Hot flash starts on women just before menopause and gradually stop having them after stabilizing in the post-menopausal period. A fraction around 10 percent, have them in old age. The median time is around 3 to 8 years.

Without much problem, women could live with mild hot flashes. The ones with moderate hot flashes may take some steps like healthy changes in lifestyle, regular exercises and some over the counter drugs to manage them. If hot flashes are very severe then medical intervention is the only choice.

The common treatment for hot flashes is estrogen supplements. But with the scare of breast cancer and estrogen linked, other treatments are tried, with success in some cases and unsuccessful in some cases. It is mostly a trial and error procedure.