New menopause app uses hypnotherapy to help women manage hot flushes, night sweats, joint pain and other symptoms
- Hypnotherapy is an effective treatment for hot flushes and other menopause symptoms, says Hong Kong-based hypnotherapist Christine Deschemin
- The EverCalm menopause app helps women harness self-hypnosis and track and manage common symptoms of menopause, while providing other well-being advice
It was almost a decade ago when Christine Deschemin first learned that hospitals in her native France were using hypnotherapy as an alternative to general anaesthesia. She was instantly intrigued.
“I was surprised that doctors were using hypnosis in what I believe is the riskiest place in a hospital: the operating theatre,” says Deschemin of the treatment that is also called hypnoanesthesia.
“In the French healthcare system, doctors have to make sure any treatment is evidence-based and that it works because, like anywhere in the world, they don’t want to be sued. And it has to be cost-effective.”
Deschemin, who was working in banking in Hong Kong at the time, says the critical-thinking side of her brain – she has a degree in aeronautical engineering from France’s École Polytechnique and an MBA from Harvard Business School – went into overdrive.
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“I had no preconceptions about hypnosis but I put my critical-thinking hat on and got busy thinking about all the applications for it.”
Her latest focus is EverCalm, a menopause app that allows women to harness self-hypnosis and track and manage common symptoms of menopause such as hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings in a natural way.
It also provides advice on areas such as nutrition, exercise and stress management.
“Research has shown that hypnotherapy is an effective treatment for hot flushes and other symptoms associated with menopause,” Deschemin says. “In a study of 187 women who were experiencing hot flushes, it reduced them and night sweats by 74 per cent, which could be as effective as hormone therapy in reducing the number of hot flushes experienced per day.”
Despite being a natural biological process, menopause – the end of a woman’s menstrual cycles and fertility – remains a misunderstood subject.
For women in the West, the number-one symptom of menopause is hot flushes, while among Asian women, the number one complaint is joint pain
While some breeze through the change, which normally occurs around the age of 50, others struggle with hormonal fluctuations caused primarily by a drop in the body’s levels of oestrogen.
Vaginal dryness, hot flushes, chills, night sweats, moodiness, joint pain, memory loss, weight gain – the list of potential symptoms is long. Improving sleep is vital, Deschemin says.
“If you can’t sleep well because you have hot flushes, then you’re anxious and get brain fog and you’re not performing as well at work. Then you get more anxious, and fear being laid off, which leads to more sleepless nights.”
Deschemin says that when the EverCalm menopause app was created, it was tested by asking women to share some of their symptoms. Some said it felt like the end of the world.
“If you’re in a meeting and you’re afraid that you’re going to be soaked because of hot flushes, then it can cause a lot of anxiety. Add to this the fear and anger of potentially being passed over for promotion after working for so many years to get to where they are.
“This programme – I prefer programme to app – helps retain women in the workplace by helping them navigate menopause so they can thrive.”
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A driving force is the menopause market: innovators are developing customised and personalised medical devices and wearables, which can be vital considering how menopause affects women in different ways.
Ireland-based IdentifyHer makes a sensor that is worn below the breast that tracks the frequency and severity of hot flushes and sleep disturbances. In Japan, an AI-powered bot named Yorisol helps bridge the communication gap between menopausal women and their partners.
To help bridge the data gap, Singapore-based EloCare developed a wearable that acts like a personalised healthcare assistant by checking vitals such as blood pressure and temperature, so that women can share the results with a doctor for better diagnosis and treatment.
“What we have learned is that for women in the West, the number-one symptom of menopause is hot flushes, while among Asian women, the number one complaint is joint pain.
“We don’t know why this is the case – it could be climate, genetics, lifestyle. There is still so much research that is needed.”
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