A wide array of choices is available for women who seek alternatives to hormone replacement therapy during menopause. Whether to offset the risk of cancers associated with hormone replacement or for purely personal reasons, natural therapies offer relatively safer, gentler options, which for many can greatly improve quality of life and peace of mind, while effectively addressing both the symptoms of menopause and the long-term health risks associated with decreasing estrogen levels.
Herbal and Nutritional Support
Medicinal herbs offer a wealth of symptom relief for women experiencing menopause. Adaptogen herbs, which have the ability to balance hormone levels without themselves exerting a hormonal influence, are particularly useful for their ability to effectively manage the stress and fatigue that go along with menopause, in addition to calming hot flashes, leveling mood swings and improving quality of sleep.
Supplementing with vitamins and minerals is a good way to ensure all nutritional bases are covered during this often tumultuous stage of life. Even the best diets fall short and a multivitamin with minerals can fill in the gaps, according to Project Aware. Since the body requires these nutrients for hormone production, cell turnover and tissue repair, supplementing with the basic nutrients--a vitamin B complex, multi-mineral and antioxidant vitamins A, D, E and K--may preclude the need for more complicated or expensive therapies.
Chiropractic
A study published in the January-February 2008 "Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics" found as much evidence to substantiate the benefits of chiropractic manipulation for chronic low back pain--as occurs for some women during menopause--as has been found to support the use of chiropractic for acute injuries.
Similarly, menopausal women who suffer headaches or migraines can find relief through chiropractic. The February 2010 journal "Spine" reported the results of a study on the efficacy of chiropractic spinal manipulation for headache and found that spinal manipulative therapy had a positive effect, with participants who received the treatment more likely to report a 50 percent reduction of symptoms than the control group. Additionally, reports the study, those who received more treatments had greater benefits.
Exercise
The Hospital for Special Surgery advocates exercising to ease the symptoms of menopause. Chief among the reasons is that vasomotor symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats and sleep disturbances, are milder in women who exercise during menopause than for their more sedentary counterparts. Weight gain, another of the common side effects encountered as metabolism changes during this time of life for many women, is more easily managed with exercise. The effect is most powerful during the earlier phases of menopause and helps to deter, particularly, the distribution of fat around the abdomen. Additionally, as estrogen levels drop, women's risk for osteoporosis and heart disease go up, and exercise is an effective tool in the management of both of these conditions.
References
- Project Aware: Alternative to HRT
- National Institutes of Health: Chiropractic Management of Low Back Pain and Low Back-Related Leg Complaints: a Literature Synthesis.
- National Institutes of Health: Dose Response and Efficacy of Spinal Manipulation for Chronic Cervicogenic Headache: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
- Hospital for Special Surgery: Exercise Your Way Through Menopause
