What are Hot Flashes? Pt II – Coping

As Part I of this article notes, the hot flashes often experienced by a woman during the different stages of menopause are miscues in the body’s natural temperature maintenance system. But there are ways to cope with them naturally, and treatments like soy isoflavones and black cohosh exist as just some of the possible treatments for severe hot flashes.

Coping Naturally

When hot flashes aren’t intense or frequent enough to severely affect the lifestyle of a woman experiencing menopause, sometimes taking a natural line of attack is enough to cope with them:

• Dress in layers so that when a hot flash hits, you can remove items of clothing to lessen the effects.

• Wear loose clothing made of natural fibers such as cotton or wool that provide for easy circulation of air and that let your skin breathe.

• In your purse or briefcase, carry some kind of moist towelette (even a baby wipe works great) to place on the back of your neck, your temples, and to wipe down your face.

• Leave a window open a tiny bit before you go to bed – the small cooling effect can be enough to keep you sleeping soundly through a mild hot flash.

• Drink something cold or eat slivered ice chips as soon as a hot flash starts.

• Keep a diary to see if you can figure out what is triggering your hot flashes (you might have triggers and you might not). Then avoid those triggers.

• Develop a healthy lifestyle – exercise, good nutrition, maintaining a proper weight, all have been shown to help reduce both the intensity and frequency of hot flashes.

While a good 85% of women experiencing menopause do experience hot flashes, only about half report that the symptoms are severe enough to affect their lives significantly. In those cases, though, it’s often necessary to consult your primary healthcare provider to get some additional help:

Alternative Therapies

A wide range of alternative therapies do exist to treat hot flashes; the hard part is figuring out which one is right for you:

• Some women report relief with accupuncture, the ancient Chinese treatment that involves inserting thin needles into specific spots on the body.
• For those who just aren’t too sure about “needles,” herbal supplements like soy isoflavones or black cohosh can be very effective for treating hot flashes. The great

thing about these products is that they are all-natural AND they might help with other symptoms of menopause at the same time

Medications

Several medications exist that physicians can prescribe to control or eliminate hot flashes:

• HRT (hormone replacement therapy) is one of the most common medications. While it has been shown to be effective, it does carry some life-threatening possible effects, such as an increased tendency to develop breast cancer.
• Some antidepressants and sedatives can have a positive effect on hot flashes; however for many women, the sleepiness and fuzziness that can go with them are worse than the hot flashes in the first place.
• Anti-hypertensives, or blood pressure lowering drugs, can be prescribed to adjust the actual way the capillaries expand for better blood flow. Like most medications, these can also have severe side effects of their own.

If your hot flashes are severe, only you and your primary healthcare provider can find the treatment that works for you. But if they are merely a mild irritation, you might try starting with the natural coping methods listed above and then combine those with an alternative therapy such as black cohosh. The key is to know your options!

What are Hot Flashes? Pt I – Overview

Return to the "Menopause Articles page. "