Acupressure is an ancient Chinese treatment that involves the stimulation of certain points on your body. Unlike acupuncture, which uses needles to stimulate these points, acupressure uses finger pressure. The following acupressure exercise can help to relieve a wide variety of menopause symptoms, including menopause hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, and emotional tension.

• Locate the points on the back of your neck, in the hollows about a finger-width to the right and left of the base of your skull. Hold these points simultaneously for one to three minutes.

• With the thumb and index finger of your right hand, press the point located in the webbing between the base of your thumb and pointer finger of your left hand, directly above the muscle. Hold for one to three minutes, then switch hands.

• With the index and middle fingers of your right hand, press the point directly between your eyebrows, where the bridge of your nose meets your forehead. With the index and middle fingers of your left hand, press the point at the top of your head. (There should be a slight indentation.) Hold for one to three minutes.

• Press the fingers of your right hand on the point three finger-widths above the bottom of your breastbone, in the center of your breastbone, directly over your heart. Hold for one to three minutes.

Tired?

You’re not alone! I can’t even begin to tell you how common insomnia can be during menopause. And menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats are some of the major reasons for insomnia, as well as stress, anxiety, and thyroid disorder, just to name a few.

If you are menopausal, I urge you to use a natural form of hormone replacement therapy to treat your symptoms. Acupressure is also a great remedy. The two acupressure points traditionally used to relieve insomnia are the Spirit Gate and the Inner Gate. The Inner Gate is located in the middle of the inner side of the forearm, two and one-half finger widths from your wrist. The Spirit Gate is located on the inside of the wrist crease, in line with the little finger. To promote sleep, apply pressure to one point and then the other. You’ll soon learn whether you get the most benefit from pressing both points or one in particular.

In my 30-plus years of practice, I've found that most women eventually see an end to menopause hot flashes and night sweats—even if it takes a few years. But unfortunately, some women never become completely immune to these symptoms, regardless of their age.

About half of menopausal women suffering from hot flashes see them disappear within a year, even without hormone replacement therapy, while another 30 percent experience these symptoms for up to three years. The last 20 percent of women endure menopause hot flashes for five to ten years or longer. I've worked with women in their 60s, 70s, and even early 80s who continue to have menopause hot flashes if they're not on some form of hormone replacement therapy. Luckily, safe, natural therapies for menopause such as vitamin E, black cohosh, and soy isoflavones (which I’ve talked about in other posts) are useful in eliminating menopause hot flashes, no matter what your age.

This combination not only eliminates menopause hot flashes, but also provides additional support to the cardiovascular system and bones. As a rule, I recommend taking the following daily dosages for menopause relief: 400–1,000 IU vitamin E; 80–160 mg black cohosh; and 50 mg–150 mg soy isoflavones.

Soy milk…soy yogurt…tofu…what’s the deal with soy?

Well, not only are soy foods very nutritious and a great alternative to dairy, but soy is also an excellent way to get some much-needed menopause relief. The estrogen-like components (phytoestrogens) in soy replace your natural estrogen, providing the hormone support you need, but at lower potencies that are not likely to produce unwanted side effects.

Some of the benefits of consuming soy include the reduction in the severity of menopause hot flashes and the thickening of vaginal cells that thin after menopause. Not to mention, soy can also lower your cholesterol and even possibly help protect you from breast cancer and osteoporosis. In fact, studies have found that Asian women whose traditional diet is high in soy foods are four- to six-fold less likely to develop breast cancer compared to women in the U.S., where this disease is much more common.

So what are the best ways to add soy to your diet?
You can forgo dairy milk and drink soy milk (such as Silk brand), and you can replace dairy ice cream, yogurt, and cheese with the soy varieties. You can easily find these in health food stores and most grocery stores. Other good soy foods include soy burgers and tofu. If you choose to supplement, you can take soy isoflavones in capsule form—50 mg–150 mg each day.

Women always ask me if they should take hormone replacement therapy to alleviate their menopause symptoms. My answer is always the same, no matter what the situation: Choose bioidentical hormone replacement therapy over conventional.

Conventional hormone replacement therapy has been shown to have a wide range of risks, including increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease. Why take this risk? Instead, choose more natural forms of hormone replacement therapy, including estriol.

Estriol is produced in the lab from active steroid molecules found in soy. The resulting molecules are structurally the same as those produced in your body. Of the three types of estrogen produced within your body, estriol is the weakest and least potent. Several research studies have found that it is as effective as the stronger, more potent estrogens for treating menopause symptoms. And unlike conventional hormone replacement therapy that may cause fluid retention, headaches, nausea, and the buildup of uterine tissue, estriol has few, if any, side effects.

One study published in JAMA found that estriol was particularly effective in treating vaginal atrophy, mood swings, and hot flashes. Researchers selected 52 symptomatic, postmenopausal women and separated them into four groups, giving each group either 2 mg, 4 mg, 6 mg, or 8 mg of estriol per day for six months. On average, women in every group experienced a decrease in their menopausal symptoms after one month of treatment. Plus, in three of the four groups, women who had ranked their symptoms as severe now felt that their symptoms were very mild.

Talk to your doctor about this safe and effective option for menopause relief

So many women come to me looking for relief from such common menopause symptoms as night sweats, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and insomnia. I tell all these women the same thing: One of my top solutions for menopause relief is an herb called black cohosh.

Right now in Germany, a special extract of black cohosh is the most thoroughly studied and widely used natural alternative to hormone replacement therapy. Clinical studies have shown that black cohosh extract not only relieves menopause hot flashes, but also depression and vaginal atrophy.

In one of the largest studies on black cohosh, women with menopause symptoms received 40 drops of liquid black cohosh extract twice a day for six to eight weeks. Within four weeks of treatment, a distinct improvement was seen in nearly 80 percent of the women. After six to eight weeks, all symptoms had completely disappeared in half of the women.

If you have signs of menopause or menopause symptoms, I suggest taking 80–160 mg of a standardized extract of black cohosh twice a day. This dose should contain 2 to 4 mg of the active components (triterpenes, calculated as 27-deoxyacteine). Black cohosh is available in most health food stores, nutrition centers, and even some pharmacies.

Do you know if you really are post-menopausal? Or are you in early menopause? Or is that wave of heat you experienced really a menopause hot flash or just a passing flush?

Here is a wonderful checklist you can use to determine if you are in menopause, and if the symptoms you are experiencing really are menopause symptoms. The more statements you check off as being true, the more likely it is that you are, in fact, entering this stage of life.

Potential Signs of Early Menopause

• My last period was six months ago or longer (true menopause).
• My periods are lighter, less frequent, and of shorter duration (late perimenopause).
• I’m in my early to mid-40s or older.
• I’m having hot flashes.
• Intercourse is painful.
• My desire for sex has faded.
• I have difficulty achieving orgasm.
• I have frequent vaginal or bladder infections.
• I have difficulty sleeping through the night.
• I’m frequently tired.
• I’m anxious and irritable.
• I forget small details.
• My skin is drier, thinner, and more wrinkled.
• My muscles are losing their tone.
• I leak urine when I laugh, cough, or sneeze.
• I’m gaining weight.
• My joints and/or muscles ache.
• I have itchy, crawly skin.
• I sometimes feel as if electric shocks were going through my body