Before alternative treatments for hot flashes and menopause were considered, there were only two methods to treat, or lessen hot flashes, and both come with one ingredient, estrogen, and sometimes accompanied by progesterone. You can be treated through either oral (by mouth) or transdermal (patch), the two more popularly known as Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) or Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy (PHT). This type of therapy were considered to be highly effective with the treatment and reducing of the frequency and severity of hot flashes, and in fact, may decrease this menopause symptom by up to 90%.

Doctors began discouraging HRT as a treatment for hot flashes when studies of the alarming side effects were discovered. It was seen that women who has had hormone therapy, with both estrogen and progesterone, had increasing risks for heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer, as compared to those who were not taking the therapy. Aside from this, there was also an association with an increased risk of developing endometrial cancer, known as cancer of the lining of the uterus.

Options to take this kind of medication continues to lie on the patient herself, but doctors always inform, and advice the patient to take into account the possible risks that come with the benefit of HRT. There is also serious research on each woman’s medical history in order to give the best possible advice, on the dosage, and possibility of this traditional hot flash treatment.