Night sweats and hot flushes are a common occurrence of people suffering from menopause. You might not be able to control them but you can definitely ease the symptoms.
Here are a few ways to keep you cool and reduce the severity of the night sweats and flushes:
- Breathe
Take deep breaths and calm yourself. Panicking about the situation can only make things worse. If you really want to learn proper techniques of breathing, take up yoga or meditation. A lot of women have experienced a drop in the frequency of hot flushes and night sweats after taking deep breaths before going to bed.
- Avoid drinking and smoking
Research has proved that drinking and smoking can actually trigger night sweats and hot flushes. As a matter of fact, smoking makes your situation worse, as they experience worse flashes as compared to other women.
- Avoid spicy food
Spicy food will increase the temperature of your body and worsen the intensity of your night sweats and flushes. So avoid eating spicy food, instead eat food that keep your body cool such as dairy products and fruits.
- Switch to light cotton clothing
Night sweats and flushes leave you all sweaty and feeling hot, or rather boiling. So to keep cool, wear sheer or thin cotton that allow the air to pass through and keep you comfortable. Never wear polyester or nylons as they will only trap the heat instead of allowing it to pass through.
- Exercise
Women who exercise are said to experience milder symptoms of menopause that others. Exercise is good for you. You can take up any form of physical activity that you enjoy from running to yoga.
- Keep your surroundings cool
Of course cranking up the air-conditioning to the max can be a little impractical if there are others in the household. They might feel cold. You can instead opt to use a pedestal fan that focuses on you and keep you cool.
- Change your sheets
Buy sheets with lesser thread count that are less tightly weaved. These will help in allowing the free flow of air and not getting the heat trapped in between the mattress and the sheets.
- Sponge yourself with frozen stuff
To keep cool you can use an ice bag or even a wash cloth that has been kept in the freezer.
- Lose weight
It is found that women who are fat experience more sever hot flashes and night sweats. Research has proved that women who lost weight found that the severity and frequency reduced after losing weight. The logic behind could be that fat traps the heat and prevent the body from easily cooling down.
Please understand that hot flushes and night sweats are unavoidable symptom of menopause. We can only reduce the severity, intensity and frequency of the situation by following the above pointers.
Written by: Rasha Ashraf
