Menopause is the end of a woman’s reproductive cycle, and it occurs naturally in most cases. Having a hysterectomy can cause the onset of early menopause, but it usually occurs when a woman is in her 40s or50s with the average age being 51. Symptoms will begin prior to this, called perimenopause, but the body won’t be considered in full menopause until a woman has gone a full year without a period of any kind. Note: during perimenopause, it’s still possible for a woman to become pregnant so checking this after two missed periods is recommended.
Symptoms of menopause include night sweats, hot flashes, weight gain, vaginal dryness, lowered estrogen, changes in mood, changes in sleep, chills, and irregular to no periods, among others. The severity of these symptoms vary from woman to woman, but the experts agree the following seven methods are among the most effective for treating these symptoms. Note: it’s possible, once full menopause is achieved, some of these symptoms will stop.
Practice Yoga
Yoga helps with some symptoms of menopause. It teaches breath control which has been proved to help with hot flashes and mood swings. An article shows women who can control their breathing have hot flashes 42% less often than those who don’t. A woman’s natural sense of balance is thrown off by her hormonal changes as well, and yoga can help restore this.
Take Supplements
Menopause is triggered by estrogen levels decreasing in a woman’s body as her reproductive cycle comes to an end. Estrogen, among a few other hormones and minerals, are necessary to maintain a woman’s physical and mental health. In addition to eating certain foods, menopausal supplements are highly recommended to help replace what the body can no longer produce on its own. Most of these are natural and come in the form of herbs while others are prescribed or recommended by doctors.
Work Out
Exercise is a great choice for treating menopause symptoms. It helps with weight loss brought on by a slowed metabolism, raises endorphin production to counter mood swings and stress, and it can help reduce the chances of many diseases and conditions related to aging including heart disease and diabetes.
Try Meditation
Like Yoga, meditation can help treat mood swings, alleviate stress and help you relax so you can get to sleep. It teaches you how to control your breathing and be calm. These have been proved to help with hot flashes, chills, mood swings, and night sweats as well as prevent heart attacks from raised blood pressure.
Eat Healthy
Eating healthy is recommended for all phases of life, but it becomes quite important during menopause. In addition to regular exercise, it can help with maintaining a proper weight. What you eat as well as how much and how often go a long way to preventing many age-related diseases and conditions menopausal women become more susceptible to. These include osteoporosis and stroke. In addition, losing weight can help with hot flashes and night sweats.
Have Sex
A major issue woman in menopause face is lowered to stopped estrogen production. This hormone regulates a woman’s sex drive as well as keeps her lady parts lubricated. The lack of this hormone has been known to cause dryness, irritation, shrinking of the vaginal wall, painful intercourse and at times, bleeding during intercourse. It’s highly recommended that natural lubricants be used to help with most of these symptoms as well as to help with intercourse.
Having sex can assist both partners with mental health issues as well as sleep disorders, but it especially helps the menopausal woman.
Try Acupuncture
Acupuncture is an ancient and natural method of using needles to help alleviate stress, relieve tension, and help with the pain. Women who have used this therapy have seen an easing of their mood swings, sweating issues, sleep troubles and issues with their hair and skin. Sessions don’t need to be longer than fifteen minutes and can be performed by doctors as well as specially trained laypeople.
Women with moderate to severe menopausal symptoms who don’t want to do hormonal replacement therapies have turned to this natural method with great success.
Menopause is a natural part of a woman’s life span. It’s not something that can be avoided. It comes with aging. In the past, women have dreaded this stage of their lives because of all the issues that come with it. The stage can go on for years before a woman is completely through it, and it can ruin her quality of life. These are just some ways to help give her some relief.
