By: Rachel Bender WHNP
Hot flashes are considered a “vasomotor” symptom of menopause or peri-menopause. Hot flashes occur because your brain is no longer getting the amount of estrogen that it once did and can no longer regulate temperature as well as before. Prior to menopause, if you are cold your body shivers to make you warmer, and if you are hot, your body sweats to cool you down to keep you “comfortable”. This comfort area is called the thermo neutral zone. This zone becomes much narrower once estrogen is reduced and, thus, hot flashes occur.
Seventy-five to eighty percent of women experience hot flashes in menopause, so if these are happening to you, you are not alone. Risk factors that can be modified are obesity, smoking, and decreased physical activity. Unfortunately, there are some risk factors that you cannot control such as ethnicity factors. African American women report more hot flashes as compared to Caucasian, Japanese, and Chinese women. The severity of hot flashes can range from tolerable to completely bothersome and interfering with daily activity. So, what can you do? Suffer?…No! We can help. There are several different treatment options for hot flashes. Treatments can range from a discussion of life changing habits to medication and is individualized based on severity of symptoms and personal health history. We look forward to helping you feel better.
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