Menopause

Chinese Medicine and Menopause

Menopause is the phase in a woman’s life when she doesn’t  have her period for more than a year. Menopause can be preceded by a period of time when the period occurs but the cycle becomes irregular. This is when the blood flow can change and symptoms that are characteristic of menopause may first start to appear. The phase that happens before menopause is called pre-menopause. When I first began practicing medicine as a doctor, the standard age for the onset of menopause was 50-55. But over the past several years, I have seen this number drop. I now more often see patients with symptoms of pre-menopause who are between 40 and 45 years old and symptoms of menopause at 45-50.
Chinese Medicine explains Menopause as a natural condition when the endocrine and nervous systems go out of balance. But from a Western medical point of view, menopause is a disease caused by a drop in estrogen and progesterone levels. Insufficient levels of these vital hormones are explained by doctors as the main cause behind the appearance of symptoms attributed to menopause.

My patients have told me that menopause makes them feel as if they are falling apart and it is no wonder since one person can experience a variety of the following symptoms during menopause: excessive sweating, flushed face, irritability, depression, anxiety, spells of anger, crying, heart palpitations, insomnia, cold hands and feet, apathy, aching joints, pain in the lower back, constipation, loose stool, bloating, weight gain, wrinkles, hair loss, and low libido. And this is just a handful of the many symptoms that I have treated over the years! Even though it seems impossible for just one person to have many or all of these symptoms of menopause, throughout the years I’ve been practicing I have met women who struggle daily with a harsh menopause.

Any Western medical treatment for menopause, be it HRT,antidepressants, or sleeping pills,will still only be symptomatic treatment that aims to relieve the symptoms of menopause and not the actual causes behind the symptoms. Very frequently these treatments can make things worse because of the side effects that accompany many of them.

So then what’s the difference between the way Chinese Medicine treats menopause, and the way Western medicine treats it? Take a look again at the long list of menopausal symptoms. Some of them appear to be completely contradictory (cold hands and feet AND excessive sweating with hot flashes), yet they are often experienced by one person. This certainly does make everything look like it’s falling apart. But if you look at the big picture using Chinese Medicine it quickly becomes apparent that it’s a complete imbalance within the body, as if all the systems and organs that are supposed to be working together are working according to their own unrestrained and wild regimen. When the body lacks balance and stability, any small thing, like a hot shower or even a negative comment about your hair can throw it out of balance even further.
Hot flashes, for example, are a typical case of when the body’s temperature regulators stop working. Imagine your thermostat at home going haywire. Outside the weather warms up and raises the temperature in the house, but instead of the thermostat turning on the A/C, it turns up the heat and makes your home a sauna. When it gets cold outside, the opposite happens – it switches on the A/C full blast until everything ices over.

The same happens in a menopausal woman’s body. A hot flash occurs when the physiological mechanisms that are supposed to cool the body stop responding. Instead of the body automatically cooling her off she feels as if she had a bucket of hot water poured over her head. However, the malfunction in this mechanism goes both ways. This is why after experiencing a hot flash, many women have chills or break into a cold sweat. This happens because the system for cooling the body has finally turned on, but since the thermo regulators don’t work right, the system is unable to stop itself and ends up overcooling the body. This process leads to the physical and psychological exhaustion of the body and mind as it goes from one extreme to the other over and over again.
These swings back and forth between hot and cold can last for months, and for some women even years! In Oriental medical terms, this is a clear cut example of Yin-Yang imbalance. Remember how I explained earlier that Yin and Yang are symbols of hot (Yang) and cold (Yin)? A healthy body that has a stable balance between the two is able to gradually make the transition from the Yang/hot part of the day (day time) to the Yin/cold part of the day (night time) when the body rests. A balanced body is able to make this transition comfortable and pleasant. In a menopausal woman this transition is sped up, and she can experience fluctuations from hot to cold as frequently as even every fifteen minutes. Yes – I’ve seen patients who have hot flashes every 15 minutes!
Disturbance in the overall balance of the body also affects the proper functioning of all the body’s systems and organs. It is no wonder that during menopause not only thermoregulation, but other functions like digestion, blood circulation,
metabolism, and the psycho-emotional state also undergo change.
Such a strong imbalance means that an acupuncturist needs to find all the mechanisms affected by the imbalance in the body, and choose the right treatment plan. I create a unique custom made plan for each patient , and in my practice this plan incorporates acupuncture points, herbal remedies and other treatments like cupping, moxa, electro-acupuncture, ear acupuncture, gu’asha, and cosmetic acupuncture.

II. New Way to Look at Menopause

Contrary to what Western doctors may say, or what advertisements would have us believe, menopause is not a disease or an illness. It is just another phase in a woman’s life. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that menopause is a protective mechanism that was created by the body to prolong a woman’s life. The childbearing period for a woman begins when she is young. Once a month, eggs are released during a carefully synchronized period of high hormone levels to increase the likelihood of pregnancy. If the woman doesn’t get pregnant, then the period starts and the cycle repeats.

Blood is the source of life for the body. After each period even a healthy woman needs time to replace the lost blood. For many women that have an irregular or heavy period, extra effort is needed to produce enough blood to have a normal period

When a woman hits the critical age between 40 and 50 years, the body starts thinking about all the blood that is lost with every period and how much energy and effort it takes to replace it. Since pregnancy at this age is no longer possible or healthy, losing precious blood is pointless. After all, such significant blood loss for no purpose simply exhausts the woman and shortens her lifespan.
By stopping periods, menopause saves the woman energy and allows her to live longer. The blood supply, then, is saved every month to help fight aging and live a longer life in betterhealth. Menopause is a beneficial transition from one phase of life to the next.

It is only in Western society that menopause has such a negative connotation and simply equals aging. Menopause is now associated with the decline of a woman’s femininity. But just because a woman can’t give birth anymore doesn’t mean she is no longer feminine!

However, there isn’t just a wide split between how Western and Chinese medicine looks at the physical effects of menopause, there is also a large divide between how the two approach the psychological aspects of menopause. Our brains are like computers that have information loaded into them, and then this information is used to control the physical body. The average American woman has years of negative messages about menopause stored in the back of her brain: how menopause is awful because her ovaries stop working, hair grows where it’s not supposed to, headaches, hot flashes – and don’t even mention a low sex drive!
It is no wonder then that when many women reach menopause the compilation of all this negative data unleashes itself as physical manifestations. The stigma surrounding menopause is a huge reason why menopause for Western women is hardly ever a smooth transition.

But in Oriental societies there are no feelings of shame associated with menopause. Older women are respected and honored, and menopause only adds to the femininity of a woman’s body. As a result, there are much fewer cases of harsh menopausal symptoms.

This is an excerpt from my book

Integrative Medicine guide to Women’s Health.

You can find help for your Natural Health through the benefits of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine at my Rising Phoenix Acupuncture Clinic near you in Scottsdale,  located conveniently close to Paradise Valley and North Phoenix suburbs.

Healthy Menopause: A Second Spring

Menopause is a naturally occurring transition. As a physiological event, it is not a disease and it need not be accompanied by any discomfort. Indeed, statistics show that in 20% of all American women, there are no symptoms at all, and in cultures where age brings power and status to women, close to 100% of menopausal women have reported no symptoms. (Lyttleton, Jane, op.cit., p. 5)

However, in Western societies where older women are less valued and respected than their younger sisters, approximately 80% of women do have symptoms, ranging from mild and quite transient to severe and debilitating.

Going through menopause does not automatically mean that symptoms will arise. Just on the Physical level, if a woman’s diet is good, if she exercises moderately but regularly, if she limits stress in her life where possible and has an effective way of dealing with stress when it does arise, that woman is less likely to experience symptoms when she reaches menopause or at any other time for that matter! There are women who sail through menopause with little or no discomfort whatsoever.

Menopausal women need not believe that they are doomed to years of hormonal nightmare. Pre-menopausal women need not anticipate with dread the menopausal years. All women, however, need to act with intelligence to bring their being into a state of health whereby menopausal discomforts may be reduced or eliminated. On the one hand, it I important for all of us to recognize and accept the facts of aging and decline. These are part of the human condition and used to be accepted as such. On the other hand, we need not believe that either menopause of the post-menopausal years doom us to several decades of excessive and continual suffering. It is up to us to determine how these years will be experienced, and it is up to us to act upon that determination.

Acupuncture

Many menopausal complaints respond very well to correctly prescribed and administered acupuncture. Acupuncture also includes several other methods of stimulating acupuncture points, thus regulating the flow of qi in the body. The main other modality is moxibustion. This means the warming of acupuncture points mainly by burning dried, aged Oriental mugwort on, near, or over acupuncture points. The purposes of this warming treatment are: 1) to even more strongly stimulate the flow of qi and blood, 2) add warmth to areas of body which are too cold, and 3) add yang qi to the body to supplement a yang qi deficiency. Other acupuncture modalities are to apply suction cups over points, to prick the points to allow a drop or two of blood to exit, to apply Chinese medicinals to the points, to apply magnets to the points, and to stimulate the points by either electricity or laser.

One of the best things about the acupuncture treatment of menopausal complaints I that its effects are often immediate. Since many of the mechanisms of menopausal syndrome have to do with stuck qi, as soon as the qi is made to flow, the symptoms disappear. Therefore, many patients begin to feel better after the very first treatment.

Patients with irritability and nervous tension will feel an immediate relief of these symptoms while still on the table. Typically, one will feel a pronounced tranquillity and relaxation within five to ten minutes of the insertion of the needles. Many patients do drop off to sleep for a few minutes while the needles are in place.

In China, acupuncture treatments are given every day of every other day, three to five times a week depending on the nature and severity of the condition. In the West however, health care delivery differs greatly form China, making it financially unfeasible for most patients to receive as many treatments per week. Western patients suffering from menopausal complaints typically respond very well to acupuncture treatment performed twice a week for another several weeks. After that, a maintenance course of monthly sessions is highly recommended. In severe, stubborn cases, acupuncture treatment may have to continue for several months. In general, one can expect their improvement from acupuncture to be gradual and progressive. Based on my clinical experience, if acupuncture is combined with diet and life-style changes, Chinese herbs, and a selection of the self-care treatments recommended above the results will be even quicker and the relief of symptoms even more complete.

Chinese Herbal Medicine for Menopause

Chinese herbal medicine is one of the most effective natural methods of treating menopausal complaints or preventing their arisal. Studies on the effectiveness of herbal medicine for treating menopausal women for a variety of symptoms are written about in Traditional Chinese Medical journals on a regular basis. Typical amelioration rates of these studies are in the 80-95% range. In professionally practiced Chinese medicine, herbs are rarely used singly. Most formulas, whether prepared as a powder, pill, tincture, or tea are a combination of from six to twenty herbs.

Herbs are effective in cases of vacuity because they can actually add qi, blood, yin, and/or yang to the body. Since most menopausal health issues relate to the blood and yin and to insufficiency or vacuity, herbs are often an appropriate choice. Herbs have the added advantage of being whole and biochemically complex substances made up of a balance of various synergistic chemical parts and hormone precursors. This means that they are easier for the body to utilize than single, synthesized drugs, and that in turn means they are less likely to cause side effects.

However, such freedom from side effects is based on correct administration in turn based on a correct professional diagnosis.

This is why it is usually a good idea not to self-medicate. Do not make the mistake of thinking that since herbal medicines are natural substances, herbs are completely benign. The wrong herbs or the wrong dosage can make a person sick or worsen their health.

So if you are seriously interested in taking herbs for preventive of remedial menopausal care, it is wise to seek professional assistance in choosing the appropriate formulas.

One of the best things about the acupuncture treatment of menopausal complains is that its effects are often immediate. Since many of the mechanisms of menopausal syndrome have to do with stuck qi, as soon as the qi is made to flow, the symptoms begin to feel better after the very first treatment.

Patients with irritability and nervous tension will feel an immediate relief while still on the table. Typically, one will feel a pronounced tranquillity and relaxation within five to ten minutes of the insertion of the needles. Many patients do drop off to sleep for a few minutes while the needles are in place.