The Change. If you’re a woman in your 40s, you know it’s coming — and it’ll happen sooner than you realize. Thankfully, there are many options available to lessen symptoms of menopause, both from naturopathic medicine and more traditional venues. If you align yourself more with a natural approach, you may want to try acupuncture, which can have a significant impact on how easily you’re able to transition through menopause.
Causes and Symptoms of Menopause
You’re probably familiar with, or already experiencing, some of the symptoms associated with menopause: hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, fatigue, mood swings, memory loss, vaginal dryness, headaches, joint pain, and weight gain. Some women experience the increased need to urinate, while others (and their partners!) realize a decreased sexual drive. All of this is due to a chemical change in the female body, leading to a loss of estrogen.
Estrogen is a naturally occurring steroid hormone present in both males and females. Three types are present in females: estrone, estradiol, and estriol. Structurally, these estrogens promote secondary sex characteristics, accelerate metabolism, increase vaginal lubrication, and reduce bone resporption (which prevents osteoporosis). It’s no wonder that we experience so many symptoms when the level of estrogen in our bodies decreases!
Treatment Options
When we lose something, the first thought is to replace it; thus, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) became a viable option to deal with the symptoms of menopause. However, since HRT uses synthesized hormones, that option — while reducing many issues — causes a few all by itself. For many women, a more practical solution is bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), which exactly mirrors each woman’s unique biological makeup to only replace the exact ratio of hormones needed. Many naturopaths offer this option to counteract the negative effects of menopause.
HRT and BHRT treat many symptoms of menopause as a whole because they deal with the overall hormonal shift. Certainly, there are many prescription medications that can be used to manage the effects associated with a woman’s changing body during this time. But if you don’t want to fill up your body with a dozen prescriptions, why not try acupuncture?
In fact, medical literature dating back to 3 AD supports the fact that acupuncture and herbal medicine have been making a difference in women’s health for a very long time.
Acupuncture and Menopause
Each woman going through The Change will experience it differently, so there is not a blanket approach for how acupuncture can be used to lessen symptoms of menopause. A licensed acupuncturist will assess you through a series of questions and a physical exam to identify what symptoms you are experiencing. Since traditional Chinese medicine does not recognize menopause as one syndrome, it instead works to treat individual issues. Both physical and emotional symptoms can be addressed through acupuncture, and relief can happen quickly.
Support from the Medical Community
A 20-year study conducted by Susan Cohen, D.S.N. of the University of Pittsburgh found that acupuncture treatments decreased hot flashes 35% and insomnia 50%. In fact, Dr. Cohen identified that acupuncture dramatically reduced hot flashes compared to those patients receiving routine care.
The United Nations World Health Organization has approved acupuncture as a treatment for symptoms associated with menopause, and further studies to support the efficacy of this approach are underway.
Stay Healthy
In addition to any treatment plan you choose to undertake, you should always be looking at your overall health. Lose those extra pounds, get regular exercise, eat healthy food, sleep 6–8 hours a night, and reduce your overall stress. Everything works in harmony to create a whole, happy person, and while acupuncture will make a difference in lessening symptoms associated with menopause, it takes a holistic approach to really effect change.
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