We confronted our male doctors, now watch their response
41% of women feel their GP doesn’t understand their menopause symptoms, and 22% of women said they felt judged by their GP (according to a study by the British Menopause Society in 2019).
44% of women felt their GP doesn’t know enough about menopause (results of a YouGov survey in 2021).
Are you upset by your GP’s lack of empathy and bad advice about menopause? Do you feel frustrated that he doesn’t listen to you?
Let’s Break the Silence Before It Breaks You
80% of women are affected by menopause, yet many of them rarely open up about this, leading to much suffering in silence.
Whilst we believe that your health is in your hands, we think that the task of breaking this silence should not fall solely on those very same women.
How would a male doctor feel if they were in your shoes during menopause? It’s time to ask them.
Acupuncture as Natural Menopause Relief
80% of women enjoyed a reduction in their menopause symptoms after receiving acupuncture treatment (2021 study public the journal Acupuncture in Medicine).
If you are one of many women searching for acupuncture for menopause and choose an AcuMedic male doctor then what kind of experience should you expect from him? How empathetic is he going to be? Let’s find out.
We confronted our male doctors during their busy day at the AcuMedic acupuncture London clinic and challenged them with the question:
What would YOU do if you had menopause?
We asked each of them to film their response and share with you their thoughts and feelings on how they would cope with the challenges of a menopause storm.
Luckily, they know how to use traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture for menopause symptoms.
First, it’s our own on-site GP Consultant Dr Vernon.
“Some women have a terrible time. Traditional Chinese Medicine can help” – Dr Phillip Vernon (GP, Chinese Medicine Consultant and Acupuncturist)
During menopause, the mood can swing from irritability to anxiety. And every nuisance can make you want to cry.
Dr Phillip Vernon (over 36 years of experience) knows about the emotional impact that can hit women during menopause. He understands how menopause can create unique experiences of the condition in each woman’s individual case.
Since each women’s experience of menopause is unique, so should be the treatment she is getting from her doctor. In Chinese Medicine, treatment for menopause is tailored to the circumstances and needs of the patient, and should offer natural options that go beyond the standard hormone replacement therapy (HRT):
“If I had the menopause, I’d be interested in how I felt because it’s very variable. A lot of women have a terrible time; some women have no problems at all and it’s very variable.
[Menopause] can affect your mood very badly. It can affect your physiology as well. So, the thing about Chinese Medicine [TCM] is that the prescription of herbs can be varied with the variation of symptoms for the individual woman.
So, coming to Chinese Medicine with menopausal symptoms, a doctor would list all of the symptoms that you would complain of and then prescribe accordingly. This is where Chinese Medicine scores over Western medicine: Western medicine tends to give the same treatment to all women – hormone replacement.”
For natural menopause relief with acupuncture and TCM individualised by Dr Vernon to your needs, click here to book an appointment with him at our Chinese Medicine clinic in London.
Click here to learn more about our GP and Chinese Medicine consultant Dr Vernon.
“Angry. Very depressed. Very unhappy.” – Dr Sui Lun Chan (Acupuncturist and Herbalist)
During menopause sex can be dry and painful. Sleep can get shot to pieces drenched in cold sweat. Everything seems difficult. In a hot flush, your patience can snap and it can feel like life is descending into a lonely chaos.
Dr Chan (over 15 years of experience) understands the total impact of menopause on mind-body and how it’s effects can range from the emotional to sexual.
He refers to a common Chinese Medical diagnosis at the root of menopause – Yin Deficiency – and recommends herbal medicine in combination with acupuncture treatment for psycho-emotional symptoms:
“If I had menopause I would feel hot rashes, I would have night sweats, I would get easily hot and also I would get angry – not only angry but maybe also very depressed, very unhappy – easily.
Some [women] might also find it difficult to fall asleep (insomnia), and some [women] can have constipation, or problems with sexual functions, such as a dry vagina.
TCM is helpful for menopause symptoms. In Chinese Medicine we say that menopause is caused by Yin Deficiency but Chinese herbs can be good at helping Yin Deficiency.
Also, acupuncture is helpful for calming your emotions. If you have emotional problems and feel unhappy and get angry easily then acupuncture can be helpful.”
For a tailored prescription of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine for menopause by Dr Chan click here to book an appointment at our Chinese Medicine clinic AcuMedic in London.
Click here to learn more about Dr Chan.
“It’s a double whammy” – Dr Elios Hon (Acupuncturist and Herbalist)
During menopause, periods can get replaced with pain, or pour out with a vengeance. Your joints flare up in pain. Your muscles deflate as the metabolism stalls. Nobody should have to suffer from any of the menopause problems alone.
But the menopause storm brings several of these symptoms together—on top of everything you were trying to accomplish for your family, your career and your life. It is too much on an aching back.
Dr Hon has over 8 years of experience as a TCM practitioner, and divides his time between helping our women’s health specialist Dr Lily Hua Yu and helping the AcuMedic Foundation to organise up-to-date training courses in Chinese Medicine and acupuncture held at our Centre on London’s Camden High Street.
“If I were to have menopause, the first thing that comes to mind would be frustration. The body gets hot flashes, night sweats, and periods can be irregular. You might have discomfort in your back or in the joints.
And the worst thing is you get emotional swings, your sleep quality gets bad, so it feels like you always get irritable and can never get good rest.
What’s even worse is that if you have any underlying problems like hay fever or some allergies or digestive problems then they all flare up and get worse and it becomes a double whammy.
How can TCM help you in this case: TCM doesn’t only focus on the [menopause] symptoms but rather tries to bring balance in the body. Menopause happens because, like in puberty, the Yin and Yang are trying to grow into another age, so what we can do is to help you to restore balance and get through the menopause comfortably.”
To find the right Chinese herbs for menopause as well as acupuncture for menopausal symptoms, click here to book an appointment at our Women’s Health clinic headed by Dr Lilly.
“Acupuncture and herbs can help” – Dr Zengzhi Wan (Acupuncturist, Herbalist and Lecturer in Chinese Medicine)
During menopause, your energy levels can crash. You can’t concentrate, you can’t remember what you were trying to concentrate on. The panic attacks can strike again and again. Incontinence keeps interrupting your sleep.
With more than 40 years of experience as a Chinese Medicine doctor, and over 26 years probably work on medial education, Dr Wan is a vast source of knowledge about how TCM herbs and acupuncture can help to treat common conditions such as menopause.
Here, imagining what he would do in case he had menopause, Dr Wan goes straight to the root cause and describes it in proper Chinese Medical terminology – Kidney Yin Deficiency and Liver Yin Deficiency:
“If I had menopause I would have symptoms like insomnia, anxiety, night sweats, lower back pain, fatigue.
You might also have irregular menstruation. All this [according to] Chinese Medicine is because of the Kidney function disorder. In other words, a Kidney Yin Deficiency or a Liver Yin Deficiency, or both. For this kind of issue, acupuncture and herbs would help a lot.”
Click here to learn more about Dr Wan’s experience.
Now What Would You Do About Menopause?
Do you feel more confident now about seeing our male doctors for acupuncture and Chinese Medical treatment for menopause?
Click here to send us an email and we will arrange an appointment for you.
If you still prefer to meet a female doctor then our popular Dr Lily and Dr Han can help you to come out of the menopause storm as soon as possible and with more energy.
Call us on 020 7388 6704 to speak to us about acupuncture and Chinese herbs selected by our experienced female doctors for your menopause symptoms.
Click here to find out more about our Women’s Health Clinic at AcuMedic Centre where acupuncture and traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are used to help women with gynaecological conditions.