Acupuncture Can Support Women’s Health – here’s how
Acupuncture supports women’s health by nourishing us when we’re sick. Acupuncture reduces that which causes pain, stress and tightness. It can support women through all of the stages of life from puberty (acne, painful periods and stress) to pregnancy (nausea, fatigue) to perimenopause (nightsweats, insomnia) and into our senior years. It’s tradition dates back thousands of years and has been proven effective for most health conditions through clinical applications. It supports women’s health by regulating yin and yang, helping to bring the whole body back into balance.
Acupuncture addresses most health conditions by not only treating the symptoms a patient experiences, but by getting to the root of the problem.
Targeted acupuncture points are used specific to each patient’s needs. Because we are all unique beings, an acupuncturist will determine a treatment that is patient-focused. Perhaps your acupuncturist will choose to open the meridian channels to clear stagnation that is causing stiffness or pain. Or they may bring awareness to the body’s nervous system to help promote healing to an injury. Acupuncture can also tonify your body’s qi to boost vitality. When creating an acupuncture treatment specifically for your needs, your acupuncturist may also include a combination of other modalities such as cupping, Moxa, dietary therapy, and tuina massage. These treatments help the body figure out what it needs to do to get better.
When a female patient comes in feeling tired because of a heavy period or lack of sleep from insomnia, we often use the point Stomach 36 (Zusanli) found on the lower leg to help tonify qi and boost her vitality. When patients are stressed and feeling pain, targeting points on the foot and hand can be helpful to eliminate that pain and calm the body and mind.
Here is an example of fire cupping. Great for muscle tension, stress and pain!
How Acupuncture can support young women through puberty
The teenage years are full of major shifts and surges in hormone levels and the start of a young woman’s monthly menses. Many teenagers and young women struggle with the uncomfortable symptoms that can sometimes accompany menstruation, experiencing bad cramps, heavy bleeding, emotional outbursts, and/or acne. Acupuncture CAN help. When I see young women at the Women’s Health Centre for help with uncomfortable menstruation symptoms, we often set a plan for treatment over a few months, targeting the week before menstruation and often adding some food and lifestyle recommendations to help. Acupuncture can address that which is out of balance in the body, so that the body is not so overwhelmed and can regulate things more quickly.
How Acupuncture can support women through fertility and pregnancy
Acupuncture can be very helpful for women having trouble with conception by regulating the monthly period and boosting qi and yang needed for the fetus to grow to term. It is often used in conjunction with other modalities such as Chinese herbal medicine and can be complimentary for women going through medical procedures such as implantation and IVF.
Acupuncture can help women who are suffering from a lot of nausea and vomiting through the first trimester of their pregnancy as well as helping with constipation and muscular pain that may come during the 2nd and 3rd trimester. It can also support women preparing for labour or babies that are breach.
How Acupuncture can help women going into menopause
Acupuncture can help reduce the uncomfortable symptoms of perimenpause and menopause that many women experience by nourishing yin to support the increase of yang. What does that mean? Simply put, we are asking your body to reduce the surge of heat that is causes nightsweats and hot flushes by freeing qi flow through the channels and/or tapping into points that will help cool and moisten the body.
Other issues through perimenopause such as insomnia, constipation, memory issues, and fatigue can be treated very well with a few regular acupuncture treatments and often some simple recommendations for lifestyle and diet.
Cindy is a registered acupuncturist, certified Pilates instructor, holistic nutritionist and a foodie. She works with her patients to support their whole body health, emphasizing self care, living a positive life and nourishing the body and mind. Cindy is the owner/creator of My Fit Over 50, a website dedicated to health of women through menopause.