Hot flash therapies

Each woman has a different menopause transition. It is not a disease that can be cured but a natural process that can be helped and treated in multiple ways. Professionals are still unsure how menopause causes many of its symptoms and for this reason it is often a job of trial and error to figure out what the best remedies, treatments and therapies are for hot flashes during menopause.

Hot flashes are a feeling of warmth that spreads over the body and felt primarily in the head and neck regions. Not all women experience this but a large majority do, and it is often classed as the most uncomfortable symptom of menopause. It is widely believed that the best way to treat this is through a healthy lifestyle and alternative medicine or therapies but there are also drug and surgical therapies for hot flashes. Read on to discover more.

Therapies for hot flashes

Before we begin talking about hot flashes therapies it is important to remember that all women are looking for therapies for menopause when in reality the concern should be learning about the hormonal imbalance and how best to counter that through every treatment.

Drugs for hot flashes include:

. Hormone Replacement Therapy/Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy - Consisting of a combination of estrogens and progesterone these are a effective way to deal with hot flashes but should only be used as a short term measure after findings uncovered damaging long term effects of these drugs.

. Antidepressants - From the class of selective serotoninergic reuptake inhibitors these have been found to reduce the number and severity of hot flashes during menopause. These include: paroxetine, fluoxetine and sertraline but these do have side effects from headaches and nausea to loss of appetite and insomnia.

. Clonidine - This is an old drug that is very effective as a therapy for hot flashes but it includes side effects including dry mouth, constipation and low blood pressure when standing.

Herbal therapies include:

. Phytestrogen herbs - These are herbal therapies such as black cohosh and dong quai that contain estrogenic components and treat low hormone levels by replacing them. However, as they add the hormones they aren't the best herbal therapy for hot flashes as they make your body less responsive to creating its own.

. Non-estrogenic herbs - These herbal remedies don't contain any estrogen and thus help your hormonal glands to natural produce more hormones and rebalance the imbalance.

What to do about hot flash therapies

Being pro-active is crucial to first trying to prevent hot flashes and then to help you get relief from the problem. The first thing to do is change your lifestyle and this is the most natural way of overcoming the issue - exercise and healthy eating are the main two and then alongside this maybe include an herbal medicine therapy. Drug therapy, although effective to relieve hot flashes, causes more problems for a woman during and after menopause. Click the following link to learn about hot flashes therapies to treat menopausal hot flashes.

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