Acupuncture for hot flushes and night sweats

Patient: 

Office manager in her later 40s.

Presenting symptoms:

Menopausal hot flushes and night sweats.

Outcome: 

Reduced frequency and intensity of hot flushes and night sweats.

Dietary & lifestyle change:

Cut down on alcohol consumption, sweet and greasy foods. Visualisation was suggested to self manage episode of hot flushes at work. 

Testimonial:

Acupuncture for hot flushes & night sweats, image source

"I first decided to try acupuncture to see if it could help with my menopausal symptoms. I was having very strong, hot flushes during the day (sometimes as many as 1 per hour) and was waking during the night at least 4-5 times with very severe night sweats. My GP had declined to prescribe HRT as I had a family history of breast cancer and I had tried several natural remedies which had helped at first, but then became ineffective. The constant symptoms and lack of sleep were significantly

affecting my lifestyle .

I have received 5 sessions of acupuncture with Ivy Xu. I noticed an improvement in the night sweats almost immediately, with the number of times woken in the night reducing to 2-3 times and the severity of the symptoms considerably less.

The daytime flushes have also decreased, both in occurrence and severity. On average the symptoms occur between 5-7 times over a 16 hour period, but are more manageable because they are less severe.

Ivy has also given me advice on diet and has shown me some breathing exercises to help control the symptoms. "

Ivy's thoughts:

Hot flushes and night sweats are classic menopausal symptoms caused by a sudden drop in hormone level in the body during menopause, a reduction in Yin in traditional Chinese medicine terms. Acupuncture combined with dietary change can be very useful to make this period more manageable for women, especially those who can not receive hormone replacement therapy for health reasons. 

If you would like further information on this blog or to discuss any conditions you would like to be treated, please do not hesitate to contact me via email ivyxxu@xuclinic.co.uk.