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Family Acupuncture Log
with Kay Madsen, Licensed Acupuncturist
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"Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night."
Hal Borland
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Nourishing Your Yin
In the feature article, I discuss how a so-called yin deficiency can make menopause uncomfortable. I always like to give self help advice where I can. Here's the catch. Yin deficiencies tend to build slowly over a life time. If you are already of menopausal age and suffering symptoms, simply making a few lifestyle adjustments is not likely to help much.
The stronger interventions of acupuncture and Chinese herbal therapy will change your experience more dramatically than anything else I know. Further, as much as I would love to direct you to a "menopausal herbal formula," that's not how it works. Unlike western herbs, we aren't aiming to manipulate hormones, but to nourish yin. (Men can have yin deficiency too, so there is overlap in herbal strategies.)
Chinese herbal therapy for menopausal symptoms would be based on a general diagnosis of "yin deficiency," but would also be further refined to match your individual experience. It is fundamentally necessary to be evaluated by a professional to determine the appropriate herbs to use.
As for lifestyle advice, this story probably serves more as a cautionary tale to younger women. Living a balanced, wholesome life while young will make menopause a smooth sail down the road. So, do what your grandmothers tell you. Eat right. Get plenty of sleep. Whether in relationships or careers, remember to seek your bliss. Balance work and rest. When life gets dramatic, remember to breathe and let your upset go before it kills you.
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October has always been my favorite month, so I welcome it with open arms. It could be the crispness in the air. Or perhaps it's the magnificent sugar maples displaying their best yellows, oranges and reds. Maybe it's the allure of Halloween and seeing my daughter revel in the fun of it all. My birthday comes early in the month, so maybe that's the ticket to my inner sense of quiet joy.
Ordinarily, I don't make much of a fuss over the anniversary of my birth. The years come and go, as I embrace the philosophy of being as young as I feel. This year the calendar graced me with a big round number - 50 to be precise. This number bears significance beyond how I look or how my body is holding up against the ravages of time. I'm in a phase of transition in my life cycle. It's the time of menopause. A time to release my bygone youth and to embrace the grace of maturity. I am beginning the autumn of my own life.
Given the seasonal resonance for me, it seems appropriate to share the wisdom of Chinese medicine as it pertains to women everywhere going through this change of life.
Enjoy the feature article below and be well! And for the guys, share this with the women you love.
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Sailing Through Menopause How Chinese Medicine Can Help
Menopause isn't necessarily something most women relish. Horror stories of hot flashes, night sweats and intractable insomnia certainly don't help us joyously anticipate this transition. But there is a way to experience this rite of passage with comfort.
It's All Natural
Like all stages of our reproductive lives, menopause is a natural process. It is not a disease or disorder in need of a cure. We are hardwired to stop ovulating, menstruating and bearing children well before our lives end. According to the Chinese medical classics, our physical maturation progresses in cycles of 7 years for women (8 years for men). Following this schedule, women should start menopause some time around their 49th year. If a woman enjoys balanced health, this process should be fairly seamless. Her periods become less frequent and then simply stop. No big fanfare or horrible symptoms. No need for drugs to replace hormones. And for many women in Asia, this is how it plays out.
Menopause Gone Wrong
Here in America there is a slightly different story. Menopause often carries with it so many troublesome symptoms that we are compelled to treat it as a pathological medical condition. The standard medical approach is hormone replacement, either synthetic or natural. This works well for some. There are, however, many women who either do not want to, or for medical reasons, can't take hormones. These women are left to tough it out on their own until age advances enough to let it pass. This leaves a lot of women suffering, sometimes quite profoundly, for way too long.
In recent years, the use of several herbal and other natural remedies to ease menopausal symptoms has become popular. Black cohosh, red clover, and soy isoflavones are common examples. To the extent they work, it is because of their estrogenic effect in the body. This quality is also what compels doctors to advise against them for certain at risk women. Again, the only answer given is go home and tough it out.
The Chinese Medical Approach
Fortunately, Chinese medicine offers very effective and safe relief. It's a fundamentally different approach. The focus is not in restoring lost hormones. Rather we reestablish the balance between yin and yang. Huh? OK. That's a pretty foreign idea and a little hard to explain to the western mind.
Yin and yang are not really substantive things in and of themselves. They are simply terms used to describe the phenomena of the world in relative terms. In Chinese iconography, yin is the shady side of a mountain and yang is the sunny side of the same mountain. In the human body, yin aspects are more substantive, deep, cool, moist, dark, quiet, and still. Yang aspects are more light, etherial, superficial, warm, dry, bright, noisy, and active.
Put very simply, we acupuncturists assess human health in terms of our yin and yang aspects. Symptoms arise when yin and yang are not in proper balance with each other. When menopause comes with hot flashes, dryness, insomnia, night sweats, headaches, or emotional volatility, it is an unchecked expression of yang due to a deficiency of yin. Unfortunately, the hard charging, overworked, sleep deprived, stress loaded lifestyle our culture favors tends to induce this yin deficiency. Because yin deficiency is so pervasive in our society, it is no small wonder why women here suffer more through menopause.
Fortunately, acupuncture and Chinese herbs are extremely effective in correcting this imbalance, giving women the drug free relief they seek.
Embracing the Change of Personal Seasons
When menopause is returned to it's natural asymptomatic state, a woman can embrace the value of this life change. Being freed from the intense passions of youth allows a life to be led by wisdom. Reflecting upon the lessons we learned from our youthful ambitions and adventures, we can serve as wise pillars of strength to our families and communities. Leaving behind the showy floweriness of summer, it is the autumn of our lives. We are as beautiful as the maples, resplendent in their reds and golds.
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ABOUT ME
After leaving behind a decade of practicing as an attorney, I received my Masters of Acupuncture in 2002 from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute in Columbia, Maryland. It certainly was an interesting career shift! Every day I am increasingly grateful to do this amazing work. I guess I still use some of my old attorney skills to piece together every patient's experiences to create a new picture of their health concerns from a Chinese medical perspective. From there we fashion a strategy toward healing together. It never gets old to watch a person's sufferings unravel. Sure beats interpreting government regulations for a living!
I keep balance in my own life by sharing my love of outdoor experiences with my husband and daughter. Camping, hiking and critter watching are much loved family activities. It's important to me to see that my daughter learns to attune herself to the movement of the seasons and the many lessons they offer, so that she can appreciate balance from an early age.
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Suite 204
Silver Spring, MD 20906
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Kay Madsen, M.Ac., L.Ac., Dipl.Ac. (NCCAOM)
Licensed Acupuncturist
13415 Connecticut Ave.
Suite 204
Silver Spring, MD 20906
(240) 393-5420
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Copyright � 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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