Best Non-Medical Solutions to Hot Flashes

Although hormone therapy can be both effective, and anti-aging as well as handling hot flashes, it is not for all women as they become perimenopausal and menopausal.

Some of the antidepressant medications can also help with hot flashes, mood, memory and sleep.

1. Bright Light therapy, also known as chronotherapy when combined with specifically awake therapy, has mostly been studied for depression and seasonal affective disorders (SAD) and found to be effective for both.

2. Sleep improvement with light and wakefulness treatments works. To the extent that light therapy would improve sleep secondary to hot flashes, it would improve overall health and mood in women with hot flashes. Chronic pain syndromes, such as chronic back pain, have also been treated with light therapy with some success. The therapy can be as simple as spending some extra time outdoors on a sunny day, or as complex as light shined on the ear drum for specific amounts of time per day.

3. Exercise and yoga. Yoga is specifically not used as a treatment for menopausal hot flashes, however it can treat almost every other aspect of perimenopause and menopause.

4. Weight management. Weight, cardiovascular, and overall mood and appearance can improve with the use of exercise. To the extent that either exercise improves your BMI you are physically less hot, and to the extent that exercise releases heat a woman is less likely to sweat or feel heat from hot flashes.

5. Acupuncture. Acupuncture has not been found to be consistently helpful in treating menopausal symptoms or hot flashes. In some studies acupuncture was able to relieve some of the severity of the hot flashes, but not the frequency. In other studies acupuncture gave relief of menopausal symptoms, but the treatment effect was not long lasting. Many of these same therapies have been found to be beneficial for reduction of muscular and joint pain and thus benefit you in many ways.

6. Herbal therapies, this is best discussed with your health provider and find out what formulas are both safe and effective for you.

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