Acupuncture is a natural and effective treatment for women dealing with the symptoms of hormonal imbalance. Acupuncture helps balance hormones by regulating the HPAA axis, reducing stress hormones, and inducing homeostasis. Several studies have shown that acupuncture has a regulatory effect on the levels of estrogen, estradiol, progesterone, prolactin, FSH, LH and other hormones. Acupuncture also induces parasympathetic relaxation and decreases the stress hormone cortisol.
The most commonly used acupuncture points for hormonal imbalance treat the liver, adrenals and pancreas - the organs associated with root causes of hormonal issues. When an acupuncture needle is inserted, it sends a specific message to the brain and then has either a stimuatory or inhibitory effect on specific hormones. For instance, acupuncture has been shown to increase estrogen in patients with low estrogen but it can also decrease estrogen levels in women with estrogen-dominant PCOS. A 2011 study found that acupuncture plus Chinese herbal medicine worked as well as bioidentical hormone therapy for balancing follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in menopausal women!
When treating hormonal imbalance, we first assess the root issues using pulse diagnosis and/or a comprehensive functional blood chemistry panel. Treatment is tailored to you to treat your unique root causes, and the best part: no unwanted side-effects!