Going into menopause shouldn’t be a time to be feared.

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Many women find a new vocation, with children out of the house or getting older many women feel like they can finally have some time to spend on themselves. Some women choose to go back to school, others pick a class or two to learn something new. So whether you pick up a brush to paint for the first time or decide to take longer vacations. This period in a woman’s life should be met with excitement, not angst, with joy, not fear. Let’s talk a little about how we can make this part of life and easy and smooth transition.

First, Menopause is not a punishment or a disease it is a completely natural biological process, and therefore not a problem to solve. Although it concludes the time in a woman’s life for fertility, you can stay healthy, vital and maintain a healthy weight in your 50s and well beyond. That being said, there is generally a hormonal shift that occurs in women during menopause that may lead to mood swings, hot flashes, insomnia and other common symptoms. The symptoms are the result of a decreased production of estrogen and progesterone in your ovaries as ovulation stops and menstruation ceases.

In Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) most menopausal symptoms belong to functional disorders which are a result of disrupted hormones balance. As a result of ongoing changes and shifts happening throughout the body, there are many influential factors involved which give rise to many different symptoms. Intensity and frequency can vary from women to women and Chinese medicine views every case independently and treats accordingly to the individual, in this way we can create a very targeted and individualized treatment plan using Acupuncture, herbs, nutrition and lifestyle changes. Common symptoms treated with Acupuncture and herbs are:

• Hot flashes and night sweats
• Mood swings, irritability, anxiety or depressive symptoms
• Vaginal dryness and decreased sex drive
• Increased abdominal fat and weight gain
• Insomnia and changes in sleep quality
• Thinning hair and dryer skin
• Going to the bathroom more often

Now you may be thinking, what happened to a new beginning? Do I really have to go through all of this in order to start fresh?

Well, not quite. As mentioned early, every woman will experience menopause differently. For some, it will be easier and for others, it will be a little more challenging, but that’s why we are here to support you through the process.

Don’t sweat the Hot flushes! A study of 209  menopausal women who had at least four hot flushes or night sweats per day, and then put them into two groups for acupuncture treatment. One group was treated for the first six months and then followed for another six months. The other group received treatment in the second six months instead of in the first six months. Each woman could receive 20 treatments within their 6-month slot, and they recorded the frequency and severity of their symptoms in a daily diary.

The outcome was that the frequency of hot flushes and night sweats decreased by more than 30% per day in both groups, which lasted for at least six months after the treatments stopped. The researchers noted that the effects were often seen after at least 8 treatments were received.

The benefits don’t stop there! Many women also have changes in mood whilst their body goes through an adjustment period. Many women report becoming anxious or depressed as they enter menopause and although Antidepressants are the common therapy for this, they do come with side effects and may not actually help for some women. Acupuncture can be a great natural alternative and can also be used in conjunction with conventional treatment. In a study done on 25 Women who had menopausal symptoms such as anxiety and depression for a year. Patients were treated two times a week for four to six treatments, then once a week for another four to six weeks, and then once a month for maintaining results.

The outcome was that 10 patients experienced complete relief from symptoms such as anxiety and depression and stopped taking their medication, while the other 15 experienced a noticeable reduction of symptoms and decreased their intake of antidepressants or sedatives.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting great measurable results when using alternative therapies such as Acupuncture and Chinese medicine. When we add additional treatments such as nutritional changes, meditation/mindfulness, exercise, supplements we can often see relief come faster for many of our female clients going through this phase in there life. At Muscle and Bone, we use a multimodality approach and create a treatment program to help suit your needs and get you back to doing what you love, living the next phase of your life.

Sources:

http://journals.lww.com/menopausejournal/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2016&issue=06000&article=00008&type=abstract

https://www.acupuncture.org.uk/a-to-z-of-conditions/public-review-papers/menopause-and-acupuncture-the-evidence-for-effectiveness.html