Acupuncture approaches may relieve perimenopausal symptoms by improving sex hormone balance, with different techniques showing distinct strengths for specific hormonal outcomes.
Researchers searched major international and Chinese medical databases for randomized controlled trials examining acupuncture-based treatments in perimenopausal women. They assessed study quality and combined evidence using a Bayesian network meta-analysis, allowing comparison of several acupuncture techniques with control interventions and with one another for menopausal symptoms and levels of estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone.
Acupoint application, acupuncture therapy, and abdominal moxibustion improved menopausal symptom scores, with abdominal moxibustion showing the strongest overall symptom benefit. Several approaches also lowered follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, while acupoint application, acupuncture therapy, and compression acupuncture increased estradiol; plum blossom needling showed the greatest estradiol benefit.
