Response to the NYT Article:
Women have been misled about Menopause, Susan Dominus
2/5/23
It is Sunday morning and I just read the above article, after three clients mentioned it to me yesterday. They thought I would be interested in reviewing it, I was!
I am besides my self with rage, I am livid, I could climb the walls. Yesterday, I went on a 20 minute verbal rant on how woman are treated in this medical climate, Malpractice was the word used to sum it up.
This article in the NY Times is akin to putting a bees nest in a box, shaking it and letting the bees out to sting randomly and in confusion and then die alone for no good reason.
The article discusses Menopause, by dangling a carrot of “easy’ treatment in front of woman’s faces and then slamming a door on their fingers, circling them back to pharmaceutical treatment for more harm. Get in the queue, ladies, we will alleviate your current symptoms and sign you up for surgery in the future.
Not once in that article was any other type of treatment mentioned, no Chinese medicine, nothing about supplements, Homeopathic medicine, Western herbs, where is the discussion about diet and lifestyle?
There was commentary on how woman are treated medically and how it is assumed they should suffer in silence but this begins for women far before the menopausal years.
This begins at menarche, it blows up around pregnancy and child bearing years and it finishes with cherry on top at Menopause. And then women are pretty much dismissed to live the life as a hag in the woods. Especially if they are not white, not educated, not wealthy, not able bodied, not heterosexual and not married to a man.
I know what you are going to say, “that can not be true, you are being too harsh.” Patriarchy is real and powerful. It influences everything, every- thing!
The reason that women are treated so poorly medically is because they are not men.
Young woman are important, they are important to have sex with, to marry, to get pregnant to have a man’s children, to make a nuclear family, to bear the emotional load of raising the children. But when Menopause occurs, then their value diminishes, can not have any more children, can not keep up with the incredible demand of raising children and working full time. They have pain, distress, physical and emotional, they aren’t a machine that grinds away all day, first shift, second shift, third shift. Then they are expendable, the job is done, go suffer in silence please. Do not be such a nag and tell me that you are anxious and that you feel bad.
And that brings me back to this article. The pharmaceutical industry is the focus, a quick fix for menopause symptoms that may help woman in the short run but will cause side effects in the long run. A treatment that the medical community took away, because they can not communicate about “womanly issues,” a treatment that is not good enough to support women through the very natural process of aging.
The problem is in the way we see women and men in the culture. How we have been conditioned.
Where we attach value.
I heard a podcast on Michael Max’s program called Qiological, with an acupuncturist Steven Clavey. He studied in China from a teacher that was of a five generational lineage focused on treating gynecology. Five generations of information on how to treat gynecological health issues with herbs and acupuncture.
I had the same response as when I read The Golden Month, by Jenny Allison , a book about caring for mother’s after they give birth. I cried.
Chinese Medicine has done clinical research for generations, not reported in a study in the Journal of Medicine, nevertheless recorded and taught so that practitioners can treat woman with herbs and acupuncture for centuries.
And We Can:
Treat 14 yrs old that have heavy crampy periods so they don’t have to go on the pill for something other then legit birth control.
Treat menarche, pregnancy, postpartum care, and menopause.
We may use: Homeopathic medicine, Western and Chinese herbs, acupuncture, education and supplements, all useful treatments.
But most importantly, we zero in on nurturing a lifestyle, that values the feminine in the culture. Woman are amazing super heroes, they run the world on love for their friends and families.
Their care is more important than financial gain and control.
Go to a Chinese medical practitioners with your hot flashes, with your cramps, heavy blood flow, your mood swings, your night sweats.
Read Susan Willson’s book, Making Sense of Menopause.
Spoiler alert, she talks about having enjoyable sex after menopause in detail! Because woman enjoy having sex you know, not just to have babies but because it is healthy.
My Stories:
The nurse that whispered in my client’s ear when she went to the doctor with her hot flash complaints, “go see an acupuncturist, that is what helped me”.
The stories that I can share from treating women for twenty years. I could go on and on and on. I have rage, I know, I am impassioned on this topic. I turn people off because I say too much and it is scary. There are thousands of Chinese medical professionals in this country. You can ask one of them about gynecological care and then you can consider their answer.
Keep in mind that you might see a Chinese medical professional 6-12 times. A teenager, would be even less, their qi is very flexible and responsive, I might see them 4 times. Even out of pocket, the cost is negligible. Cheaper then being tethered to a medication for 10 years.
And keep in mind, how difficult it has been for women in the past to get medication when they need it, birth control etc.
Keep in mind how much tampons and pads cost and how woman have to pay out of pocket for these monthly necessities.
Keep all the inequalities in your mind.
You do not have to agree with me, you do not have to do anything, you might just want to know that there are options.
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