Menopause Treatment in Greenville, SC
Menopause Treatment at IHP Greenville — TCM, in-house herbal pharmacy, functional medicine. Dr. Hendry, DAOM. Call (864) 365-6156.
"I drive past his office every day, I'm so glad a trusted friend referred me! Dr. Hendry and I are working on hormone overall balance and possible estrogen dominance. I get acupuncture and love the results."
— Katlyn Garcia · April 2022 · Google Review
Hot flashes are generated by a narrowed hypothalamic thermoregulatory zone that triggers heat-dissipation responses — sweating, flushing — at temperatures that wouldn't normally activate them. The Cochrane review confirmed acupuncture significantly reduces hot flash frequency and intensity, operating through beta-endorphin modulation of the hypothalamic thermostat. But the joint pain, insomnia, cognitive changes, and mood dysregulation of menopause have different mechanisms requiring different interventions. I assess and treat the full menopausal picture: hormones, adrenal function, bone metabolism, sleep architecture, and the specific Chinese medical pattern — usually Heart-Kidney disharmony — that determines the herbal strategy.
How Menopause Treatment Works
Menopause treatment combines acupuncture (targeting the HT and KD channels to address the Heart-Kidney disharmony at the core of menopausal heat pattern) with Chinese herbal medicine (particularly Yin-nourishing formulas like Liu Wei Di Huang Wan, Er Xian Tang for mixed deficiency patterns). Functional medicine evaluates the complete hormone panel (estradiol, progesterone, FSH, LH, DHEA-S, testosterone, thyroid) and adrenal function to build an individualized protocol.
Conditions Treated with Menopause Treatment
Functional Medicine Menopause Support vs. Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy is the most pharmacologically direct intervention for menopausal symptoms, and for women with severe vasomotor symptoms, significant bone loss risk, or premature menopause, the benefits of HRT frequently outweigh the risks when appropriately prescribed. This practice does not position natural medicine as a categorical alternative to HRT — it positions it as the appropriate primary approach for the large proportion of women with moderate menopausal symptoms who prefer to avoid exogenous hormones, have contraindications to HRT including hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer history, or who are seeking to reduce HRT dosing over time. For this population, the evidence supports a multi-modal functional medicine approach: acupuncture for vasomotor symptom reduction (Dodin S et al., Cochrane, 2013), Chinese herbal medicine for bone health and systemic symptom management (Zhang W et al., Maturitas, 2007), and targeted nutritional support for adrenal androgen conversion and sleep architecture. The functional medicine approach also addresses the metabolic changes of menopause — insulin resistance, visceral adiposity, thyroid sensitivity — that HRT alone does not correct and that contribute substantially to postmenopausal cardiovascular and metabolic risk.
Research & Evidence
Menopause involves the coordinated decline of ovarian estradiol and progesterone, triggering vasomotor instability through dysregulated thermoregulatory set-point in the hypothalamus, bone resorption acceleration from osteoclast disinhibition, and neurological changes affecting sleep architecture and mood. Dodin S et al. (Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2013) systematically reviewed acupuncture for menopausal hot flushes and documented significant reductions in frequency and severity, consistent with acupuncture's ability to modulate hypothalamic thermoregulation through beta-endorphin and serotonin pathways. Zhang W et al. (Maturitas, 2007) demonstrated that Chinese herbal medicine improved bone mineral density in menopausal women, providing mechanistic evidence for herbs containing phytoestrogens and osteoblast-stimulating compounds. Xiao Y et al. (Cochrane reviews) evaluated Chinese herbal medicine for menopausal symptoms and found evidence supporting its use for vasomotor, psychological, and somatic complaints across multiple formulations. The integrative protocol at our practice addresses the menopausal transition across all affected systems simultaneously: hypothalamic thermoregulation, bone metabolism, neurological sleep architecture, and genitourinary atrophy — a comprehensive scope that neither acupuncture alone nor herbal medicine alone covers as effectively as their clinical integration.
Your First Appointment
Bring any recent hormone labs and gynecological records. Describe your symptom pattern: frequency and severity of hot flashes, sleep quality, mood, joint pain, cognitive symptoms, and libido changes. Age at menopause and surgical history (hysterectomy, oophorectomy) are relevant.
Why Dr. Hendry for Menopause Treatment
Dr. Hendry's advanced training in Chinese gynecology and functional medicine hormone assessment allows him to create comprehensive menopause protocols that no single-specialty practitioner can match.