Acupuncture, Diet & Chinese Massage help Menopausal Symptoms

Acupuncture research from Italy.
Researchers in Italy have concluded that acupuncture, dietary therapy and Chinese massage (tuina) can be used to treat hot flushes and other symptoms in postmenopausal women. They recruited one hundred women in spontaneous menopause and with at least three episodes of hot flushes daily, and randomly allocated them to one of two groups. The first group received dietary advice, self-massage training and acupuncture. The second group received the same interventions except that their acupuncture commenced six weeks after enrollment into the study. Acupuncture was given twice a week for six weeks.

Acupuncture was found to significantly reduce the occurrence of hot flushes and sudden sweating, but other symptoms which improved included sleep disorders, irritability, depression, bone pain and tightness of the chest.

(Acupuncture and traditional Chinese Medicine for hot flushes in menopause: a randomized trial. Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 8 July 2014.)

Author: Robin Costello

I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training. I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.