What Hot Flushes Mean

Hot flashes or hot flushes as they’re more commonly known in the UK are experienced by around 75% of menopausal women in the western world.

What hot flashes mean to menopausal women

The experience of a hot flush can differ widely between women. For some the heat rises from the feet, for others it starts at the chest and rises and others it just affects the face or feet. The term ‘hot flush’ (or hot flash) can be confusing as some women experience cold flushes followed by extreme heat.

Similarly, some women experience heat and sweat with a flush and some women experience just heat with a night sweat!

What causes a hot flush?

We know that menopause is caused by the decline in the volume of your body’s eggs and associated oestrogen levels. These changing hormone levels have a knock-on effect on your body’s temperature control (a gland called the hypothalamus) which then generates menopausal heat, be it a hot flush or night sweat.

The exact mechanism of a flush is not fully understood but we do know that certain things can be triggers for some women. Mostly it’s anything that stimulates or stresses the body.

Food and drink are often seen to exacerbate or cause hot flushes. Anything hot and spicy like chilli can have an impact as can overly sweet food and drink. Alcohol is known to exacerbate flushes for some women with many reporting that they can no longer drink like they used to!

Chocolate be a no-no as it contains caffeine and sugar, but for some, cacao, the pure goodness of chocolate in its raw state (1) is a wonderful alternative.

Lifestyle can play a big part in the hot flush experience and keeping stress on the low down can have a massive effect. Smoking too will affect hot flushes and night sweats adversely.

What hot flashes mean in Chinese medicine

In Chinese medicine hot flushes are rooted in a depletion of Kidney energy. The kidneys (and bladder) are part of the water element and one of their basic jobs is to supply water to the body. One of the water’s jobs is to balance fire. When water is weak fire will rise up.

As we age our kidney energy naturally declines, during menopause it’s working particularly hard. With a lack of water to balance fire, we experience heat and hot flushes can occur.

Each of element, five in total, interacts with other elements. In the case of water it feeds the wood (or liver) and is weak it as a hard time looking after the liver, who’s a tricky devil at the best of times and needs keeping in hand. When the liver is out control it heats up and rises, affecting everything in its path.

Emotional responses

In Chinese Medicine we don’t separate the mind from the body. Each organ has an associated emotion, the liver’s is anger, frustration, short temperedness (you get my drift!) so when it’s not being looked after by the kidneys anger rushes up to the head and often pours out of the mouth in a torrent of rage! The liver is also depleted by stress too.

The water is associated with fear. Fear weaken kidney energy as does overwork.

What can you do?

Lifestyle advice plays a large part in Chinese medicine recommendations. You can see that the natural interplay between the organs and the changes that occur at menopause can be an unsettling time for the body and mind.

Just by supporting these two organs, the Kidneys and the Liver we can do a great deal to help ourselves. Ensuring we don’t overwork and keeping stress on the lowdown are a very good place to start.

About Jo Darling MBAcC Lic Acu

Jo is a Brighton-based Acupuncturist with a Bachelor of Science degree in Acupuncture from the University of Greenwich. Her training includes western medicine pathology, physiology and anatomy. She is also a member of the British Acupuncture Council.

Jo is passionate about women’s health. She has helped 100’s of women live healthier, happier lives. She has spent over 10 years practicing acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, reflexology and Chinese herbs.

As well as fertility, pregnancy and natural menopause Jo specialises in the treatment of breast cancer patients particularly those thrown into early menopause by chemotherapy. This work inspired Menopoised.

For more information about her work visit her website.

About Menopoised

We understand the challenges of menopause because we are menopausal. That’s why we created Menopoised. The Menopoised Menopause Magnet is a first of their kind, acupuncture inspired, safe, effective and side-effect free. Our products have been created to support a broad spectrum of issues, designed to help guide women through a positive menopause.

How Can Help You?

If you’re suffering with hot flushes and night sweats, we can help. When we trialled our heroine product, the Menopoised Menopause Magnet, over 80% of our participants experienced a reduction in the intensity and frequency of their hot flushes and night sweats within a week of use. Read about our research here.

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