Hot Flashes - Home Remedies

Hot Flashes - Home Remedies

A hot flush is a sudden sensation of warmth spreading all over your body.Hot flashes are the most common bothersome symptom of menopause. Hot flashes may occur during the day or at night (also known as night sweats). Hot flashes may be mild and tolerable, moderate and troublesome, or severe and debilitating. Hot flashes get better with time. While most women have hot flashes for a few years, some women have them for decades. It is not known why some women have severe hot flashes for many years, while others have no hot flashes, or mild ones that resolve quickly. If your hot flashes are mild or moderate, you may find relief by changing your lifestyle. If you have severe hot flashes, you may still benefit from lifestyle changes, but also may choose to take a nonprescription remedy or a prescription medication, including hormones to help you manage your symptoms.

Lifestyle changes  
Researchers find that women with hot flashes have more sensitive thermostats in their brain, so are comfortable only in a small range of temperatures. Staying cool and reducing stress are the principal lifestyle changes to treat your hot flashes.  

1. Avoid warm rooms, hot drinks, hot foods, alcohol, caffeine, bright lights, excess stress, and cigarette smoking.  Wear layers of clothing made from light, breathable fabrics, removing a layer or two when you’re hot, and replacing them when you’re cooler. Cooling products, including sprays, gels, cooling bed linens, wicking sleepwear, and the Chillow pillow may be helpful.

2. To reduce stress and promote more restful sleep, exercise regularly, but not too close to bedtime. Meditation, yoga, qigong, tai chi, biofeedback, acupuncture, or massage also will lower your stress levels.

3.  When a hot flash is starting, try “paced respiration” slow, deep, abdominal breathing, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Breathe only 5-7 times per minute, much more slowly than usual.

4. Try different strategies to stay cool while sleeping. Dress in light, breathable nightclothes. Use layered bedding that can be easily removed during the night. Cool down with a bedside fan. Keep a frozen cold pack or bag of frozen peas under your pillow, and turn the pillow often so that your head is always resting on a cool surface. If you wake at night, sip cool water. Try different techniques for getting back to sleep, such as meditation, paced respiration, or getting out of bed and reading until you become sleepy.

5. Women who are overweight have more hot flashes, so maintain a healthy weight and exercise regularly to decrease bothersome hot flashes and improve your overall health.

6. Soy: Eat one or two servings of soy foods daily (containing isoflavones), such as low-fat varieties of tofu, tempeh, soymilk, or roasted soy nuts.

7. Herbs: Supplements containing certain herbs like black cohosh, such as Remifemin, decrease hot flashes in some studies.

8. Sleeping medications will not reduce your hot flashes but may help you sleep through them.

9. Deep breathing – breathing exercises can help relax you, body and mind.  Focus your mind on a peaceful image, breathe in and out, deeply and slowly.  Deep breathing helps increase the supply of oxygen to the body.

10. Cool yourself down by drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day, and go to bed with a glass of water near at hand, in case of a mid-night Hot Flush.

11. Green tea – Green tea has anti-viral and anti-bacterial qualities, and can help build your defenses against flu.  Its anti-oxidants can help cardiovascular conditions, and it is linked with fewer negative menopausal symptoms, including less Hot Flushes.