Acupuncture provides helpful support to women through menopause and perimenopause.
It is important to remember menopause is a time of transition and not a pathology. It was described by respected 20th century Chinese Medical physician Dr Shen as one of the ‘Great Gates of Life’ which women pass through (the others being puberty and for many but not all childbirth). These gates present opportunities for change, they are times when pre-existing imbalances in health and well-being can become more intrenched or alternatively be significantly improved as energy (and hormones) first imbalance and then rebalance. Personal attitude, lifestyle choices and engaging with treatments such as acupuncture can all have a positive effect on the outcome of this process.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to ease symptoms like hot flushes and night sweats, is not suitable for all women, and many simply prefer to avoid the use of drugs.
Studies show acupuncture is helpful for reducing hot flushes, night sweats and sleep disturbance, easing joint aches and managing psychological symptoms like stress and anxiety.
A Danish study published in BMJ (British Medical Journal) Open found that five weeks of acupuncture in women with menopausal symptoms reduced hot flushes, night sweats, sleep disturbances and emotional problems. Concluding: The standardised and brief acupuncture treatment produced a fast and clinically relevant reduction in moderate-to-severe menopausal symptoms during the six-week intervention. No severe adverse effects were reported.
[ https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/1/e023637 ]
Studies published in PubMed compared a group receiving acupuncture for vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes and night sweats) with a control group receiving no treatment and found that over six months of study VMS frequency declined by 36.7% in the acupuncture group and increased by 6.0% in the control group. Persistent improvements were seen in many quality of life-related outcomes in the acupuncture group relative to the control group.