In Chisense Clinic, traditional Chinese acupuncture technique is the main method to treat clients who are suffering from menopause symptoms, which has seen as a efficient alternative treatment comparing with conventional medicine approach HRT.
Menopause treated by Acupuncture
The principle of TCM acupuncture for menopause treatment, is to improve energy flow and blood circulation throughout the body internally, nourishing the kidney essence deficiency, relaxing anxiety, warming the Kidney Yang, invigorating the spleen, soothing the heart, calming down excessive heat in the liver.
There are 3 main types of menopause which can be treated by acupuncture efficiently with traditional Chinese medicine.
- Deficiency of Kidney Yin
Dizziness, headache, tinnitus, soreness and weakness of lumbar and knees, irritability, sweating accompanied by palpitations, sleeplessness, poor memory, feverish sensation over the chest, palms and soles, dryness of eyes, absent-mindedness, mental disorder and fear, irregular menstruation with a small amount of purplish-red and dripping menstrual flow, red tongue with little coating, thin and rapid pulse, or itching, crawling or numbness of the skin and even convulsions.
- Deficiency of Kidney Yang
Hypo-menorrhea with light-coloured and thin menses, delayed menstrual cycles, loose stool/diarrhoea, poly-uria/frequency of urine during the night, thin discharge, aversion to cold, poor appetite, soreness and weakness of lumbar and knees, tight sensation in the chest, coldness of the back, bearing-down sensation of pudenda, listlessness, apathy, pale tongue and deep and weak pulse.
- Deficiency of both Kidney Yin and Yang
Sometimes hypo menorrhea or hyper menorrhea, menstruation cycles irregular, sometimes hot, sometimes cold, hot flashes, dizziness, tinnitus, poor memory, coldness and soreness of back and lumbar, pale tongue and thin coating.
Menopause symptoms
During the menopause/perimenopause years, hormonal fluctuation brings women significant bodily changes, with such symptoms as follows.
Irregular periods, a sensation of heat in the body/hot flushes, sweating, irritability, dizziness, tinnitus, diarrhoea, lassitude/tiredness/ restless, infertility problems, vaginal dryness and atrophy, bladder control problems, insomnia/disrupted sleep, palpitations, weight gain, wrinkling and loss of muscle tone and headaches.
Other physical signs you may notice are: breast tenderness, gastrointestinal distress and nausea, tingling or itchy skin, “buzzing” in your head, feeling bloated, light-headedness, sore joints/muscles, hair loss or thinning, increase in facial hair and changes in body odour.
Menopause explained by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
In traditional Chinese medicine, the body is seen as an integrated system of various organs reflected by the 14 main meridian channels. If energy (Chi, Qi) is blocked along any of those meridian lines, it will bring a health imbalance to our body.
Menopause syndrome is mainly caused by Kidney Yin deficiency or Kidney Yang deficiency resulting from the using up of kidney-essence.
A woman’s body, during the menopause period, starts aging in a new way. The Kidney-Essence, Kidney Qi/Chi, gradually decline and Yin/Yang becomes imbalanced. Kidney Chi/Qi deficiency, and Yin Yang imbalance, can lead to subsequent erratic results on other body organs, excessive heat in the liver flows upward, resulting in Chi/Qi stagnation of Liver. The body’s defensive Qi/Chi reduces correspondingly.
From the principle of the Five Elements theory, this Deficiency of Kidney Yin means the heart and liver cannot be fully nourished, leading to hyperactivity of Fire of the Heart and Liver, this also causes disharmony of the heart and spleen.
The most well-known symptom of the menopause is the “hot flush”. TCM views the reason to be a deficiency of kidney Yin as well as excessive heat in Liver.
Why do we choose an acupuncture for menopause not HRT?
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is commonly used for the menopause in modern medicine. Some believe that HRT can be good for improving hot flushes and preventing osteoporosis, but HRT also increases the risk of breast, ovarian and uterine cancer, and has many significant side-effects.
In China, many women who suffer from infertility, mastitis, irregular menstruation/menoxenia, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease, prolapsed uterus, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, as well as menopause, benefit from acupuncture treatments.
Acupuncture is a no side-effect treatment.
Inserting a fine sterilized used-once-only needle into a specific point on the body, at a spot where the Chinese medicine practitioners have practiced for centuries, is aiming to improve the flow of body energy (Chi/Qi) and the blood circulation. Once those circuits work well, any local organs and tissues in our body can have enough supplements delivered by this increased circulation of blood and Chi (energy). Otherwise, those blockages can cause our body to succumb to illness.
Menopause syndrome contains two important keys— Liver depression and Qi stagnation, and excessive heat (fire) flows upward when it should be released downwards.
Acupuncture’s strength is that it is a great method for correcting liver depression qi stagnation and symptoms of erroneously counter-flowing qi. The regulation and rectification of body Chi/Qi flow, gives acupuncture an irreplaceable position among the many complementary therapies.
Acupuncture is helpful in balancing the Qi and in strengthening internal organ systems.
How much does acupuncture for Menopause treatment cost?
Although, in China, acupuncture treatments can be given as often as on a daily base (depending on the severity), in the West, clients suffering from menopause complaints, mostly respond very well to acupuncture treatment performed twice a week for the first 3 weeks, and following up with once a week for around 4 weeks. After this course, a monthly maintenance session is highly recommended as liver depression can be a recurrent condition.
In general, a noticeable result can be seen after 6-7 sessions of acupuncture treatment. In some stubborn cases, acupuncture treatment may take a few months.
During the acupuncture treatment period, we prefer you to follow certain dietary and lifestyle advice to provide you with the best results.
Chisense Health Beauty clinic is a Chi oriented holistic health beauty practice in Aldgate, City, Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Bishopsgate, Central East London area. Our treatments focus on using alternative natural methods rather than simply removing symptoms only. We offer all types of traditional Chinese medicine therapies such as acupuncture, Tuina massage, cupping detox, Guasha, Reflexology, Acupressure, Acupuncture in ears (auricular therapy).