Oriental Medicine &
Menopause / Hot Flashes
By Justin Jaucian
Q: Help! I’m a 48-year old woman who is going through menopause and I’ve been experiencing pretty severe hot flashes. It’s gotten to the point where even during the day my body temperature feels so high. I’ve heard acupuncture can be helpful for this condition—can you provide details? –SC
A: You’re definitely not alone going through this! It’s estimated that 75-85% of women transitioning out of their childbearing years will experience some degree of hot flashes. Some even continue to experience them years after menopause has finished.
Additionally, hot flashes may develop in younger women undergoing treatment for breast cancer as a side effect of chemotherapy drugs and/or hormone interruption drugs.
The good news is that the modalities of Oriental Medicine (OM) - especially acupuncture and medicinal herbs - can offer women potentially significant help in this. Gynecology has existed as a specialty within this healing system for centuries; texts which date back almost eighteen hundred years contain medicinal formulas to treat what is now recognized as uterine fibroids.
OM views health as the dynamic balance of forces known as Yin and Yang. Yin refers to the female energies: cool, resting, water, moon, mother, nurturing, etc. What would the Yang counterparts be? See the end of the article for the answers.
Hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and other yang symptoms develop when the cooling yin energies are relatively ‘deficient’, thus giving rise to what we may generalize as a pattern of heat. The plot thickens when we begin to consider that heat may be present in one or more Organ Systems such as the heart, stomach, spleen, lungs, and kidney in varying degrees depending on lifestyle and constitution. Additionally, the heat may be ‘excess’, ‘deficient’, or some combination of the two. These specifics are important for the practitioner, for they determine which acupuncture points and medicinal herbs are to be employed in treatment.
As with all medical systems, individual response will vary. Expect to invest a minimum of one month with treatment, which will likely consist of weekly acupuncture sessions and daily therapy with medicinal herbs. As the body shifts back into balance, treatment structure can eventually progress to monthly or seasonal ‘maintenance’ sessions.
Have a question you want to Ask Your Acupuncturist? Contact Justin at In Balance Center for Living 908.369.4949 or shiningsource@gmail.com.
Justin Jaucian is In Balance Center for Living’s in-house acupuncturist and medicinal herbalist. He has been in practice since 2002 and teaches weekly Qi Gong classes at the Center. Justin currently offers a free 20 minute consultation to those interested in acupuncture, medicinal herbs, and other modalities of Oriental Medicine. Contact In Balance Center today to set your Free consultation with Justin!
Yang complements to the above: warm, moving, sun, father, activating.
