Hot flashes can be identified and felt as a sudden sensation of warmth in the upper body, most particularly the chest, face, and neck. The hot flashes may cause your skin to turn red, as if you’re blushing and can oftentimes be accompanied by sweating. When experiencing an episode of hot flashes, you may experience various symptoms, such as:

• A sudden feeling of warmth spreading through the upper part of your body
• Appearing flushed with red, blotchy skin
• Rapid increase in heart rate
• Sudden sweating/perspiration in the upper body
• Chills
• Feelings of anxiety

The severity of hot flashes and how they affect people varies; the symptoms can be very mild or can become so unbearable that they disrupt usual daily activities. It is recommended to seek medical attention if the flashes appear at nighttime, disrupting sleep.  

Hot flashes tend to be more prevalent during Menopause, therefore, when they appear during Perimenopause, it brings upon great alarm for the women affected. It is likely that they can appear in late 30s-40s, because by then, women tend to produce less progesterone and menstrual cycles tend to become more irregular and unpredictable.  

It is important to also note that hot flashes do not affect all women universally, equally. They tend to be less common in Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian women and interestingly, in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, hot flashes do not occur at all. However, in the U.S., a large population of American women report experiencing hot flashes. This discrepancy in experience of hot flashes can be due to differences in cultures and lifestyles (diets, physical activity, etc.)
-Written by Kaila An MPH