Women plagued by hot flashes and night sweats are so common in menopause often seek treatment other than hormone therapy . Perhaps the procedure involves injecting a local anesthetic near a bundle of nerves in the neck becomes a viable option ?
THIS STUDY
including 40 post-menopausal women , most of their early 50s , who experienced hot flashes and night sweats 10 times a day , on average , with most labeled as moderate to severe . The women were randomly assigned to have the anesthetic bupivacaine injected once in their necks , a technique called stellate ganglion blockade , or to obtain a saline injection . After six months , the number of moderate to severe hot flashes and night sweats dropped an average of 52 percent in women who had nerve blocks , compared with a 4 percent decrease among those given a saline injection . The symptoms also decreased in intensity , fell 38 percent with proper treatment vs. 8 percent for placebo .
WHO MAY BE AFFECTED ?
Women experiencing hot flashes and night sweats due to menopause , whether natural or caused by a hysterectomy or ovarian damage due to chemotherapy or radiation treatment for cancer . Hormone therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for such symptoms , but studies have found that it carries an increased risk of heart disease . Choice Non - Hormonal including some antidepressants and the use of off - labeled anti - seizure and blood pressure certain drugs , even though they may have unwanted side effects , black cohosh , phytoestrogens and ginseng and other botanical treatments , although most of them have not demonstrated effectiveness in many studies , and lifestyle approaches such as dressing in layers , avoiding spicy foods , not smoking and practicing yoga or relaxation techniques to reduce stress or another , even though this approach usually allow only mild symptoms .
Warning Although some of the data derived from the skin of a woman wearing a monitor for two periods of 24 hours during the six -month study period , most of the data comes from diaries kept by the participants . This study did not determine whether the positive effects persisted after the study concluded . It also involves only a small number of women . Types of nerve blocks are used in this study most often used to relieve pain caused by nerve injuries , shingles or angina that does not respond to treatment , the researchers did not determine why or how it works for menopausal symptoms , although they noted that disrupt neural pathways can affect blood flow to the brain regions involved in regulating body temperature .
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