There's a reason that Acupuncture in the treatment of menopause symptoms has caught on - from my experience, it works.  Many women experience menopause above age 50 that continues for almost four or five years. The symptoms range from hot flashes, anxiety, night sweats, sleep disturbances, and emotional problems due to hormonal imbalances. Ultimately, these symptoms can reduce your overall well being, and effect every part of your life.

This is where acupuncture can come into the picture.

A Natural Alternative to Hormone Replacement Therapy

Although hormone replacement therapy ("HRT") is available and effective for many, it does come with a large array of side effects, as well as increasing your risk of developing breast cancer. HRT may result in certain side effects such as dizziness, nausea, fatigue, and sleep disturbances.

Because Acupuncture is a less-invasive approach to treating your symptoms in a more cost-effective manner, more women turn to Traditional Chinese Medicine when menopause begins.  But what's equally encouraging, so that there's research to support what I've witnessed when treating patients in my clinic. 

Research to Support the Role of Acupuncture in Treating Menopausal Symptoms

A Danish study published in BMJ Open depicts that Acupuncture is a considerable option to manage your symptoms. The study found that after five weeks of Acupuncture in women with moderate to severe symptoms of menopause, they demonstrated reduced hot flashes and night sweats, less sleep disturbances, and fewer emotional problems.

Although the study had initially chosen to focus on hot flashes- a symptom that over 75% of women suffer from while going through menopause, the study showed improvements in multiple areas as well.

Background on the Research

This study constituted 70 women with moderate to severe symptoms of menopause. They first split the group in half, so that one group could act as the control group and received no intervention or treatment. The other half were given one 15-minute treatment session of Acupuncture once a week for a total of five weeks. The Acupuncturists used for the study had an average of 14 years of experience in the field.

Each of the participants in the study completed questionnaires to assess their menopause symptoms, filled out before the study began, then after week 3, and then following weeks 6, 8, 11, and then 26 weeks later. The questionnaire covered the most common menopausal symptoms: Hot flashes, sleep issues, memory changes, urinary and vaginal symptoms, and skin changes/issues.

The Conclusions: Acupuncture Showed to Be Effective

In as little as three weeks, the participants in the group receiving Acupuncture noted a decrease in hot flashes.

At the 6-week mark, 80% of the women in the Acupuncture group believed that the treatments had helped reduce their symptoms - not just their hot flashes.

So, if you’re considering to take help of Acupuncture to treat your menopause symptoms and overcome your hot flashes, consider joining women in the study, and benefit from all the ways that acupuncture treatment can help to get you feeling great again: Even though menopause is a natural part of aging, it does not mean that you need to suffer in silence.  Incorporate Acupuncture as part of your wellness journey during menopause so you can start to feel like you again.

This article was originally published here and has been republished with the author's permission.

Deanna Carell is a licensed acupuncturist and owner of Deanna Carell Acupuncture located in Nutley, NJ. She is also the co-owner of Microessence, LLC a company specializing in microneedling courses, devices and natural skin care. Deanna most recently received her Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (DAOM) from the Pacific College of Health and Science in San Diego and she received a Master’s degree from the Eastern School of Acupuncture and Traditional Medicine where she studied TCM and Kiiko style Japanese acupuncture.