The most common symptoms of menopause are night sweats, hot flashes, and vaginal dryness. Menopause also causes headache, fatigue, body pain, anxiety, sleeping problems, genital and urinary problems, and even depression. These symptoms make it difficult to deal with menopause.
To address them, a lot of women seek hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the most common treatment for menopause symptoms. But like other conventional treatments, HRT comes with unwanted side effects. Some of the commonly reported ones include bloating, breast swelling or tenderness, headaches, mood swings, nausea, and vaginal bleeding.
Dealing with hot flashes using acupuncture
Nearly 80 percent of women experience mild to severe hot flashes during menopause. Women usually experience hot flashes during the first four years of menopause.
Hot flashes increase blood flow in the blood vessels of your chest, neck, back, and face. Symptoms of hot flashes include body warmth, facial redness, flushing, and night sweats.
To avoid the unwanted side effects of HRT, many women now turn to holistic treatments like acupuncture for relief. Acupuncture is increasingly being recognized as a safe and reliable option for easing hot flashes.
Studies show that acupuncture reduces the severity of hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause without any side effects. Better still, it is flexible enough to cater to the needs of individual patients.
Acupuncture promotes the restoration of a balanced flow of energy in the body. To achieve this balance, certain acupuncture points or acupoints are stimulated using needles in order to release hormones and regulate the flow of energy. This stimulation induces your body to start healing naturally. (Related: A home guide to the best acupressure points for relieving cardiac problems.)
In the case of women undergoing menopause, acupuncture provides relief from hot flashes by boosting the production of endorphins, which stabilize the body's temperature control system.
Three acupuncture points for easing hot flashes
According to traditional Chinese medicine, the cause of hot flashes is a relative imbalance between the yin and yang aspects of the kidneys. These organs are said to be involved in hormonal balancing and temperature regulation. There are certain kidney-related acupoints that help address hot flashes.
Since most symptoms of menopause are linked to kidney deficiency, supporting the kidneys is essential for a successful treatment. In auricular acupuncture, there are three points along the kidney meridian that are largely effective in treating hot flashes, and they are associated with different body points:
- Kidney 1 – The KID 1 point is located on the sole, in the indentation when the foot is in plantar flexion, approximately at the point of the anterior third and the posterior two-thirds of the line from the web right between the second and third toes to the back of the heel.
- Kidney 3 – You will find the KID 3 point between the Achilles tendon and the ankle bone right on the inner side of the foot.
- Kidney 7 – KID 7 is found on the medial aspect of the lower leg, two cun right above KID 3, and anterior to the Achilles tendon.
Holistic methods of healing are best accompanied with healthy lifestyle habits, such as eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a consistent sleep-wake schedule, and staying hydrated. These can ensure an easier and smoother transition to the next phase of your life.
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