Hot flushes are caused by changes of your estrogen and other hormone levels during the menopause which effects your body's temperature regulation. Blah blah blah, enough of the science talk. We want to know the best way to cope with this at night to avoid feeling like a hot and sweaty fire ball.
1. Rinse your wrists under a sink
As simple as it sounds. Rinsing your wrists under the tap for 20-30 before bed time will help to bring your body temperature down. This is a good idea to do even before a hot flush occurs.
2. Always keep an ice pack handy in the freezer
Behind the neck, on your forehead, between your arm pits. These are some of the main areas where you will cool you down the quickest.
3. Sleep on a silk pillowcase
A good quality silk pillowcase and bedding will retain less heat than your conventional cotton/ polyester material. In other terms silk has thermoregulation properties, which will actively cool you down instead of retaining heat.
4. Avoid wearing tight restrictive clothing in bed
The aim is to wear light breathable clothes to bed, or better still nothing at all! I know the first few minutes of slipping into cold sheets, especially during winter makes you feel like you need that fluffy PJ bought for you on Xmas. However this is likely to make you over heat within 1 hour of sleeping which will not help with your hot flushes at all.
5. Taking evening primrose oil supplement
Evening primrose oil is rich in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an essential fatty acid involved in the production of hormone like substances called prostaglandins. These prostaglandins are thought to help counter hormonal like changes associated with the menopause.
