Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 9, 1993 TAG: 9311090150
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JANE GLENN HAAS ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Last year, the muzzle came off with publication of books on menopause by noted authors such as Gail Sheehy and Germaine Greer.
Now many midlife women are turning to treatments and therapies that go beyond traditional medicine.
"It is almost as though it were happening for the first time to this generation," said Magdalen Daniels, an acupressure massage therapist specializing in menopausal problems.
Some experts specializing in women's life transitions concentrate on seminars and emotional support.
Daniels, 51, adds something different: the use of acupressure massage techniques she says relieve menopausal symptoms.
She wrote "Changing Woman's Workbook: Approaching Menopause as Journey of Spiritual Transformation" published by Purple Iris Press, a Los Angeles-based publisher of spiritual wellness books.
The workbook outlines Daniels' suggestions to ease the difficulties that sometimes accompany menopause - exercises to relieve hot flashes and night sweats, ways to form support groups, recipes for traditional Chinese medicines for menopause.
As a massage therapist, Daniels works through the Costa Mesa, Calif., office of Dr. Ron Bieler, a doctor of Oriental medicine and licensed acupuncturist.
Most of her current clients are determined to go through the change of life without estrogen replacement prescriptions, she said, although some women opt to take the hormone as well as try a holistic approach that focuses on massage.
"The massage makes me feel a lot better," said Marla Lipsky, president of an executive recruitment firm.
Lipsky has had biweekly acupressure massages from Daniels for more than three years.
The treatments are different from traditional massage, she said.
"First, she talks to me. She asks what issues are going on in my life, what is making me crazy," Lipsky said.
"And then acupressure massage aligns my energy. My body can really feel the difference."
Lipsky's menopause started three years ago, and she soon experienced hot flashes. She uses acupuncture and herbs, combined with the acupressure massages, to relieve her symptoms.
"And it works, except when I am under enormous stress," said Lipsky, 47.
"Massage has helped me learn to relax overall. It all sounds fairly basic, but a lot of us have to learn that it's OK to treat ourselves well, to have a massage, for example. A lot of us have that guilt rooted inside us, that idea that we aren't entitled to have anything for ourselves."
Not feeling entitled to pay attention to themselves is a problem that surfaces for many women as they face menopause, Daniels said.
"We are taught that we must nurture, take care of others, be there for others. And we feel selfish if we take a nap, have a cocktail hour," said Daniels, a former high school teacher whose interests include American Indian shamanism reflecting her Cherokee heritage.
"A lot of work I do helps women feel OK and learn how to pay attention to their own signals, instead of just hearing everyone else's signals for needs, for attention."
As she performs the massage, she tells clients menopause is just another phase of life.
"So you can't do everything you used to do. That's not a cause for depression; that's just a signal that you are passing to the next part of life.
"It means you've learned the lessons you needed to from these activities. We are meant to learn and develop through all phases of life, then pass to a new beginning," she said.
That might sound simplistic. But Daniels' clients say the message - combined with the massage - makes them feel terrific.
Acupressure massage is a form of Chinese medicine that claims to strive for a balance in the body's vital energy - called "ch'i" - that flows along pathways that connect organs and body systems.
Daniels said the body has fields of energy that, unlike veins and nerves and other systems, cannot be examined by traditional means. Sometimes she concentrates the massage on an area far from the area of the client's complaint.
"I am using these fields of energy, but all systems are connected," she said.
She works on points on a woman's face, for example, because women tend to store energy in the upper parts of their body, she said. "I try to move it down in the body to relieve the tension."
While the medical benefits of therapeutic massage have not been established - and health insurers rarely pay for the treatment unless performed by a physical therapist - the National Institutes of Health has formed a group to determine whether there's something to all the patting and stroking.
Swedish massage also is considered therapeutic but, by comparison, concentrates on circulation, muscles and nerves, said J.R. Filighera, 61, a Laguna Hills, Calif., certified massage therapist who is a client of Daniels.
Filighera uses Swedish and sports massage in working with elderly clients in retirement communities and nursing homes.
But for post-menopausal relief, she seeks out Daniels.
"Acupressure moves energy," Filighera said. "And the massage is not painful, as it can be with deep-tissue massage. Of course, if you have an energy block, you might experience a burning sensation at that point, but no pain."
by CNB