Hot Flushes and Night Sweats

Vasomotor symptoms, otherwise known as hot flushes and night sweats, are the most common symptom experienced by women during menopausal transition and can continue into the post -menopausal phase.

Hot flushes feel like ‘heat rising’ and they mainly affect the chest, neck and head area and often come on quite suddenly. They can be very intense and last from a few seconds up to 10 minutes, with some episodes lasting as long as an hour.  Night sweats can range from mild to severe in intensity, disrupt sleep and make finding a good temperature in your bedroom seem impossible.

 What causes hot flushes and night sweats?

An image of a thermometer with a sun on one side and a snowflake on the other, indicating temperature fluctuations during menopause.

  • The hypothalamus region of our brain controls a natural thermostat in the body, keeping our body temperature at between 36 and 37 degrees Celsius. If you become too hot, sweating and skin- flushing is the mechanism used to cool the body temperature. 

  • During the menopausal transition the modulation of this thermostat appears to change.

  • This leads to heightened sensitivity to slight temperature changes causing menopausal hot flushes and night sweats. 

    The hormone connection:

  • Ovarian hormones play a role in temperature regulation change but the exact reason remains unclear. 

  • Low levels of oestrogen in menopause may affect this temperature regulation and contribute to hot flushes and night sweats.

Relieve Night Sweats and Hot Flushes with Naturopathy

Naturopathy provides individualised support to help, not only alleviate symptoms, but to improve overall health and wellbeing.

The treatment approach includes:

  • Herbal medicines traditionally used to help ‘cool’ the body, support hormone balance and relieve restlessness and sleeplessness

  • Supporting adrenal health and managing our stress response with adaptogen herbs is often beneficial during menopause, as stress plays a role in worsening vasomotor symptoms, as stress hormones influence sex hormones and temperature regulating peptides.

  • Supporting hormone balance and the effects of oestrogen fluctuations with expert dietary advice, providing specific foods to help manage symptoms and support overall health and wellbeing

  • Lifestyle interventions to help manage stress, improve sleep quality and to manage hot flushes

A mature blond woman is puffing her cheeks out and pulling her sweater away from her body while having a menopausal hot flush.

If you are tired of the struggle and the overwhelm of hot flushes, night sweats and other menopausal symptoms book an appointment with Colleen today.