A 52-year-old woman came to our clinic complaining of severe hot flashes and night sweats related to menopause. She did not want to take hormone replacement therapy and read that acupuncture might be able to help. This hot flashes case review describes how acupuncture was able to resolve her heat symptoms and bring complete, long-lasting relief.
Hot Flashes and Menopause
Chinese medicine recognizes menopause to occur between the ages of 47 and 53. However, a woman’s hormone levels can start to fluctuate as early as age 40. These years of fluctuating hormone levels indicate perimenopause. For some, symptoms are mild and barely noticeable. However, for the majority, such variations in estrogen and progesterone levels will manifest as annoying symptoms. Here’sHere’s a list and description of the most common perimenopause symptoms.
HOT FLASHES
The classic hot flash feels like a sudden rush of heat to the face and chest. It can last a minute to 10 or 15 and repeat every hour or just once or twice a day.
NIGHT SWEATS
Night sweats are basically hot flashes at night, where you find yourself waking up drenched in sweat. They are disruptive to sleep, uncomfortable, and frustrating. In addition, sweating at night is not the same as sweating during the day. When you sweat at night, from a Chinese medicine perspective, you lose Yin fluids, which are harder to restore.
EMOTIONAL ISSUES
Anxiety, depression, irritability, anger, and mood swings are common during perimenopause. It feels like PMS, except more intense and constant.
MEMORY PROBLEMS
This category includes brain fog, unclear thinking, goldfish brain (forgetting what you were doing halfway through doing it), wandering into a room and wondering why you are there, and being unable to find the right word or name for something.
SLEEP PROBLEMS
You wake up sweaty, tired, and anxious in the middle of the night. Then worry fills your mind, making it impossible to fall back to sleep. This type of insomnia comes from a physiological imbalance called Kidney Yin deficiency, and it’s totally related to dropping hormone levels.
SEX ISSUES
This same drop in hormone levels will also reduce libido – sex drive. Other common symptoms include vaginal dryness, discomfort during sex, and more frequent urinary tract infections.
MUSCLE & JOINT PAIN
Estrogen is an anti-inflammatory hormone, so when levels drop, inflammation increases. This drop can cause muscle and joint flares.
HEADACHES AND MIGRAINES
Once again, a drop in estrogen can trigger migraines. That’sThat’s because decreased estrogen leads to reduced serotonin in the brain, which can disrupt the trigeminal nerve’s function leading to more migraines.
OTHER SYMPTOMS OF PERIMENOPAUSE CAN INCLUDE…
- Irregular periods
- More intense PMS
- Weight gain around the middle
- Hair loss
- Heart palpitations
- Sore breasts
Hot Flashes Case Review
Our patient in this hot flashes case review had stopped her period twelve months earlier, at which time menopause symptoms increased dramatically. Her most significant issues were hot flashes and night sweats, which came every hour all day and night. She was exhausted, frustrated, and depressed with her situation.
Hot Flashes Caused by Kidney Deficiency
Her pulse was thin (indicating Kidney Yin deficiency) and rapid (pointing to internal heat). Interestingly, Chinese medicine recognizes two types of heat – excess and deficient. Our patient presented with deficiency-type heat (a.k.a. empty heat), defined as heat due to a lack of coolant. Yin is the body’s natural coolant, and when it is deficient, things heat up. Menopause causes yin deficiency, leading to increased heat from hot flashes and night sweats.
The antidote to yin deficiency is to increase the amount of yin in the body. And that was part of our treatment strategy in this case. In addition, we utilized points specifically to clear heat, boost metabolism (for more energy), and promote sleep.
Hot Flashes Acupuncture Treatment
We incorporated the following acupoints into our patient’s treatment:
- KD6
- KD2
- SP6
- ST36
- LI4
- LI11
- GV14
- BL15
- BL23
- BL40
- GV20
In addition, we prescribed a Chinese herbal medicine formula that contained herbs designed to nourish Kidney yin and clear empty heat. These herbs included:
- Sheng di huang
- Shu di huang
- Ze xie
- Mu dan pi
- Xian mao
- Fu xiao mai
- He shou wu
Hot Flashes Treatment Results
Our patient had 50 percent fewer hot flashes and night sweats within four treatments. She was getting better sleep, her mood was improving, and she felt optimistic for the first time in months. We treated her an additional four times, after which she was completely better. All heat signs were gone, she was sleeping through the night, and her energy was back to normal.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbs had helped her body reestablish balance, something the hormone changes from menopause had disrupted. As a result, her body could function normally again, despite the new hormone levels. She just needed some help from the acupuncture to recalibrate and adjust.
Recalibration is what acupuncture does, not only for menopause patients but for everyone. Imbalances cause most illnesses and diseases at the organ level. Acupuncturists identify the source of imbalance and then design a treatment plan to correct it. The body has tremendous healing potential – it just needs a little redirection from time to time.
Acupuncture Versus Hormone Replacement Therapy
Many people opt to start hormone replacement therapy (HRT) when they enter menopause. HRT replaces the lost hormones, prolonging a “pre-menopause” state. Alternatively, acupuncture enables your body to move forward naturally and comfortably at the new hormone levels. Notably, doctors must stop HRT when a woman nears 60 years old, as continued hormone intervention increases the risk of breast cancer.
Next Steps
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Additional Resources
Video about our Hot Flashes Treatment
Hot Flashes Acupuncture Research
Focus Keyphrase: Hot Flashes Case Review
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What our Clients are Saying
Jade is the best!! I went from having 10-15 hot flashes a day…. Now I might get one every now and then. I’m so happy.
My husband used to be the furnace in bed every night and I was always freezing. When I turned 50 I became the furnace, and I was not happy about it! I was on my way to get hormone replacement when I got to reading about possible side effects. With that option gone, I turned to acupuncture. My niece had gone to Raleigh Acupuncture for migraines and raved about it, so I made an appointment. Holy smoke! This stuff really works!! It didn’t take but two visits before I started feeling cooler. By the time they got done with me I was back to my normal “always cold” self! Ladies, you owe it to yourselves to try this.
At 45 I started going through menopause. My periods became irregular for the first time in my life, with much more heavy bleeding and painful cramping. I started getting hot flashes and night sweats, was more irritable, and generally did not feel well. I read how acupuncture could treat menopausal syndrome (which I seemed to fit to the tee) and looked around for a practitioner. Raleigh Acupuncture seemed to have a lot of experience in this area so I gave them a try. They treated me for three months and dramatically reduced my symptoms. They used the acupuncture and chinese herbs. I am amazed at how good I feel, even better than before this trouble started in the first place. I never would have thought that acupuncture could make such positive changes in my health.
I went through menopause 10 years ago and was still having hot flashes and night sweats. I thought it would last the rest of my life. Then I tried acupuncture and within two months they were gone. Thank you Raleigh Acupuncture!
I’ve been going to Raleigh Acupuncture for 4+ years. I first went to them because I was having problems with my monthly period lasting two weeks or more, hot flashes that were extreme, and all over pain from fibromyalgia, which is a chronic pain condition. I was in a state of depression and despair, unable to work, or do things I love to do, like working in my yard. On a good day, I could perform simple household chores, perhaps a little yoga, and that was all. My first few visits brought relief from hot flashes, terrible neck pain, and wrap-around pain in my ribs that restricted my ability to breathe comfortably. I felt this was a miracle as I had suffered for many years, and had no idea it was so easily remedied. This miraculous ride continued as I took Chinese herbs for aiding my menopausal symptoms, sinus problems, anxiety, and general pain. As time went on I began to depend on Raleigh Acupuncture for psychological strengthening as well. Nowhere else have I found anyone that really listens to what I have to say without thinking I was crazy. Today, as I sit and reflect, I am about to graduate from an intense two year program for Landscape Architecture Technology. I took a huge leap when I signed up for full-time classes when I was 50 years old. I have enjoyed great success, making one B in 64 credit hours, the rest were A’s! In February of 2011, I was in a car accident where I was sandwiched between a van and a school bus. I was able to continue school and finish the semester, I believe because of my acupuncture treatments. I contribute most of my academic success, emotional well-being, and diminished pain to Raleigh Acupuncture.
