Wrong.
You’re exhausted. Foggy. Gaining weight despite doing everything right. And you’ve been told everything looks fine.
“With them it was more about giving my body what it actually needed to feel my best, not just handing me a prescription and sending me home.”
— Vira D., Arlington Heights, IL
Hormones are the keys. Your cells are the locks. When the locks are damaged by toxins, inflammation, or chronic stress, the keys don’t work. That’s where we start.
as seen in
Why You’re Here
Do Any of These Sound Familiar?
Many of our patients have seen two, three, even five doctors before finding us. Their story is remarkably consistent:
Fatigue that doesn’t improve with sleep. Weight gain despite doing the right things. A brain that doesn’t feel sharp. Mood shifts that don’t match your life. And a doctor who looked at your labs and said: “Everything looks fine.”
“Something is being missed.”
We believe you. And we know where to look.
Persistent fatigue or low energy that doesn’t improve with rest
Brain fog, memory issues, or difficulty concentrating
Weight gain or difficulty losing weight despite effort
Hormone imbalance perimenopause, menopause, testosterone concerns
Anxiety, low mood, or feeling emotionally “off”
Poor sleep or waking up exhausted
Inflammation, pain, or autoimmune symptoms
Digestive issues and food sensitivities
Not sure where to start?
Take our Hormone Imbalance Assessment thorough, free, and often the first step toward real answers.
FOR THE WOMAN WHO FEELS GOOD — AND WANTS MORE
You Need DATA and a PLAN for the Next Decade
Some of the women we work with aren’t chasing a symptom. They’re reaching for their BEST HEALTH. If any of these sound familiar, you’re in the right place too.
✓ You’re proactive about your health and want to stay ahead of what’s coming
✓ You’ve started thinking about the next decade differently and you don’t want to leave it to chance
✓ You want real data about where you actually stand, not just reassurance that your labs are “normal”
✓ You suspect your hormones are shifting and want to get ahead of it before symptoms start
✓ You’re already investing in your health and you want to make sure it’s working
The Hormone Locksmith® Approach
You Need More than Hormones. You Need Your Body to Respond to Them.
Hormones don’t work in isolation. You can have “normal” levels on paper and still feel completely off. Why?
Because hormones are only effective if your body can respond to them. If your cells are inflamed, if toxins are interfering, if your nervous system is out of balance, the message doesn’t get through.
We believe in hormone optimization, but we HAVE to include restoring function. We look at the whole picture: hormones, metabolism, gut health, brain chemistry, inflammation, and stress response.
We repair the locks, so the keys can finally work.
The Hormone Locksmith®
🔑 Hormones = Keys
🔒 Cells = Locks
When locks are damaged by toxins, inflammation, or chronic stress, hormones can’t work, even at “normal” levels.
Identify what’s damaging the locks — advanced testing beyond standard labs
Restore cellular function — address toxin burden, inflammation, gut health
Optimize hormones when appropriate — with the right levels and monitoring
What to Expect
A Different Approach to Your Health
This is not quick-fix medicine. We take the time to understand your body — and guide you step by step toward lasting change.
01
A Deep, Unhurried First Visit
We review your full health history, current concerns, lifestyle, and goals, often connecting dots that haven’t been discussed before.
02
Advanced Testing for Real Insight
Comprehensive lab panels interpreted for optimal function, not just “not abnormal.” We look at hormones, metabolism, inflammation, nutrient status, and more.
03
A Plan Built Around Your Body
Your care plan is tailored to your biology, your priorities, and your capacity. We focus on what makes the biggest difference, not doing everything at once.
04
Ongoing Guidance as You Heal
Healing is a process. We adjust your plan over time, track your progress, and make sure you understand each step along the way.
No pressure, no obligation — just a thoughtful starting point.
Founded by
Yvonne Karney, MD
Board-Certified OB-GYN · Functional & Integrative Medicine · The Hormone Locksmith®
“I practice the kind of medicine I wish had existed when I needed answers myself.”
Functional medicine gave me the tools to ask better questions not just “are your labs normal?” but “why do you feel the way you do?” and more importantly, what do we do about it.
I came to this work because I lived it. There was a period in my own life when I felt like I was becoming someone I didn’t recognize. My emotions were unpredictable things that rolled off my back one day made me furious the next. I had barely enough energy to get through my day, and any speed bump would send me into a spiral. I felt like I was drowning, lashing out at the people I loved for no good reason.
I was a physician. I knew something was wrong. And I couldn’t figure out why no one was looking in the right places.
At Vitality Renewal, I serve as Medical Director, leading a team of experienced nurse practitioners who deliver personalized care to each patient.
training & background
✔ Board-Certified OB-GYN, 25+ years
✔ USAF Physician, 8 years
✔ Functional & Integrative Medicine
✔ 14+ years specializing in BHRT
✔ 80,000+ patient encounters
“It took a long time to get to a point where I was willing to invest in myself. After meeting Dr. Karney and her team, I felt like there was a group of people I could trust to help me get to where I wanted to be where I know I was before.”
— Shannon D., Pingree Grove, IL
Your Care Team
Most of your visits at Vitality Renewal will be with our nurse practitioner team, each experienced, each practicing the same root-cause philosophy this practice was built on, and each supported by Dr. Karney’s clinical oversight at every step. This is how exceptional care scales
Free Download
What Your Labs Aren’t Telling You
The Micronutrient Gap: The nutrients most women are missing and the tests that actually find them
You eat well. You take supplements. You do the right things. But there are six nutrients that high-functioning women in their 40s and 50s are almost universally depleted in and most of them never show up on a standard lab panel.
This guide shows you what they are, what optimal levels actually look like, and why getting them right is often what makes the difference between your hormones working and not.
✔ The six nutrients we test that most practices don’t
✔ Why “normal” lab ranges aren’t the same as optimal
✔ The copper-zinc connection and why it matters before hormone therapy
✔ What depletion actually looks like at this stage of life
“In three months, I lowered my bad cholesterol by 100 points, brought my A1C out of the pre-diabetic range, felt better, slept better, and lost 15 pounds.”
— Roxanne B., Cary, IL
Patient Stories
Real Women. Real Answers. Real Change.
Hear from our happy patients
“
I finally feel like myself again. After three years of being told my labs were normal, someone finally looked deeper and found what was wrong.
— Patient, Chicago northwest suburbs
“
For the first time in years, everything made sense. The explanation of how hormones actually work changed how I understood my own body.
— Patient, traveling from Wisconsin
“
I wasn’t crazy something was actually wrong. I just needed a doctor who was willing to look for it. That’s what Vitality Renewal did.
— Patient, Crystal Lake area
Functional Medicine
Treatments & Therapies
We combine the best of traditional medicine with innovative functional approaches tailored to you. Tools are powerful. But only when your body is ready to receive them.
Foundation & Core Treatments
Biodentical Hormone Therapy
Hormones molecularly identical to what your body produces, prescribed precisely, monitored carefully, and adjusted as your biology changes.
Advanced Lab Testing
Comprehensive panels interpreted for optimal function, not just “not abnormal.” We test what conventional medicine doesn’t including DUTCH hormone testing, organic acids, and inflammatory markers.
Neurofeedback Therapy
Non-invasive brain training that helps regulate mood, focus, sleep, and stress response guided by a QEEG brain map of your unique neural activity.
Far Infrared Sauna
Cellular recovery, circulation support, and deep relaxation heat therapy used to support detox pathways and cardiovascular health.
Frequency Specific Microcurrent
Targeted electrical therapy to reduce pain and inflammation, and improve nervous system regulation.
QT Breast Imaging
Breast imaging without radiation or compression — advanced ultrasound technology that sees more, with none of the drawbacks of conventional mammography.
Regenerative & Aesthetic Treatments — Introducing the glow suite of services
NEW
Women’s Intimate Rejuvenation
Restore comfort, confidence, and function without surgery or downtime. Our non-invasive treatments address pelvic floor weakness, bladder control, and intimate wellness as a natural part of women’s whole-body health.
NEW
Regenerative & Aesthetic Treatments
Physician-supervised aesthetic care with no neurotoxins, no synthetic fillers, and no radiation. PRF, radiofrequency microneedling, and light therapy that work with your biology — not against it. Because beauty shouldn’t be toxic.
Every tool we use is chosen for a reason — and only when it’s right for you.
common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Real answers from Crystal Lake’s hormone and functional medicine experts.
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Here’s the fastest way I can explain it: traditional medicine asks “are you normal?” Functional medicine asks “are you thriving?”When you walk into a traditional doctor’s office feeling exhausted, foggy, and like a stranger in your own body, they run labs and compare your results to something called “normal range.” What most people don’t realize is that normal range is just a statistical equation, it’s set to include 90% of the population. It has nothing to do with optimal. It has nothing to do with feeling good. And frankly, I’d argue that 90% of people are not thriving.So when your doctor looks up from your labs and says “everything looks fine”, they may be technically correct by that standard. But you know you’re not fine. That’s not in your head.The other critical difference: traditional medicine is built around managing symptoms. Fatigue? Here’s an antidepressant. Can’t sleep? Here’s a sleeping pill. Anxious? Here’s another prescription. Nothing wrong with treating symptoms when needed, but if we never ask why those symptoms are there, we’re just putting a very expensive band-aid on a problem that keeps growing underneath.Functional medicine starts with a completely different question: what is causing this? We dig into root causes, hormone imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, inflammation, toxin burden, gut health, stress, and we interpret your labs looking for optimal function, not just “not abnormal.”Same labs. Completely different lens. Completely different outcomes.
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Bioidentical hormones are molecularly identical to the hormones your body produces naturally, derived from plant sources like yams and soy. Conventional HRT often uses synthetic hormones or hormones from animal sources (like pregnant mare urine in Premarin) that are similar but not identical to human hormones. Bioidentical hormones can be customized to your specific needs and typically have fewer side effects because your body recognizes them as identical to what it produces.
“I feel like I’ve got a new lease on life — a way of feeling I didn’t think was possible at this point in my life.”
— Heidi A., Woodstock, IL
You Don’t Have to Keep Guessing.
If you’re ready to understand what’s really going on in your body — and to work with a team that will actually look — we’re here.