Acupuncture To Help Menopause

An expert has confirmed that acupuncture significantly reduces menopausal symptoms.

16:45 07 March 2016

Dr Carolyn Ee of Melbourne University in Australia has conducted a study to determine whether or not acupuncture helps reduce menopausal symptoms. Her experiment revealed that the answer to this question is yes.

 

Dr EE reacted to the study that was participated by 327 Australian menopausal women who experienced at least seven moderate hot flushes a day. Half of the women received 10 treatments of standard acupuncture over eight weeks while the other half got a sham version with no needle insertion.

 

Both groups reported 40per cent reduction of hot flushes and improved quality of life.

 

Dr JoAnn V Pinkerton, executive director of The North American ­Menopause Society, commented: “Most trials, including this most recent larger one, which compared acupuncture to a sham, found no significant difference in hot flash frequency or severity between the two treatments.

 

“In the 2015 North American ­Menopause Society review of non-hormonal therapies for hot flushes, we state acupuncture can’t be recommended for their treatment.”

 

But Dr Ee said: “There’s very strong evidence that (acupuncture) is superior to sham acupuncture for chronic pain, including osteoarthritis, lower back pain, neck and elbow pain.

 

“It’s also effective for tension ­headaches, period pain and hayfever.”

 

“However, some women may choose to continue having ­acupuncture if they have found that nothing else works for them, or if they cannot tolerate hormone-replacement therapy or other treatments.”