7 Essential Oils for Hot Flashes and Night Sweats (Plus 3 Mixtures & Application Tips)

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Hot flashes and night sweats can be a challenging accompaniment to the female system, especially at the onset of menopause and beyond

Hot flashes most commonly start two to three years before a woman’s last menstrual cycle and last between a half a year and 15 or so years, often varying in severity throughout. It’s assumed that roughly eighty five percent of women in the United States will experience some degree of hot flashes as they near the menopausal stage of life.

Hot flashes are just one of many potential symptoms of the menopausal phase of life. While some women will only experience a few episodes a year, others will deal with multiple hot flashes throughout the day and night.


According to Ayurveda, the debilitating heat that accompanies this stage of life marks a transition point for the hot and fiery ‘pitta’ phase of the lifecycle. The resulting hot flashes and night sweats are an expression of this imbalance in pitta (heat) energies as well as the accumulation of “ama” (toxins) in the deeper tissues and channels in the body.

The restricted flow of heat that results from this menopausal imbalance builds up and eventually must find an outlet. When the heat does find an avenue to leave the body our energy channels quickly balloon with heat in a flashing fashion which leaves you feeling hot, bothered and overwhelmed.

As a result, the key then to treating hot flashes is to find ways to balance our internal fiery qualities while also seeking to cleanse any accumulated toxins in the body.

Related: 8 Essential Oils for Hair Loss, Thinning & Alopecia

Finding natural treatment methods

chamomile

While there are pharmaceutical treatments available for hot flashes, they aren’t without their risks.

Many of the medications available are expensive and the active ingredients are also used to treat psychiatric disorders and depression. Most of these drugs tend to cause more harm than good, sometimes even increasing the likelihood of developing additional health problems. A doctor administered hormone therapy is also prescribed for hot flashes, but it can have serious side effects of its own.

Due to this, the application of drugs for hot flashes is not recommended, as it can raise additional health concerns for menopausal women.

In an ideal world, we could find natural resolutions for our hot flashes.

And luckily, we can – there are many natural treatments, such as essential oils, that can provide the cooling relief that we need.

In this post, you will find a variety of essential oils and application methods that you can use to soothe your senses, body and mind.

The most important qualities in the oils we’ll focus on is that they are cooling for both the body and mind.

Related: 12 Essential Oils for Wrinkles and Aging Skin

7 Essential Oils & Oil Blends for Hot Flashes & Night Sweats

1.) Clary-sage Essential Oil

clary sage

Clary sage is a valuable oil for balancing hormones, especially those hormones associated with women’s bodies. Clary sage relieves symptoms of PMS, eases menstrual cramps and reduces the intensity and frequency of hot flashes and night sweats.

Clary sage also improves digestion, inspires mental clarity, lowers blood pressure, sedates and relaxes to reduce insomnia. Its ability to regulate female hormones means it can improve mental strength, uplift low moods, fight depression and reduce bloating.

You can buy clary sage essential oil here.

Related: 5 Essential Oils for Dry, Cracked & Flakey Skin

2.) Geranium Essential Oil

geranium

Geranium is a calming, soothing heart mending oil. It’s revitalizing and detoxifying qualities help cleanse the body by improving digestion and enhancing elimination. Because geranium oil is a powerful regulator in hormone secretions, it’s a perfect oil to use when treating symptoms linked to PMS. Geranium helps lessen anxiety, alleviate mood swings, reduce irritation and anger, and promotes feelings of euphoria and contentedness.

(Buy Now | Learn More About Geranium Essential Oil)

Related: 7 Best Essential Oils for Effective Cellulite Treatment

3.) Lemon Essential Oil

orange slices

Lemon has a refreshing effect on the body and mind. It is a tonic for soothing indigestion, improving nutrient absorption and relieving constipation. Lemon helps the body clear out energy and freshens the system in the process.

(Buy Now | Read More about Lemon Essential Oil)

Related: 17 Best Essential Oils for Effective Eczema Treatment

4.) Sage Essential Oil

Like clary sage, the other kind of sage (known as dalmation sage or just sage), is a useful tonic for hot flashes. It comes without the hints of sweetness and peppermint flavor that its cousin clary sage has. Regular sage brings with it the usual scent we would associate with sage grown in our garden.

Studies have shown that sage reduces both the frequency and intensity of night sweats and hot flashes. Though not completely understood, the estrogenic compounds in this plant are effective at balancing hormones and limiting the hormonal occurrences that create excess heat in the body.

You can buy sage essential oil here.

Related: How to Safely and Effectively Inhale Essential Oils

5.) Cypress Essential Oil

cypress

Cypress is a detoxifying oil that is especially useful for limiting fluid retention and reducing cellulite. It helps build hormonal and emotional balance with its soothing effects on the nervous system that restore calm and reduce excessive emotions that can unbalance the system.

Cypress’s soothing properties are enhanced by its cooling properties which makes it a great option for treating menopausal symptoms like hot flashes.

(Buy Now | Learn More About Cypress Essential Oil)

Related: 3 Best High-Capacity Essential Oil Diffusers for Large Rooms

6.) Lime Essential Oil

limes

Lime, like lemon, has uplifting and stimulating effects on the mind and body. It clears mental exhaustion and fights off infection. Lime cleanses, uplifts and brings clarity.

(Buy Now | Learn More About Lime Essential Oil)

Related: 14 Uplifting Essential Oils for Energy & Wakefulness

7.) Peppermint Essential Oil

peppermint

Peppermint is a refreshing and uplifting oil that helps reduce mental fatigue and improve concentration. Peppermint, like lavender, is a well known essential oil with broad applications.

Peppermint’s effective at soothing achy joints, easing congestion, improving energy levels, treating and limiting hot flashes and combating headaches. And these are only a few of the many uses for this versatile.

(Buy Here | Learn More About Peppermint Essential Oil)

Related: 12 Essential Oils for Sleep: Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine

3 Essential Oil Based Recipes and Application Methods for Hot Flashes and Night Sweats

older woman smiling enjoying coffee

1.) Simple hot flash massage formula

Ingredients:

Directions:

  • Dilute essential oils into 2 tablespoons of carrier oil (argan, coconut, sesame, sweet almond, jojoba, grapeseed, macadamia).
  • You could also combine oils without a carrier oil and use 5 drops to 1 teaspoon carrier oil when desired for massage.
  • Massage all over the body. The blend can also be added to a bath with 5-7 drops of neat oil blend.

Related: 15 Essential Oils for Effective Anxiety & Stress Reduction

2.) Day & night sweats formula

Ingredients:

Directions:

3.) Hot flash borage seed blend

Ingredients:

Directions:

Related: 14 Potent Aphrodisiac Essential Oils for your Love life, Romance, Sex & Libido

Treatments:

In the bath

  • Fill your tub with warm water. While it’s filling combine 1 tsp of milk and 4-7 drops of your blend in a non-reactive bowl
  • Add mixture to the tub and agitate to disperse the oils
  • Soak for 30 minutes or more.
  • Massage any floating droplets of oil into your skin

Massage

  • Using a small-non reactive bowl combine 2 tsp grapeseed or sweet almond oil with 6 drops of your borage seed blend
  • Mix well and massage over your abdomen, chest, upper arms and lower back

Body spray

**To use as a body spray leave out the borage seed oil from the mixture

  • Combine your essential oils in a 4 oz glass bottle
  • Add 1 tsp unpasteurized honey
  • Add 1/4 cup peppermint hydrosol 
  • Add 6 tsp distilled/filtered water
  • Shake to blend
  • Spray mist over your body when experiencing a hot flash
  • If you suffer from nighttime episodes, consider spraying over your body before bed and keep it near your bedside for night time episodes

Related: 8 Essential Oils for Weight Loss with Recipes & Application Tips

Towel Soak Roll

Additional (Non-Essential Oil Based) Natural Remedies for

Alright, hopefully, you enjoyed those oils and blends. Lots to try out!

Now, as promised, here are some more natural remedies that you should make use of to treat your hot flashes.

Shatavari (Organic Ayurvedic Herbal Medicine)

banyan botanicals organic shatavari powder

Shatavari is a prized rejuvenating, nutritive tonic herb used to maintain the healthy production of female hormones and support the menopausal transition.

It is an amazing female tonic all around, as it reduces PMS symptoms, encourages healthy milk production for young lactating mothers and significantly reduces menopausal heat for older women. Shatavari is also supportive of a healthy immune system and improves both physical and mental digestion. It’s a very grounding herbal medicine.

Many women have reported that taking a 1/2 teaspoon of powdered Shatavari a day in water or in a smoothie was enough to completely eliminate their hot flashes.

You can read some of the reviews about this product here on the Banyan Botanical Shatavari product page on Amazon.

Related: 7 Essential Oils for Headaches & Migraines with Recipes & Application Tips

Women’s Natural Transition (Ayurvedic Herbal Medicine)

banyan botanicals womens natural transition

This herbal formula from Banyan Botanicals was designed for women who are in the perimenopausal, menopausal and postmenopausal stages.

This formula was created to provide the following support:

  • Nourishes the female reproductive system
  • Cools you down and prevents excess heat from building up the body
  • Encourage the female body’s natural balance of hormones – particularly the hormones that predominate menopause
  • Rejuvenates the mind by enhancing concentration, memory and the subtle emotions  of courage, love, and acceptance

This formula brings together some of the best and most potent Ayurvedic herbs that are particularly beneficial for women in the later stages of life. It nourishes and grounds the entire female reproductive system, including the hormones while mitigating stress on the body.

Related: 12 Pain Relieving Essential Oils for Nerve Pain

It includes the following herbs:

  • Shatavri
  • Vidari
  • Ashwagandha
  • Vetiver
  • Guduchi
  • Brahmi (Gotu kola)
  • Shankapushpi
  • Arjuna

Together these herbs ground, rejuvenate, promote cooling and heat mitigation in the body, cleanse toxins, provide tonic and emotional support to the heart and bring forth qualities of acceptance, strength, and love.

Eight Flavor Rehmannia Teapills (TCM – Traditional Chinese Medicine)

eight flavor rehmannia teapills

Menopause can create a variety of different effects on the body, not all including excess heat like hot flashes. Because of this TCM has different recommendations for different symptoms.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the fundamental changes that occur during menopause can be attributed to kidney deficiency.


Resolving the root cause of hot flashes

Perhaps most importantly, we want to address the root imbalances in our body and stop hot flashes night sweats from occurring in the first place.

While Western Medicine does not have an explanation for why hot flashes happen, other medical schools do.

Both Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine have explanations for why hot flashes occur and they provide herbs and treatments that directly target the condition and can prevent hot flashes from occurring in the future.

While this post is focused on essential oils, I want you to have access to all of the best methods to treat and prevent your hot flashes. We are about to dive into the recommended essential oils, please do stick around after you read about the oils.

By utilizing both essential oils and the Ayurvedic and Chinese Medicine approaches you should have all you need to put the dread of hot flashes behind you – perhaps for good.

Related: 9 Top Essential Oils for Reducing Allergy Symptoms

Additional Lifestyle Recommendations to Prevent Hot Flashes

healthy eating salad older woman

Focus on a cooling diet

In addition to using herbal remedies and essential oils, you’ll want to be sure that your diet is calming, cooling and hot flash preventative.

Certain foods should be avoided – spicy foods in particular. Spicy foods with their intense heating qualities can cause anybody to feel sweaty, flushed and overheated.

Hot/heating/agitating foods to avoid include:

  • acidic foods like tomatoes, onions, garlic, red wine, sour fruits
  • fried foods
  • alcohol
  • red meat
  • caffeine
  • processed sugar

For prevention, we should instead be eating foods that cool and pacify the excess heat in our bodies.

Related: 5 Essential Oil Based Remedies that Treat Constipation

Cooling foods to include:

  • cucumbers
  • mint
  • cilantro
  • coconut
  • Sweet fruits like watermelon
  • fennel
  • legumes
  • fresh dairy products
  • leafy greens

Reduce stress levels

older woman yoga healthy

Reducing hot flashes with stress reduction techniques is always a good idea.

By now in life, you likely have a good understanding of what stresses you out and how to avoid it.

Here is a shortlist of some stress reduction ideas that you may or may not be thinking of already:

  • Avoid time pressure/deadlines
  • Avoid overworking
  • Don’t skip meals
  • Eat your biggest meals around lunch when your digestive power is at its peak
  • Drink room temperature water – avoid ice water
  • Avoid getting involved with toxic people or family members
  • Get to bed early

Related: 14 Essential Oils for Joint Pain & Discomfort

Relaxing in the evening and getting to bed early can be especially helpful for those late night hot flashes and night sweats. Hot flashes tend to peak in the late evening hours around 10 pm.

If you are prone to late night hot flashes you can be preventative by consciously cooling yourself down with relaxing activities that soothe your mind, body and emotions.

I recommend slowly sipping some cooling Ayurvedic herbal tea before bed time.

Conclusion

I hope that you’ve found this article helpful.

If you have any questions, comments or recommendations of your own please let us know in the comment section below!

Welcome to EOSanctuary

Hi. Glad to see you here. My name is Loren Elara and I run Essential Oil Sanctuary. I’d love to connect with you and share ideas. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please make yourself heard.

Essential Oil Sanctuary is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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22 thoughts on “7 Essential Oils for Hot Flashes and Night Sweats (Plus 3 Mixtures & Application Tips)”

  1. Virginia

    I must try it. Night sweats make me feel really bad.

  2. Ok so I’m gonna try misting myself before bed and I guess I’m gonna have to change some of my diet and habitats….menopause sucks 🙁 I always thought my grandma was exaggerating but oh lord she sure wasnt!!! Thanks for the tips

  3. Vicky Merritt

    I am new to the essential
    oils and have a lot of questions
    I would really like to talk to someone and get more info.

    1. Hello Vicky. I can honestly say that I have been using essential oils for about a year and a half now. I have found a remedy that works for me for my hot flashes and nights sweats. Before using the oils I was waking up at least 5 or 6 times a night to change my clothes due to sweating. I also had hot flashes pretty much all day long. I rarely get them now. I would love to help you out with some info.

      1. Hi Trudy. I don’t get the hot flashes but I get the night sweats. I wake up soaked and cannot fall asleep. Should i diffuse oils in my room or spray them on me. Just wondering what has worked for you.

        Thanks,
        Jill

        1. Deborah Watson

          he mentions drinking cooling tea I bought it. How often do i drink it

      2. Magisunshine

        For hot flashes (power surge I call it) & or night sweats, first try homeopathic holy basil. It does work however after some time the hormone imbalance that causes the symptoms may also be improved by looking at the adrenal glands. Magnesium citramate (Thorne brand) has done very well for me. Just sharing my own experience. Good luck!

      3. Can someone give me a recipe for reducing or eliminating hot flashes? What is your special mix of essential oils, please?

        1. Can I buy an already made up spray or rub on hot flashes ?

      4. Hi I am also new to essential oils but will try anything at this point will be 51 in a few months and my mom said she was done at that age hopefully for me I remember her always waving paper fans yeah n I am now through out the day and night awful face gets red hate it I heard lavender oils and peppermint do you have any suggestions. Thank You Kelly

        1. Anita Goodman

          Kelly, I do the recipe for the Clary Sage, Geranium, & Lemon essential oils; I didn’t have the Sage so I hoped it would work without it & it has. It is the 1st recipe mentioned in this article. I put it in a roller ball glass bottle (10 ml bottle) with those 3 mentioned and started it about 2 months ago I’m thinking. I use it in the mg. & at night close to bedtime. It has worked wonders for me. Seldom have any hot flashes any more. I was able to get off all 3 prescription meds for my hormone therapy which is a HUGE plus. They weren’t cheap. Hope this helps.
          Anita

      5. Deborah Watson

        Yes please. Hot flashes for 20+ years. I’m ready to kill someone. Anyone

  4. Cheryl Kissinger

    I would like to order these oils for hot flashes. Do you have a package I can order?

    1. I’ve found young living to be the best and purist ones on the market. They actually own all the land that they grow on and make their own oils. Let me know if you want more information. ?

      1. Heather

        This is far from the truth. They just lost their 5 year court battle with Doterra. After all scientific tests were completed…Doterra was found to have the best oils in the world. Just read the transcript last week.

  5. I’d love to receive recipes of essential oils for all ailments. Also best oils to diffuse for different health issues. Thanks! ?

  6. P Sexton

    Give me a fn break! Why not just say from the start that unless you are totally self consumed or a chemist, you’re in for one hell of a ride.

  7. Hi I’m suffering really bad with hot flashes. Can i put the essential oils in a diffuser?

  8. Danièle

    I am 69 (almost 70) and took HRT for over 15 years, on a low dose for the the past years. I stopped taking the hormones four months ago and the hot flashes and night sweats came back with a revenge, I sleep poorly and feel that my thermostat is broken.
    I am very active and eat well mainly in the alkaline, no wheat or dairy and very little alcohol and l sugar (almost none)
    What do you suggest?

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