Menopause is the period in an adult woman's life that signifies the end of her menstruation and ovulation cycles, thus ending her fertility and ability to conceive children. Menopause is a difficult experience for most women because it produces a host of tough physical and emotional side effects. The decrease in estrogen and progesterone hormones that occurs during menopause can cause depression, vaginal dryness, insomnia, night sweats and hot flashes. Hot flashes are sudden attacks of face and chest flushing, often with dizziness, heart palpitations and headache. Several herbs have proven to be effective in relieving hot flashes.
Black Cohosh
Although not all double-blind clinical studies have proven the effectiveness of black cohosh in treating hot flashes, it's still one of the most popular medicinal herbs used for relieving menopausal symptoms. Studies have found that black cohosh can provide all of the positive effects of estrogen without the negative effects, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Taking black cohosh can relieve hot flashes, as well as other menopause-related symptoms like vaginal dryness. Black cohosh may also protect against osteoporosis, says the University of Maryland. Taking 20 mg of concentrated black cohosh extract twice daily or 2 to 4 mL of tincture three times daily can treat hot flashes, recommends the University of Michigan Health System.
Sage
Taking sage can help to treat hot flashes and reduce night sweats in menopausal women. Sage is taken internally to treat excessive sweating, says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Due to its perspiration-control effects, sage can reduce excessive sweating due to menopausal hot flashes, either during the daytime or in treating "night sweats," notes the University of Michigan Health System. The University of Michigan points to preliminary medical studies that found taking extracts of sage leaves combined with alfalfa can eliminate or improve hot flashes and night sweats. The University of Pittsburgh recommends taking 1 to 3g of dried sage steeped in 1 cup of water, taken three times daily as a tea, or taking the equivalent dosage of sage tincture or extract.
Dong Quai
Taking dong quai may reduce menopausal symptoms like hot flashes. Menopausal women found that taking dong quai helped to relieve hot flashes, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. Many researchers believe that dong quai has some weak estrogen-like effects that help in treating menopausal symptoms that arise from hormone imbalance, notes the University of Michigan Health System. Some double-blind clinical trials have suggested that using dong quai in combination with other herbs like wild yam, burdock, licorice and motherwort may be more effective in relieving hot flashes than taking dong quai alone, according to the University of Michigan. Based on medical studies of menopausal women, the University of Maryland says that the proper dong quai dosage is 500 to 600 mg tablets or capsules taken up to six times daily.
Wild Yam
Wild yam has been used as a natural treatment for menopausal symptoms due to its progesterone-like properties, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. Although efforts in the 1960s to convert wild yam into progesterone weren't successful, wild yam is still sometimes recommended to treat hot flashes. Like many other herbs used to treat hot flashes, wild yam has weak estrogen-like effects that may help to reduce menopause-related symptoms, says the University of Michigan Health System. Like sage, wild yam is typically combined with other estrogen-like herbs to treat hot flashes, the University of Maryland notes. Wild yam is taken in the form of a dried herb to make tea, tincture, fluid extract and topical cream. The University of Maryland recommends taking 40 to 120 drops of wild yam tincture three times daily, 10 to 40 drops of fluid extract three to four times daily, or 1 to 2 tsp. of the dried root steeped in 1 cup of boiling water and taken three times daily.
