Acupuncture and Menopause: Finding Support During a Big Transition

Menopause is a normal stage of life, but that doesn’t mean it always feels easy.

Hot flashes, night sweats, poor sleep, mood changes, brain fog, vaginal dryness, joint pain, weight shifts—sometimes it can feel like your body changed the rules without asking you first. You might also be getting mixed messages: “Just tough it out,” “It’s all in your head,” or “This is just aging.”

You deserve better than that.

Writers like Dr. Jen Gunter, in The Menopause Manifesto, remind us that menopause is a real biological transition, not a personal failure or a sign that you’re “falling apart.” She emphasizes that women deserve clear information and real options for care, including both medical treatments and supportive therapies.¹

Chinese medicine has been working with menopause for a very long time. In texts like Giovanni Maciocia’s Obstetrics and Gynecology in Chinese Medicine, menopause is seen as a natural shift in the body’s yin and yang, blood, and kidney energy.² When those systems get a little out of balance, we see familiar symptoms: heat rising (hot flashes, night sweats), disturbed spirit (anxiety, irritability, insomnia), and changes in fluids and tissues (vaginal dryness, skin changes, joint stiffness).²

Acupuncture works by gently guiding the body back toward balance.Using very thin, sterile needles at specific points, we aim to:

• Calm the nervous system – which can help with hot flashes, night sweats, anxiety, and sleep

• Regulate heat and circulation – so heat isn’t surging up and out as intensely

• Support mood and mental clarity – many women report feeling less edgy, less overwhelmed, and more like themselves

• Ease aches and tension – especially in the neck, shoulders, low back, and joints

  
  

In practice, this might mean treating points that:

• Help cool and nourish yin (for heat, dryness, night sweats)²

• Anchor and calm the mind (for anxiety, irritability, mood swings)²

• Support digestion and energy (for fatigue, weight or appetite changes)

  
  
  
  

Over time—usually over a series of treatments—women often notice:

• Hot flashes are less intense or less frequent

• Sleep becomes deeper and more restful

• Mood feels steadier and more grounded

• They feel more at home in their changing body

  
  

Acupuncture is not a replacement for medical care, hormone therapy, or the kind of strong, evidence-based information Dr. Gunter advocates for.¹ Instead, it can be one part of a larger plan to help you feel better in your daily life.

Menopause is not you “falling apart.” It’s a transition your body is moving through. With the right support, it can also be a time of re-calibrating, letting go of old patterns, and claiming more ease in your own skin. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by symptoms, acupuncture can offer a steady, supportive place for your system to settle, regulate, and shift.

If you’re curious whether acupuncture might help with your own menopausal symptoms, we can talk about what you’re experiencing and see if this approach feels like a good fit for you.

References

1. Gunter, J. (2021). The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism. Citadel Press.

2. Maciocia, G. (2011). Obstetrics and Gynecology in Chinese Medicine. Elsevier, Churchill Livingstone.