The treatment
Initially, changes in lifestyle can lead to an improvement in symptoms. A healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise have a positive effect. Relaxation exercises or yoga can also provide relief.
In addition, the consumption of coffee, nicotine, pungent spices and alcohol should be avoided. Hormonal substitution therapy is also available to alleviate the symptoms. In addition, there are drugs against sweating.
However, these must be prescribed by a doctor. In alternative medicine there are several treatment options. These include neural therapy and bloody cupping.
In neural therapy, anaesthetics are injected. In cupping, glasses are placed on the skin using negative pressure. In addition, moor baths are recommended.
There are also herbal medicines whose active ingredient is said to have a similar effect to estrogen. One example is the cimicifuga rootstock. Furthermore, sage can be taken to relieve sweating and lavender to calm the skin.
Hormonal substitution is a therapeutic option if the symptoms of the menopause are so severe and cause a high level of suffering. These women can benefit from hormonal substitution. In addition, hormonal substitution is appropriate when menopause begins too early or when there is a severe loss of tissue in the genital area, which has an increased risk of inflammation.
A combination preparation of estrogens and gestagens should be used in therapy. If no progestins are substituted, the risk of malignant degeneration of the endometrium is increased. However, in some pre-existing conditions, hormones should not be taken because the risk is too high.
These conditions include liver damage, breast cancer, uterine cancer or thrombemboli (blood clots that lead to a blockage of the vessels). There is a large variety of preparations for hormonal substitution, which differ in their form of administration. There are patches, tablets, dragées and hormone injections. There are various gels or creams for local application to the vagina. The concentration of estrogen is lower than in the pill, which is used for hormonal contraception.
The duration from the beginning to the end of the menopause
From the age of about 35, the function of the ovaries slowly decreases. And so the probability of pregnancy decreases. However, it takes several years before the menopause actually occurs.
On average, it only occurs at around 50 years of age. Menopausal symptoms also usually only occur after the age of 35. The average total duration of menopausal symptoms is 7.4 years according to one study. Women in whom symptoms occur before the last bleeding occurs suffer on average from menopausal symptoms significantly longer (about 12 years). Women who experience symptoms at a later time only have an average duration of 3-4 years.
