The menopause happens to 50% of us so it's a lucrative industry to tap into and one that has exploded in the past few years thanks to celebrities including Davina McCall and Penny Lancaster speaking candidly about their experiences.
Glasgow's only five-star hotel has taken notice and launched a new menopause massage to add to its ever-increasing repertoire of luxury treatments.
While many women are fully on-board with hormone replacement therapy, it isn't suitable for everyone including those with certain cancers and not everyone wants to take it.
With this in mind the Kimpton Blythswood Hotel has created a new treatment for those who would prefer to take a more "holistic approach" to managing symptoms but certainly wouldn't exclude those going down the medical route.
It combines the gentle touch of a relaxing aromatherapy massage with a strategic focus on targeted pressure points which aim to help specific symptoms such as hot flushes, mood swings and fatigue.
READ MORE:
- College sector rolls out 'life changing' menopause policy
- 'I've got admiration for Davina McCall but I didn't want to be a menopause crusader
- Glasgow psychologist blamed menopause for 'systematic bullying' of staff
My therapist Melissa explains: "Just by stimulating the pressure points it relates to some of the symptoms experienced during menopause such as anxiety and depression, hot flushes and brain fog. It's really about trying to bring the body back into balance.
"With the massage we use a very light pressure with lots of soothing movements which helps to calm the body and relax you."
The oil she uses is by luxury spa brand Oskia and contains uplifting geranium, which is said to help balance hormones.
Melissa recommends a treatment every four to six weeks to get the most benefit so it's probably unfair to report back on any changes in my own symptoms after one experience.
However, it rates as one the best massages I've ever had.
Every carefully thought out movement is slowed down and Melissa skilfully uses her arms to apply heavier pressure, which feels extremely grounding.
I [reluctantly] leave her cosy massage table feeling relaxed and calm and enjoy a more restful night's sleep. Given that I'm also grieving as well as menopausal that is no small thing for Melissa to have achieved in less than an hour.
The Blythswood Hotel's menopause massage is priced from £99 for 55 minutes.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here