Acupuncture for Menopause & PMS
Chinese medicine has helped women's health for more than a thousand years, specifically acupuncture. Acupuncture helps to remove the energy blockages and stabilize hormonal fluctuations, along with providing a deep relaxation to help calm the mind and body. Acupuncture helps regulate the flow of energy and substances within the body. That stimulates the body's natural functions and encourages optimum energy balance to help a woman operate to her full capacity.
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Acupuncture Theory
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The basis of Chinese medicine and acupuncture is that a life energy in the body, known to Orientals as Qi energy, runs through meridians, which are channels that connect the body's organs, including reproductive organs. Based on Chinese theories, illness occurs when the flow of energy in the body's meridians are imbalanced. Acupuncture stimulates points at the skin's surface in order to alter biochemical and physiological processes to restore balance to the meridian energy flow.
Menopause
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Menopause is the transitional period where a woman's body is working toward the cessation of ovulation for the rest of her life. Chinese theory sees this stage as a woman transitioning from a mother to an enlightened and wise being. The process of menopause can take anywhere from a few months to a few years. The normal treatment for menopausal symptoms, which include hot flashes, mood swings, night sweats, insomnia, memory loss, vaginal dryness, fatigue, headaches, joint pain and weight gain, is hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The problem with HRT is that while it may help prevent osteoporosis in women, the hormones also increase the risks of ovarian, uterine and breast cancers, along with many harmful side effects.
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Acupuncture and Menopause
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According to Chinese medical theory, menopause is when a woman's body begins to preserve energy and blood in order to sustain her vitality. Acupuncture needle placement depends on each individual woman. Because no two women experience the exact same thing during menopause, acupuncture practitioners will place the needles to specifically target the symptoms the client is experiencing.
Premenstrual Syndrome
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PMS describes many symptoms that occur seven to 10 days before a woman begins her menstrual cycle. These symptoms include irritability, crying, breast tenderness and cramps. The symptoms are due to a hormone imbalance that corrects itself a few hours after beginning menstruation. While most women experience these symptoms in a mild level for a brief amount of time, other women can experience severe symptoms that can interrupt their normal schedules including sleep, productivity and normal function.
Acupuncture and PMS
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Just like with menopause, acupuncture practitioners will design and develop a care plan based on the symptoms and the severity of the symptoms. While most women require insertion of the needles from five to 30 minutes, other women with more severe symptoms will require an hour or more a few times a week in order to help restore normal function.
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