Most women (and men!) are aware that hot flashes and night sweats often accompany Menopause. But what about all of the other weird, not often talked about symptoms that may occur during this life transition?
Women may experience a range of symptoms including (but not limited to):
Tinnitus
Joint pain
Brittle fingernails
UTIs
Frozen shoulder
Sleep problems
Weight gain
Palpitations
Depression/Anxiety
Painful intercourse
Easy to anger
Bone loss, osteoporosis
The good news: TCM has a Five-Element framework for understanding these symptoms and getting to the root cause of addressing the imbalance. When the body’s energy runs low, as it does during the Perimenopause/Menopause years, a good TCM practitioner will ask you to rest, conserve your energy, likely will give you Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs to support your body’s energy and meridian function. Ideally they will help you understand your body’s messages and give you tools to help manage your emotions. Additionally, energy exercises, like the classes I offer, provide perhaps the most profound healing opportunity for women since this involves the woman taking an active role in healing herself from the inside out.
Traditional Chinese Medicine was the only medicine that kept the entire Chinese civilization alive and healthy for thousands of years. Western Medicine only entered China in the 19th century. TCM has time-tested ways to support a woman through her entire adult life. For instance, it’s well known in China that after childbirth you practice “Yue Zi” which allows the mother to rest, recuperate and heal after childbirth. Generally speaking it involves staying home, keeping the body warm, resting, and supporting it with a light but highly nourishing diet.
If a woman experiences any health challenges during her life - whether that be breast cancer or during Menopause - she knows to go to the TCM department of the hospital and get herbs to support her body during that time. Even frozen shoulder has long been understood as a common presentation in Menopause and the translation for it in Chinese is literally “fifty year old shoulder”. Having frozen shoulder is a sign of a serious Qi deficiency and if not treated, could lead to deeper issues. Check out this Youtube talk given my teacher Grandmaster Nan Lu on the topic - very informative and it will change how you view any health condition.
While a Western woman may be perplexed by some of the symptoms that pop up during this time of life, a Chinese woman may have a quicker reflex in identifying the issue and taking action to treat it because she likely learned from her mother and grandmother what certain health issues can represent and how to prevent them. In TCM we believe "prevention is the best medicine.” If you already have some of these symptoms, it's time to look at the five element chart and start decoding what your body is telling you.
© Marie Yuann 2024
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