Use your Head……The most natural approach to Hot Flashes and Menopause

 

By Patrick Bowe

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There is a very new specialist who can assist with the discomforts of menopause, you.  It has been shown that the mind can reduce or stop hot flashes and other menopausal discomfort.  This is somewhat surprising, even to many most familiar with the mind/body frontier.  The effect has been formally demonstrated in studies using hypnosis with breast cancer patients (cancer treatment can bring about menopausal symptoms).  The changes seen in these studies are also easily achieved with general menopausal symptoms. Dramatic improvements in hot flashes, sleep patterns, anxiety and well-being are quite straightforward. Here are two local examples of women who have used this process…

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Marty is a bright and successful hotel manager in the greater Providence area. She had experienced severe night sweats for about three years. Waking roughly eight times every night left her exhausted.  She would often need to change garments or shower in the middle of the night.  After completing several forms of hormone replacement therapy, without benefit, she was desperate.  Her physician, Dr Robert Salk, suggested she consider an option he had recently heard of, hypnosis. After four meetings using hypnosis, recordings and self hypnosis the disturbances stopped completely and Marty has slept through the night for months.  She feels she has her life back.  Her story is described in a November 2005 interview with Barbara Morse Silva of WJAR. This work is very new and the story was picked up by NBC affiliates throughout the US and Canada.

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Kris, a local business owner, had completed cancer treatment two years ago and was still having overwhelming hot flashes every thirty minutes.  The episodes were so disturbing she carried an electric fan to wedge down the front of her blouse to cool herself.

 

After one session of hypnosis, followed by listening to a reinforcement recording, the hot flashes ceased. 

 

After a second session she felt confident that her results were permanent and that no further work was necessary.  Her results were hastened by extensive prior experience using hypnosis for self-improvement.

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There are many different processes used in the field of hypnotherapy.  Those used for the work with hot flashes are among the most simple. They involve primarily the use of imagining. Thoughts and feelings are presented that inspire changes and adaptations. This technique can be used to accomplish many different results, including stimulating adjustments within the body.

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Why does this work?  In very simple terms we are finding that our bodies are a reflection of our thoughts and feelings. The ideas that play out in our minds create dynamic chemical changes throughout the body.

 

On a day to day level, when you are happy and relaxed your body experiences a chemical orchestration of this mood.  You feel good and your body benefits. 

 

On the other hand, living with extended stress, anxiety or other diminishing feelings has been shown to deplete health and well being.  Working with conditions such as menopause reaches beyond this happy/sad scenario.  In a similar way though, moods and thoughts are evoked that create desired changes as the body responds to the ideas and feelings.

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Beginning in March the techniques described here will be offered at Women and Infants Hospital as part of the Women’s Oncology program.  PHC will collaborate with the hospital to conduct small group sessions with cancer patients.  The groups will be designed to create relief and comfort during and after treatment.

 

Looking beyond hot flashes, research and leading-edge therapy shows that the mind is one of the most exciting frontiers of the health sciences.  Hypnosis is valuable with many complex health issues including chronic pain, lessening the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), easing the challenges of Fibromyalgia, removing warts, preparing for surgery, balancing fears and anxiety in adults and children, and many other often fascinating applications.

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In spite of the extraordinary potential of this work the delivery system has been limited. Few hypnotherapists have specialized in complementary medical applications. A network is gradually forming and, much like acupuncture and chiropractic in recent decades, the challenge faced is to inform the public about this work and the interesting potential of their own minds.

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Hot flashes and menopause are likely to be key issues in redefining our understanding of the mind, the body and hypnotherapy.

 

The classic battle of ‘everywoman’ is far more common, understandable and accessible than Fibromyalgia, IBS and Pain. The next ten years will continue to present compelling advances in the use of hypnosis and guided imagery. We are quickly moving toward a future where we will look at our relationship with our bodies in a very different light.