Are Herbs and Acupuncture Enough for Menopause Relief?

You Should Know: Menopause symptoms are notoriously under-treated, and many women turn to acupuncture, herbal remedies, supplements, or other complementary therapies for relief. A recent large review analyzed 158 clinical trials across 86 different alternative approaches to sort out what actually works.

Going Deeper: There’s not strong enough data to recommend regular acupuncture for hot flashes, but electro-acupuncture (which runs a light current between needles) does appear to help. Acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine may improve sleep in perimenopausal women with insomnia. Soy isoflavones, vitamin D, black cohosh, and some Chinese herbal formulas might also ease some symptoms, but most studies had small samples and missing placebo controls.

Takeaway: Some of these therapies likely help with menopause symptoms, particularly sleep. But ditching evidence-backed hormone replacement therapy — which has strong data for many menopause symptoms — for these alternatives alone is the real risk.

Bottom Line: Consider the complementary therapies as just that — complementary. Talk to your doctor to see if hormone therapy is right for you, and check with them before adding herbs as they can interact with common medications.