As we age, our bodies go through many changes, some more obvious than others. You might have noticed a few more grey hairs or an extra wrinkle or two, but menopause symptoms are a more serious part of aging and one that you may not recognise (or treat) so easily.
Menopause is when a woman stops having her monthly periods, marking the end of the reproductive stage of their life. It usually happens to women between the ages of 45 and 60 years, though some younger women may experience early menopause.
No longer experiencing menstrual bleeding may be hard to miss, menopause comes with a host of other symptoms that can occur in the years leading up to, during and after menopause. On average, these symptoms last around seven years (1) and for some women, when symptoms start it’s not always immediately clear they’re related to menopause. That can be confusing and make it tricky to find lasting solutions.
Common menopause symptoms
Some of the symptoms to look out for that may suggest you’re starting to experience menopause include:
Hot flushes (also known as hot flashes)
Night sweats
Muscle and joint aches
Tender breasts
Weight gain
Trouble sleeping
Low libido
Trouble with memory and focus
Hair loss
Headaches
Emotional changes including irritability, anxiety and depression
Depending on the severity of your symptoms, they can be quite disruptive to your lifestyle. So what can you do to address them? Management of menopause is mainly achieved through lifestyle changes, menopausal hormone therapy, and complementary therapies, including acupuncture.
Acupuncture treatment for menopause
Menopause effects women in different ways, so it is worth exploring various treatment options to ease your symptoms. Acupuncture can form part of symptom management for many conditions you might not expect, including long COVID and, yes, menopause.
Hot flushes and night sweats (vasomotor symptoms) are very common menopausal symptoms, affecting up to 70% of women in western cultures (1). Studies have shown that just three acupuncture sessions can reduce hot flushes and night sweats in menopausal women, and that the benefits last six months or more after treatment (3,4) This may be a good alternative to another common treatment, estrogen therapy, which can lead to side effects including breast tenderness and irregular bleeding.
Studies have also found that acupuncture can improve the psychological (depression and anxiety), somatic (sleep disturbances and insomnia), and urogenital (vaginal dryness, irritation, pain or discharge) symptoms of menopause, helping to improve your overall quality of life (5).
Post-menopausal osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a common issue in post-menopausal women and one that research suggests acupuncture may help address. Studies have revealed numerous benefits after acupuncture treatment, including increased bone mineral density (BMD), increased serum calcium and oestradiol levels, reduced serum alkaline phosphatase, and pain relief (6,7).
Can acupuncture stop menopause?
Menopause is a natural biological process and usually caused by naturally declining reproductive hormones. While it can also be brought on by things like chemotherapy, ovarian insufficiency or removal of the ovaries (8), it isn’t a medical condition that needs to be stopped or cured. The symptoms, however, can be frustrating to deal with. So, while acupuncture cannot stop or reverse menopause, it may be a helpful part of treatment that will allow you to continue living your life to the fullest.
When addressing the symptoms of menopause using acupuncture, its important to choose a practitioner you trust, to ensure you’re getting appropriate treatment that works for you.
Get in touch with our friendly team today to discuss your needs and how we may be able to help you.
Sources
1 Saunders, N., Berry, K., Acupuncture for Menopausal Symptoms, Evidence Based Acupuncture
2 Australian Menopause Centre, Menopause Symptoms, 2022
3 Avis, N, Coeytaux, R, Isom, S, Prevette, K, Morgan, T., Acupuncture in Menopause (AIM) Study: a Pragmatic, Randomized Controlled Trial, PubMed Central, 2016
4 Alfhaily F, Ewies A., Acupuncture in managing menopausal symptoms: hope or mirage?, Climacteric, 2007
5 Chiu HY, Pan CH, Shyu YK, Han BC, Tsai PS., Effects of acupuncture on menopause-related symptoms and quality of life in women in natural menopause: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, Menopause, 2015
6 Pan H, Jin R, Li M, Liu Z, Xie Q, Wang P., The Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Osteoporosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2018
7 Xu G, Xiao Q, Zhou J, et al., Acupuncture and moxibustion for primary osteoporosis: An overview of systematic review, Medicine (Baltimore), 2020
8 MayoClinic, Menopause, 2020