Menopause and Chinese Medicine

Menopause and Chinese Medicine
The Chinese medicine conception of menopause falls into a greater philosophy of the natural processes of life. During menopause, changes occur in which the female body preserves blood and energy to sustain life. Menstruation and pregnancy actually takes a great toll on the woman’s body and nature recognizes the need to conserve once a healthy conception is no longer likely.
Chinese medicine holds the belief that the blood and energy is actually redirected toward nourishing the spirit and development of wisdom. This theme is found in qi gong practice and the principles of lifestyle which promote longevity according to ancient Chinese wisdom.
During menopause, unpleasant symptoms occur when lifestyle, constitution, degree of stress and diet have been or are unhealthful or inappropriate for the patient’s body constitution. When the body is already somewhat out of balance and then there is a major shift, of course there will be signs and symptoms. The most significant tenant of Chinese medicine is to treat the patient preventatively, before they have symptoms, rather than wait until the energy of treatment has to be devoted to managing symptoms. It is much easier to restore balance when the disharmony is at its beginning. As a Chinese medicine practitioner, I recommend getting the body prepared for menopause with herbs and acupuncture before symptoms arise.
Let’s look at what happens during menopause from the Chinese medicine perspective. There are meridians which go directly to the uterus. These meridians carry qi and blood to the uterus to provide nourishment to the fetus and to store blood for menstruation. During menopause the woman’s body stops filling up these meridians because they are no longer necessary for the production and nourishment of a fetus. That qi and blood can be better utilized elsewhere in the body. This is the body’s way of conserving the life force.
Problems arise when there is deficiency or excess or other imbalances in other areas of the body. This transition of menopause can be affected in many ways. Particularly, hot flashes rise up because there is a deficiency of yin. Yin and yang are the opposite forces in life which need to keep each other in check. Lifestyles, overwork, stress and chemicals damage yin which leaves the yang unchecked. The tendency of yang is to rise up and that is called a hot flash. The cold which follows that is a result of yang which has been lost through the surging. If treated with herbal medicine and acupuncture, these symptoms subside and the longevity of the patient is preserved. Ideally, the patient who wants to prevent these affects will come in for balancing before the unpleasant symptoms occur.
Anxiety, nervousness, and insomnia are other common symptom of menopause. Again heat can rise up and can be exacerbated by excessive sweating, blood loss from a history of heavy periods, a smoking habit or other yin damaging substances. This is treatable with herbal substances which nourish yin and balance yin, blood, qi and yang as appropriate for each individual patient. The main thing to understand is that every person is different and there are different factors involved which influence how the symptoms prevent. These differences are well understood in Chinese medicine and all are treatable.
Nancy Brem L. Ac