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Hot Flashes in the Summertime: How to Beat the Heat

Hot Flashes in the Summertime: How to Beat the Heat

By: Holly L. Thacker, MD • Posted on November 22, 2011 • Updated June 23, 2025

Summer heat can worsen menopausal hot flashes and make them feel more intense and frequent. However, there are ways to manage these symptoms during the warmer months. Strategies include dressing in light, breathable clothing, staying hydrated, and finding ways to cool down, like using fans, seeking shaded areas and using cold compresses.

Reducing Environmental Hot Flash Triggers

One of the easiest ways to combat flashing is to avoid environmental triggers, such as:

  • Stress
  • Stuffy rooms
  • Warm weather
  • Caffeine
  • Alcohol
  • Spicy foods
  • Tight clothing
  • Heat
  • Smoking cigarettes

Uncovering Hot Flash Patterns

Keeping track of when your hot flashes occur is another great way to identify which environmental triggers cause you to flash. I recommend doing this over the course of a couple of days. Make sure to include what was going on before the hot flash started, such as:

  • Were you drinking a cup of coffee?
  • Did you have a glass of wine?
  • Were you stressed out?
  • Were you asleep?
  • Did you just finish a spicy meal?

Not only will this help you identify your hot flash pattern, it will help you plan ahead. For example, if you notice that you tend to have hot flashes during the night, you will want to wear cotton or linen pajamas to bed and consider sleeping on a cool “chill pillow” to help reduce the heat.

Non-Hormonal Treatments for Hot Flashes

Other ways to cool down your hot flashes are: 

  • Keep your bedroom cool at 65 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Wear light layers of clothing
  • Use fans during the day
  • Wear socks to bed to help lower central body temperature
  • Exercise daily
  • Arrive at meetings early to pick the coolest seat in the room
  • Practice deep-breathing exercises to help you relax during stressful situations
  • Veozah - a nonhormonal medication to treat hot flashes and night sweats
  • Acupuncture 

Hormone Therapy Can Help Treat Menopause Symptoms

If the above suggestions don’t help, menopausal hormone therapy will be needed to treat your hot flashes. Hormone therapy is effective and the benefit for most women with menopausal symptoms outweighs the rare risks associated with hormone therapy.

Be Strong, Be Healthy, and Be in Charge!

- Dr. Holly L. Thacker

Holly L. Thacker, MD, FACP is nationally known for her leadership in women’s health. She is the founder of the Cleveland Clinic Women’s Health Fellowship and is currently the Professor and Director of the Center for Specialized Women’s Health at Cleveland Clinic and Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Thacker is also the Executive Director of Speaking of Women’s Health and the author of The Cleveland Clinic Guide to Menopause. Her special interests and areas of research including menopause and related medical problems including osteoporosis, hormone therapy, breast cancer risk assessment, menstrual disorders, female sexual dysfunction and interdisciplinary women’s health.

environmental hot flash triggers, hormone therapy, hot flashes, hrt, menopause, menopause symptoms, women, women and menopause, women's health

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