The cessation of menstruation is known as menopause which often takes a certain amount of time to complete as the ovaries slowly lose their power to manufacture estrogen. The lowered amounts of estrogen in the body also reduce fertility which makes reproduction harder and harder to attain until the woman eventually has no chance of bearing children anymore. Usually a normal natural phase in a woman’s life, menopause can also be artificially induced when a woman undergoes a surgical hysterectomy, a procedure in which the uterus and ovaries are extracted from the woman’s body. On average, women start to undergo menopause by the age of 50 and a half years; in the event of premature ovarian failure, however, it can start much sooner or a bit later.
There are women who experience menopause with barely a symptom. But for most women, menopause comes with symptoms that are mild or severe and usually feature symptoms such as night sweats irritability, insomnia, and hot flashes. Other symptoms felt include mood swings, vaginal dryness, memory loss, urinary incontinence or urgency, depression, osteoporosis, fatigue, joint pain, and lowered libido. Ten years ago, estrogen replacement therapy was hailed to be an incredible treatment for the symptoms of menopause. These days less invasive therapies such as progesterone creams and bio-hormones are offered to help relieve symptoms. Since these modalities were recently released, their risks are still unknown, particularly for women who have a medical history of breast cancer.
There are other less known treatment alternatives for menopause symptoms. Chinese medicine and acupuncture in Cleveland are two of the oldest and most effective of these therapies. Their origins come from China where they have been used for thousands of years. These two holistic type of treatments have been treating women suffering from symptoms related to perimenopause and menopause for ages.
The fact that they are still being used by millions all over the world, Chinese medicine and acupuncture has been proven to be very effective treatments for menopause symptoms. How then do they work and what results can be expected from them? These two questions must be answered in order for us to understand more about the effectiveness of these two modalities for the relief of menopause symptoms.
We can start by answering first the question of what to expect from these therapies. One can expect a sense of an incredibly profound relaxation and a soothing environment. During the treatment, some women have experienced a feeling of something being released from their mind and body. This most probably is a release of stress and tension. There are others who may experience a heavy sensation, while some a slight tingling feeling. There are patients who experience an improvement of their symptoms. They now have fewer night sweats, hot flashes, or mood swings after just a single treatment. Being a natural form of self healing, the benefits that can be derived from Chinese medicine and acupuncture usually take time and multiple treatments are needed in order to derive long term and sometimes even permanent results.
How do they work? When your body suffers from an imbalance, it will eventually show in arising symptoms. Your body first suffers from an energy imbalance, which then results in the development of conditions in your body. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine treat these imbalances caused by various factors such as lack of exercise, overwork, emotional stress, diet, etc. One of the aims of these two therapies is to restore the energy balance in the body. Life choices and different life events can lead to the body’s energy disequilibrium.
Women in their perimenopausal phase gradually begin to lose their yin energy. The yin in Chinese medicine is associated with passivity. It can mean receptive energy, calm, moist, and quiet. When you start to lose yin you lose the ability to control the other aspect of energy which is yang. Chinese medicine, particularly, Chinese herbal therapy, and acupuncture can help with this energy imbalance. Certain Chinese herbs that have yin (cooling) properties can help restore balance in your body. Acupuncture, on the other hand, helps relieve the symptoms of both perimoenopause and menopause.
If you are considering acupuncture for treatment of your perimenopause or menopause symptoms and you have a history of breast cancer, you need to make sure that the acupuncturist and/or Chinese herbalist you chose is a qualified practitioner. This will guarantee you good results, if not the best. A lot of the herbs used in treating menopause/perimenopause are rich in phytoestrogens, chemicals that are contraindicated for women with a history of breast cancer. Selecting herbs that are without phytoestrogens can only be skillfully done by a qualified herbalist who is thoroughly trained in the art of Chinese herbal therapy.