Last week marked the official start of summer, as if you weren’t hot enough. If you’re experiencing hot flashes, the summer heat probably isn’t giving you any relief, but below is a list of tips that might help relieve your pesky hot flashes.

1. Keep cool. Any slight increase in your body’s core temperature can trigger a flash. Keep your air conditioner flowing and your ceiling fan turned on to lower the room temperature. When you feel a flash come on, sip an ice cold drink. In hot weather, wear all cotton clothes to allow your skin to breathe.
2. Avoid dietary triggers. Hot and spicy foods, caffeinated beverages and alcohol can all trigger hot flashes. If your hot flashes seem worse after consuming these foods, eliminate the offender and see if the flashes diminish.
3. Herbal and dietary supplements such as black cohosh and Vitamin E have been shown to reduce the occurrence and severity of hot flashes and night sweats.
4. Exercise at least 30 minutes every day. Walk, ride a bicycle, run or do some other activity, but don’t exercise within 3 hours of going to bed to help prevent night sweats.
5. Speaking of bedtime, eliminate hot showers or baths before bed.
6. Relax with yoga, meditation, abdominal breathing or other stress-reducing techniques.
7. Quit smoking. Yet another reason to stop smoking: research has shown that smoking increases the occurrence of hot flashes. 
8. If your hot flashes are really severe and don’t seem to be getting better with these lifestyle and dietary adjustments, you may need more assistance. Speak to your doctor about taking natural progesterone as it has been found to provide relief for hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.

I hope these changes provide you with some relief. Here’s to keeping cool and enjoying your summer!