Hypnotherapy For Menopause: Managing Hot Flashes & Women’s Well Being

For many women, menopause can be a frustrating and troublesome time.

And even though it’s a natural part of the aging process, the symptoms can play havoc with your life.

Like hot flashes, for example. They can come out of nowhere, causing intense heat, sweating, reddening of the skin.

They can also bring on chills and an increased heartbeat.

It’s important to remember that these symptoms are part of a medical condition.

They’re not due to stress or a personality disorder.

Among other treatments, hypnotherapy for menopause has been getting some rave reviews for its effectiveness.

That is particularly significant because the effects of menopause vary from person to person, so it’s vital that there is a treatment that can be tailored to the individual.

Because where menopause is concerned, there is no such thing as one size fits all.

For instance, some people cope really well with HRT (hormone replacement therapy), but for others there’s an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.

That’s when hypnotherapy can be a valuable asset giving women options which will help them take back control.

Before looking at hypnotherapy and what it has to offer in detail, let’s find out a bit more about menopause and how it might affect you.

 

Understanding Menopause & Its Potential Symptoms

Menopause is part of the normal cycle of life for a woman, occurring when there is a decline in the hormones estrogen and progesterone.

It usually happens somewhere around age 50 and can last for several months or several years. The condition affects people in different ways, but some of the more common symptoms include:

• Uncontrollable mood swings
• Increased anxiety
• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Aches & pains including headaches or migraines
• Difficulty sleeping
• Reduced sex drive
• Vaginal dryness
• Discomfort during sex
• Loss of confidence
• Feelings of embarrassment and frustration

With so much going on, and all of it out of your hands, it’s only natural to feel exasperated and like you’ve lost control over your body.

Research by Gary Elkins, Ph.D., has shown that hypnotherapy can reduce hot flashes by up to 80%. It also has the ability to improve sleep quality by 50%, to lower your anxiety and to generally increase your overall well-being.

Elkins offers a selection of tips on coping with menopause symptoms in an effort to empower women to regain control and restore their confidence:

• Hypnosis combined with low-dose medication (such as HRT) is the perfect balance for many women
• Keep a diary of your hot flashes so you can spot potential patterns
• Try to get the best sleep possible
• Keep away from fads that don’t do any good, such as fans and cold packs
• Establish a local support network of friends and family

It’s important to understand where hot flashes come from and what causes them.

There’s a part of your brain called the hypothalamus which is the center that controls your body temperature. When menopause occurs, the loss of estrogen sends your hypothalamus out of whack.

Your body becomes more sensitive to small fluctuations in temperature, and your hypothalamus cools you down when it thinks you’re too hot, and warms you up when it thinks you’re too cool.

It’s nothing to do with your behavior or diet, it’s simply being triggered by your hypothalamus, yet another example of a lack of control over your own body.

So how is it that hypnosis is able to make such a big difference to those menopausal symptoms?

 

Explanation Of Hypnotherapy & How It Really Works

The term “hypnotherapy” refers to the use of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool to help people solve problems.

Your hypnotherapist will guide you into a hypnotic trance where you will be able to relax deeply and focus your thoughts and your attention inwards. This makes it possible for you to access your own internal resources, at which point you’ll be able to:

• Change the way you think about a problem
• Manage your pain more efficiently
• Overcome bad habits
• Alter any unhelpful behavior
• See things from a different perspective

Hypnotherapy is a proven technique for regaining control over your physical and psychological responses. In fact, it’s been recognized as a valid procedure by both the American Psychological Association and American Medical Association.

In addition, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has recommended hypnotherapy as a bona fide treatment for chronic pain.

If further proof were needed, just take a look at some of the other areas that make use of hypnotherapy:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Pain during childbirth, surgery or dentistry
• Skin conditions
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Dementia symptoms
• ADHD
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Eating disorders
• PTSD
• Weight loss
• Quitting smoking
• Improving your sleep

How can hypnosis possibly help with so many different issues? The answer lies in how it works.

When you’re in a hypnotic trance, your normal wakeful conscious mind takes a back seat. By relaxing and focusing your thoughts, you’re able to stimulate your unconscious mind.

That’s where your imagination and creativity reside, so you’re better able to visualize the kind of life you want to have. You can also implant suggestions into your unconscious, which will start to act on them straight away.

Benefits Of Hypnotherapy For Menopause

Hypnotherapy helps you to relax and calms down your body’s stress response, another reason why you might experience anxiety, an elevated heart rate and sweating.

When you’re in a hypnotic trance state, your unconscious mind is able to accept new ideas, including techniques for keeping you cool and stress-free.

Studies also show that hypnotherapy for menopause can improve your sleep by reducing night sweats, can enhance your mood and can help to regulate your body temperature.

What all of this means is that you’re able to regain a sense of control. And when you feel more in control, your confidence and self-assurance returns.

On top of that, hypnotherapy is a non-invasive procedure that simply involves talking with a therapist and being open to change.

Evidence from randomized trials suggests that hypnotherapy is highly effective at reducing:

• Hot flashes
• Brain fog
• Fatigue

They state that it is much more effective than acupuncture, yoga or herbal supplements.

Various hypnotherapists have noted that visualization techniques focusing on cooling imagery produce terrific results. It’s also true that listening to audio hypnosis recordings between sessions helps clients stay calm and maintain a certain state of equilibrium.

An article on PubMed Central that originally appeared in the Journal of Women’s Health cites a study using self-hypnosis on menopausal women who were experiencing sleep problems related to menopause.

During menopause, difficulty sleeping is exacerbated by the onset of hot flashes, which can occur at any time of the day or night.

The results highlight the fact that hypnosis helps to regulate your body temperature, easing hot flashes and therefore improving the quality of sleep. Hypnosis for menopause has also been shown to be just as effective when delivered via telephone.

 

Using Hypnotherapy To Manage Mood Swings During Menopause

People going through menopause often experience mood swings. But what causes them?

There are many potential causes but the most obvious one is linked to the change in your body’s hormones such as estrogen.

These hormones are normally kept in balance and contribute to a range of brain functions, so a sudden reduction in one or more of them can make a significant difference in how you feel.

It’s also been shown that women with a history of severe premenstrual syndrome or who have experienced postnatal depression could be more susceptible to mood swings during menopause.

During hypnotherapy, your therapist will work with you to help you recognize the signs and triggers of your mood swings. They will also provide easy techniques for you to employ at the time so that you can regulate your mood swings and make them less extreme.

 

Choosing Hypnotherapy As A Complementary Menopause Treatment

People are individuals who experience things in their own unique way. For that reason, HRT is not necessarily suitable for everyone.

Hypnotherapy offers a practical alternative that is safe and effective. According to a Psychology Today article, hypnosis has been shown to be equally as good as HRT in helping people manage hot flashes and night sweats.

The other bonus with hypnotherapy is that it is tailored to your specific individual needs. Menopause affects people in different ways and so any therapy must cater to a person’s particular issues, unlike medication that’s more of a general all-purpose solution.

Using hypnotherapy, women have been able to reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes. The technique has also been useful in helping them overcome anxiety and milder forms of depression.

A major problem with menopause is the way it erodes self-confidence and self-esteem. Hypnotherapy provides strategies that allow women to eliminate negative self-talk and challenge limiting beliefs.

The other point to remember is that many treatments are only able to deal with the symptoms as and when they arise.

Hypnotherapy gives people the power to change the way they think and the way they behave, providing solutions to the problems of menopause by addressing their causes directly.

Whether you make use of hypnotherapy on its own or in combination with other treatments, it’s important to keep in mind that hypnosis is completely natural, totally safe and able to give you back control over your life once again.

Conclusion

Menopause is a natural part of the aging process for a woman that often causes frustration, embarrassment and distress.

Symptoms such as hot flashes, mood swings and sweating can make life difficult, especially as they might occur at any time.

Many of the symptoms are caused by reductions in certain hormones such as estrogen, which affect other body systems such as the hypothalamus that regulates body temperature.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) provides relief for many people, although it is not suitable for everyone.

Hypnotherapy offers a safe and drug-free alternative, encouraging deep relaxation and helping to reduce anxiety and stress. It enables you to visualize the kind of life you want and to implant positive suggestions into your unconscious.

This makes it possible for you to literally reprogram your mind and to put your unconscious to work on your behalf.

There are various hypnosis techniques that can be used to improve the quality of your sleep and to regulate your body temperature, reducing the severity and frequency of hot flashes, which helps you to regain some control over your body.

And when you feel more in control, your confidence returns and you find yourself able to start enjoying your life once again.