This month, we interview Virginia Mims, an expert in acupuncture with a focus on women experiencing hot flashes - particularly through the menopause transition.

With a Master’s in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, and a BA in Psychology from Duke University, Virginia Mims, MS, LAc, Dipl OM, understands both the emotional and physical complexities of women’s health.  A member of the North American Menopause Society, she is the first and only Licensed Acupuncturist to be credentialed at Nyack Hospital, where her practice focuses on women’s health issues during and after the reproductive years. With over 2 millennium of history behind it, Virginia strongly believes in Chinese medicine as a highly effective, natural approach to relieving symptoms and revitalizing health.

Hot Flashes and Acupuncture

Q: How does Chinese medicine explain hot flashes? 

A/VM: Chinese medicine has detailed explanations for the causes of several different kinds of hot flashes.  The most common cause can be explained in terms of the interrelationship of yin and yang. 

In this case, yin represents cold and yang represents heat.  When our systems are balanced, we have equal amounts of yin and yang.  When our reserves of yin begin to decline more rapidly ~ such as from certain medications, diseases, chemotherapy, or simply as part of the natural process of heading towards midlife ~ the result is a relative excess of yang.  At a certain point, the yin, cold, can no longer keep the excess yang, heat, in check. The yang heat rises up, resulting in a hot flash.

There are many other variations of this resulting in women’s different experiences of hot flashes, such as hot flashes only at night or only in the morning, hot flashes followed by chills, hot flashes with no sweat vs. mild sweat vs. drenching sweat, hot flashes with clear sweat vs. sticky sweat, etc.  The particular details of a woman’s hot flashes and other associated symptoms will determine her specific Chinese medicine “pattern of disharmony.” This pattern of disharmony is essentially a diagnosis which details the cause of the symptom, and determines the treatment strategy most appropriate for that specific woman.

Q: How does Chinese medicine (acupuncture and herbs) treat hot flashes?

A/VM: There is no singular “hot flash treatment” in Chinese medicine, but instead, treatment is always customized to fit each unique patient.  We are usually reducing the hot flashes by “tonifying yin” (cold), “clearing excess yang” (heat), and addressing any other imbalance that is contributing to the hot flashes.

When a patient comes to see me for the treatment of hot flashes, we begin by discussing every detail of her hot flashes, as well as any other symptoms she may be having.  I take a thorough health history and review of systems (head, lungs, heart, GI, reproductive system, etc.) to get the complete health context within which her hot flashes are occurring.  This is followed by the traditional tongue and pulse diagnosis of Chinese medicine.  Once all of this information is gathered, I am able to determine the specific “pattern of disharmony” which is causing her hot flashes.  I design acupuncture treatments and recommend herbal formulas customized to her specific presentation.

Q: What are the most common misconceptions about acupuncture and Chinese medicine?

A/VM: A common misconception about acupuncture is the totally logical fear that acupuncture must hurt.  One of my favorite things to do is to give an acupuncture treatment to someone who has never had acupuncture before and is very nervous about it.  They are typically relieved at how gentle the treatment is, and how relaxed and rejuvenated they feel afterwards.  They are also always amazed to see how tiny the needles are.  In fact, the needles are so thin they could fit inside a hypodermic needle!  And of course, all needles are sterile, single-use, and immediately disposed of after treatment.

With regards to Chinese medicine, a vast majority of people I’ve encountered, including physicians, have no idea that Chinese medicine is actually a complete system of medicine and one of the few alternative medicines to be considered as such by the World Health Organization (WHO).  Chinese medicine can treat a stunningly broad range of conditions, including gastrointestinal disorders, pulmonary issues, dermatological problems, etc.  It is particularly, and brilliantly, effective in the treatment of women’s health issues. 

Q: What are the most common women’s health issues treated by Chinese medicine?

A/VM: Chinese medicine is an incredibly powerful treatment approach for a vast array of women’s health issues, from menstrual problems to menopause and beyond.  One might say that Chinese medicine is obsessed with all things menstrual.  There are entire textbooks solely devoted to the topic of treating menstrual disorders, such as amenorrhea (absent period), irregular periods, painful periods, heavy periods, PMS, fibroids, endometriosis, PCOS, bleeding between periods and other forms of abnormal uterine bleeding. 

Chinese medicine has more recently become well-known for its efficacy in optimizing fertility, either as a stand-alone treatment or as an adjunct to improve success with IVF.  Acupuncture is also a safe and effective modality for treating problems during pregnancy, such as “morning sickness”, hemorrhoids, and recurrent miscarriages.  When it comes to menopause, Chinese medicine can not only effectively reduce hot flash frequency and intensity, but can treat many other symptoms of menopause, such as heavy menstrual bleeding, vaginal dryness, migraines, stress incontinence, anxiety, depression, fatigue, mood swings and more.  Most importantly, it does so naturally, without major risks or side effects.

Q: In addition to women seeking natural treatment approaches, are there specific groups of women with hot flashes for whom acupuncture would be particularly appropriate?

A/VM: While every woman experiencing hot flashes is likely to get a great amount of relief from acupuncture, like coldfront, it is a particularly important treatment option for women for whom the more traditional forms of hormone therapy are contraindicated, such as breast cancer survivors, women undergoing treatment for breast or endometrial cancer, or women with a history of, or high risk for, any estrogen-linked cancer.   

For women who are currently on hormone therapy, the most recent Western medicine guidelines advise that your risk for developing diseases increases after being on hormone therapy for 3-5 years.  Acupuncture is a wonderful option for women who would like to stop using hormone therapy, but who still need symptom relief.  In short, acupuncture is a natural, highly effective treatment option for women who want to avoid the risks associated with hormone therapy.

Q: What’s the latest research on Chinese medicine for the treatment of hot flashes?

A/VM: It’s an exciting time to be practicing Chinese medicine for women’s health, as more and more high quality research is getting published in peer-reviewed medical journals.  In the February 2013 issue of Menopause, there was a study demonstrating the efficacy of the traditional formula “Dang Gui Bu Xue Tang” for the relief of vasomotor symptoms (i.e., hot flashes).  They concluded that the formula significantly improved both physiological and psychological scores, and significantly reduced hot flashes, with no major adverse events. 

Q: What preventive measures can a woman take to potentially decrease the frequency and intensity of hot flashes through menopause?

A/VM: Many women believe that their own experience of menopause is likely to be similar to their mother’s.  While this is true insofar as her likely age at menopause, it is actually not a major determinant of symptom severity through menopause (unless a woman has firmly convinced herself otherwise!).  What turns out to be a major predictor of the ease or difficulty of menopause is PMS. The research shows that women with particularly intense PMS are most likely to have more severe symptoms through menopause. 

If you are currently suffering with intense PMS, take the opportunity to improve your health now.  Not only will you thank yourself every month, but also down the road.  Acupuncture, herbs, stress reduction and simple tweaks to diet can optimize your chances for an easy menopause.

Q: What’s the difference between a Licensed Acupuncturist and a physician who is a Certified Acupuncturist?

A/VM: For a physician to become a Certified Acupuncturist, they need only 300 hours of training, while Licensed Acupuncturists typically have 3-4000 hours of training.  Particularly when it comes to treating internal medicine conditions, such as hot flashes, you want to see someone thoroughly educated in both the theory and practice of Chinese medicine… which, in my opinion, is simply not possible with only 300 hours of training.

Q: What resources do you recommend?

A/VM: To find an excellent acupuncturist in your area, word of mouth is usually the best strategy.  You can also find qualified practitioners via acufinder.com and healthprofs.com.  As licensing requirements differ in each state, be sure to look for someone who is board certified by the NCCAOM (National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine).  You can also check the NCCAOM website directory for practitioner listings.  Many acupuncturists offer complimentary phone consultations, so take advantage of this and call around to find someone you resonate best with.

Q: Any final words of wisdom for those experiencing hot flashes, and for the people closest to them?

A/VM: Regardless of the cause, take your hot flashes as a sign that you a currently in a state of imbalance.  Seize the opportunity to receive treatment to reduce your hot flashes, restore balance to body, mind and spirit, and optimize your health now, and for your future.

Many thanks to Virginia to educating us on the benefits of acupuncture! To learn more about Virginia, and her practice, click here.

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