Menopause Hot Flashes

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Back in the day, hormone replacement therapy was the go-to treatment of hot flashes for most women, but since a lot of risks have now been associated with the use of HRT in the long term, new treatments are now being looked at for them - mostly in the form of natural home remedies.

Since several women start to experience hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause far before the end of their menstrual cycles and since these symptoms go on for years afterwards, it is quite common for women to need decade-long treatments for them. Well, the longer HRT is used, the higher the risks become of developing medical conditions like cancer, blood clots, stroke and heart disease.

Fortunately, there are a lot of home remedies nowadays that can help treat hot flashes. There are also several things you need to learn to avoid since they can make hot flashes worse or trigger them, and other things you need to learn to do in order to prevent their frequency or relieve them completely. There are also various herbs, foods and natural supplements such as Amberen that can give you relief from hot flashes. Read on.

First of all, you need to know that hot flash triggers tend to be unique to every woman, so you might need to keep a diary of your symptoms to figure out what your unique triggers are. These triggers can range from spicy foods that you can give up to certain vitamins and drugs that you simply cannot avoid. Also, although natural supplements can be very helpful for hot flash treatment, some prescription drugs might interact with them, so make sure you ask your doctor for advice before trying out any natural supplements.

Conversely, relief for hot flashes can be as simple as 1-2-3. All you might have to do is wear loose and light cotton clothes. Cotton lets sweat evaporate and can thus cool the skin faster and make you more comfortable. It would also help to dress in layers, so you can simply take your clothes off one by one as your body gets hotter and wear them again if you experience chills afterwards.  

A lot of women also find regular exercise helpful for hot flash relief. After all, the heat that you can generate as you move around can help you stay more comfortable all day. On that note, a healthy diet can alleviate your hot flashes, too.

As for food, soy beans can help relieve any symptoms during menopause because of their plant estrogens called isoflavones. Isoflavones work like regular estrogen in the female body, thus providing relief for hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. If you have soy allergies, however, you can find isoflavones in other plants, like red clover, instead.

Black cohosh is another popular home remedy for hot flashes. In fact, it can be much more effective compared to soy beans in some cases. Other effective remedies include the ancient sarsaparilla remedy and ginseng. Wild yam, chasteberry, and dong quai have all been proven to be effective with various symptoms during menopause, as well.