Acupuncture and Auricular Acupressure in Relieving Menopausal Hot Flashes of Bilaterally Ovariectomized Chinese Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized clinical trial investigated the efficacy of acupuncture combined with auriculotherapy in treating menopausal hot flashes in Chinese women who had undergone bilateral oophorectomy. The study was conducted between May 2006 and March 2008 and recruited 46 women, who were randomized into two groups: acupuncture with auriculotherapy (n=21) and hormone replacement therapy with tibolone (n=25). The methodology included strict inclusion criteria, such as bilateral oophorectomy within the previous 2 years, presence of hot flashes, estradiol levels below 50 pg/mL, and no hormone use in the previous 6 months. The acupuncture protocol used traditional body points (SP-6 Sanyinjiao, GB-20 Fengchi, LI-4 Hegu, LI-11 Quchi, CV-4 Guanyuan, GV-14 Dazhui, KI-7 Fuliu, and EX-CA1 Zigong) with 40-minute sessions twice weekly.

The auriculotherapy used specific points (sympathetic, shenmen, adrenal gland, subcortex, endocrine, kidney, heart, and liver) with magnetic beads changed weekly. Both groups received treatment for 12 consecutive weeks, followed by 4 weeks of follow-up. The results demonstrated significant efficacy in both treatments. In the acupuncture group, hot flash severity decreased from 14.71 ± 3.81 to 3.86 ± 0.84 after treatment, while in the hormone group it decreased from 15.28 ± 4.06 to 3.71 ± 0.65.

Frequency also showed important reductions: from 14.21 ± 2.42 to 10.32 ± 3.13 in the acupuncture group, and from 15.11 ± 4.96 to 7.48 ± 2.69 in the hormone group. Hormonal analyses revealed that both treatments positively influenced FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) and estradiol levels, with the hormone group showing more pronounced changes. The acupuncture group showed a reduction in FSH from 51.5 ± 13.9 to 40.4 ± 9.6 mIU/mL and an increase in estradiol from 37.1 ± 8.9 to 45.4 ± 7.3 pg/mL. The clinical implications of this study are significant, especially considering that many women cannot or prefer not to use hormone therapy due to risks and side effects.

Acupuncture combined with auriculotherapy offers a safe and effective therapeutic alternative, with no adverse effects reported during the study period. The study suggests that acupuncture may regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis and modulate hormone production through compensatory mechanisms. Limitations include the relatively small sample size, the absence of a placebo group with sham acupuncture, and the difficulty of implementing double-blinding in acupuncture interventions. In addition, the study was conducted specifically in Chinese women, which may limit the generalizability of the results to other populations.

Future studies with larger samples and methodologies that include placebo controls would be valuable to confirm these findings.