Women are dominating the work force these days, accounting for almost half the working population. Since many of these women will be forced to work well past the retirement age, managing menopausal symptoms like hot flashes have become crucial.

Menopause can have side effects that are extremely disruptive to women's professional and personal lives.

Because approximately 5,000 women enter menopause each day, millions of working women are looking for safe ways to reduce menopausal symptoms.

Hot flashes are the most common and troublesome symptoms reported by women during and after perimenopause. Following are some common ways that you can manage menopause symptoms, particularly hot flashes.

Avoid alcohol, caffeine, sugar, spicy foods, and hot soups and drinks; they can trigger hot flashes, aggravate urinary incontinence, and make mood swings worse.

They also make the blood more acidic, which prompts the bones to release calcium to act as a buffering agent. This is an important factor in bone loss.

Get regular moderate exercise.

Avoid stress as much as possible.

Substitute garlic or onion powder for salt when cooking. Consuming salt increases urinary excretion of calcium.

Drink 2 quarts of quality water each day to help prevent drying of the skin and mucous membranes.

For itching in the vaginal area, use vitamin E cream (with no fragrance added) or open a vitamin E capsule and apply the oil.