All of a sudden, a woman feels a sense of extreme dread, her head, and neck feel hot and soon soak with perspiration. Her heartbeats in rapid succession as a woman try to understand what is happening to her body. With little warning, women’s bodies betray them with unexpected symptoms of menopause.
Hot Flashes
Hot flashes a commonly reported symptom of menopause varies in intensity, duration, and frequency. One to two years before the end of the menstrual cycle menopause begins. Lasting between six months and fifteen years untreated hot flashes can affect women for many years. Although, some women experience only minor discomfort others require a change of clothing after an episode. Women lessen the impact of hot flashes with the use of a variety of treatment tools. Next find out how to control your hot flashes.
Causes
The hypothalamus, a small structure in the brain regulates body temperature. Although the exact cause of hot flashes is unknown, research indicates that the hypothalamus overreacts to waning estrogen levels. Normally the hypothalamus would directly regulate temperature extremes with chills or moisture. The onset of menopause decreases critical estrogen and progesterone levels in the body. The hypothalamus responds by rushing chemicals to dilate blood vessels in the skin to release heat.
Triggers
Although hot flashes may seem surprising, poor diet, bad habits, environmental temperatures, and stress trigger uncomfortable and distressing symptoms. The best way to reduce the impact of hot flashes and their debilitating symptoms is to learn to avoid hot flash triggers.
Heat shopping malls during the winter, drinking a glass of wine by the fire may cause anxiety, perspiration, and rapid heartbeat. Blistering summer weather, saunas, steam rooms, and showers can all trigger hot flashes. Women who use hair dryers, curling irons, hair dyes, chemical relaxers, and hot rollers can also generate facial flushing and perspiration. Eating foods that are too hot or spicy can generate a hot flash as the most inopportune time.
Excess weight can increase the amount of hot flashes, but diet pills can increase hot flashes, as well. Additionally caffeine, alcohol, and sugar can cause hormonal imbalances. Some women find smoking during the day reduces their stress but cigarettes increase stress. Cigarette smoke is a stimulant that increases anxiety and high blood pressure. Multitasking women who try to be everything for everyone succumb to high levels of stress that trigger intense, hot flash symptoms.
Treatment
Changes in lifestyle, the use of alternative medicines and in exceptional circumstances drugs and surgery support women to prevent hot flashes. Medical professionals recommend that women begin with risk-free options for managing menopausal symptoms. The majority of women, however, find that necessary lifestyle adjustments such as healthy eating, increases in exercise and reduced stress levels can significantly reduce hot flashes.
A small percentage of women, however, may require drugs and surgery that exceed the dangerous side effects and risks of these extreme treatments. Hormone treatments once considered useful for symptoms of menopause increase the risk of breast, ovarian cancers, and heart disease in women involved in hormone therapy.
Essential Lifestyle Adjustments
Cutting edge effective treatment options include eating foods rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, soy, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, as well as calcium and vitamin D. Exercise not only increases endorphins for enhanced mood and energy but reduces the incidence, intensity and duration of hot flash symptoms. With weight gain, a common symptom of menopause exercise can help women to control their weight.
Excess body fat traps stress hormones in fatty tissue increasing the effects of cortisol and adrenaline on hot flashes. Quitting smoking reduces the cigarettes stimulant trigger that increases anxiety skin flushing and moisture. Additionally sleeping in a cool bedroom with nightclothes made of micro fibers will reduce night sweats as well as wick perspiration from the body. Treating hot flashes with basic lifestyle adjustments at the onset of menopause reduces the need for hazardous or aggressive treatments after the age of 60. Read more about to how long do hot flashes last.
