Menopause and hot flashes in Chinese medicine
Morbidity associated with menopause is very common in the West. Western medicine deals with the incidence of menopause and excessive sweating by prescribing synthetic hormones. The Chinese attribute many dairy products and synthetic hormones to contribute to this problem. It should be noted that in the east hot flashes and excessive sweating are not common and there are some who are linking it to eating more soy products than dairy products in the east.
During menopause hormonal changes occur resulting from a decrease in the ovaries ability to create and secrete female sex hormones (estrogen and progesterone). These hormones play an important role directly and indirectly, in many systems in our bodies. In the absence of these hormones changes are emerging in many systems in our bodies. Some women suffer the most severe symptoms during the transition period, while others will go through the transition period with no symptoms or with very mild symptoms.
Menopausal symptoms:
- The various symptoms fall into three main groups: hot flushes, sweating and increased pulse rate.
- Other symptoms: irritability, depression, insomnia, memory loss, decreased libido and vitality, vaginal dryness, discomfort during intercourse, vaginal bleeding after intercourse and during urination.
Important!
- It is important to avoid alcohol, caffeine and spicy foods. All of these can increase the body temperature and expand small blood vessels which in turn will worsen hot flashes.
- Drink a lot, especially water. Some women report significant relief from hot flashes after drinking herbal tea.
- Wear natural fabrics and airy, avoid synthetic fibers that do not “breathe” where you tend to sweat more.
Most importantly!!
- Write in your diary when the hot flashes accrues – you may find that there is some sort of regular pattern to their appearance, which could be associated with certain activities or certain foods that you can avoid. Also, over time you will probably see that the frequency is decreasing, which will encourage you to keep going while the frequency of hot flashes continues to decrease until they will disappear completely.
Menopause and Chinese medicine:
Chinese medicine addresses this problem by balancing the yin and yang of the kidney because excess heat (hot flashes) are essentially lack of kidney fluids in the body.
We encourage patients to eat strengthens the kidney, such as beans and dark vegetables, soy milk, tofu products and cooling carbohydrates such as millet or maize/corn.
Chinese medicine has a lot to offer when it comes to menopause. Acupuncture, Chinese herbs and nutritional recommendations are very helpful in reduction of hot flashes, their intensity and frequency until they disappear completely and provide a solution also to other symptoms resulting from hormonal imbalance, such as insomnia, rapid heart palpitations, increased appetite and weight gain, fatigue, mood swings, dryness, irritation and more…
At Maoz Marpe Clinic:
We treat many cases of menopause and the results are very satisfactory and encouraging especially when a woman manages to get rid of the hormones she have consumed for a long time.
The aim of treatment is to restore balance to a woman’s body and treat the symptoms.
The treatment is tailored to each woman individually after a thorough diagnosis. No treatment is the same for two different women, even when they have the same symptoms: both acupuncture points and the Chinese herbs given varies.
