Women navigating menopause and perimenopause are being met with a growing volume of product advertising promising relief from hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes and sleep problems—and physicians say the marketing push can outpace evidence-based care. The surge is arriving as more people are discussing symptoms publicly, while social media and targeted promotions connect patients to lotions, serums, dietary supplements and devices marketed as solutions.
In interviews, doctors warned that people should approach such products with skepticism and talk with a clinician before spending heavily or trying new supplements. Dr. Nanette Santoro, an OB-GYN professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz, said, “The marketing has gotten very, very aggressive. It’s pervasive,” and she urged patients to weigh claims against evidence rather than impressions from online content.
Santoro also told patients to question what they are being sold, saying, “It really pays to be very, very, very skeptical.” She said that before buying products that make big promises, people should discuss with their doctors what has actually been proven to help and what could be harmful. She emphasized that if patients want to try something they see marketed online, they should at least inform their clinician so they can be monitored while taking it, or warned off if it is likely to be a poor choice.
Dr. Angela Angel, an OB-GYN with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, said that the way patients seek help has changed. She said that in the past, doctors would ask patients around age 50 during yearly exams whether they were noticing symptoms, but now she said many patients make separate appointments and start the conversation themselves—often after trying products already. “They’re coming to see me because it’s not effective or because it’s caused some other side effect,” Angel said, adding that her hospital has started a menopause support group led by doctors and that a planned session will focus on helping women navigate the marketing they are encountering.
Physicians said symptoms of menopause vary across people. As menstruation winds down, some women experience hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes, vaginal dryness and sleep problems, but Dr. Monica Christmas, director of the menopause program at the University of Chicago Medicine, said there is not one symptom everyone gets and that some people are extremely impacted while others have few or none. She said the most important step is seeking medical help.
Doctors said that hormone therapy prescribed by a doctor can help with symptoms, as can nonhormonal prescription medications, depending on a person’s medical history. Angel said, “Not everybody needs hormone therapy, not everyone is a candidate for hormone therapy, not everybody should be on hormone therapy,” and clinicians said lifestyle factors can matter as well. They pointed to regular exercise and a healthy diet, and they linked weight loss to reducing hot flashes and night sweats. Santoro also noted that avoiding alcohol can be a good step because it can make hot flashes worse.
Christmas said that over time, many people see improvement in symptoms. She said, “Many of the symptoms actually get better over time, so sometimes it really is just a matter of lifestyle modifications and self-care and getting through this most tumultuous time frame,” and she described a care approach that includes both medical treatment and self-management strategies.
The issues around marketing and care can show up quickly for patients trying to understand new symptoms. Brandi McGruder, a 49-year-old school librarian from Dallas, said she realized she was in perimenopause last year when she went out to dinner for her birthday and felt unusually cold at first, then began burning up about 20 minutes later. She said she made an appointment with her doctor and was prescribed an estrogen patch, which she said helped, and she said she had seen advertisements for products aimed at women her age but her first stop was the doctor.
McGruder said that while she does not like how symptoms reminded her she was getting older, she is also trying to accept the stage of life. She advised others to “Laugh. It’s OK. Reach out to others experiencing what you are going through, don’t take it so serious.”
Another area where physicians say marketing can be misleading is skin care. Dermatologist Dr. Melissa Mauskar, an associate professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said skin changes during menopause can include loss of collagen and reductions in hyaluronic acid that help support skin thickness, along with changes that also occur with aging. She said prescribed retinoids and over-the-counter retinol can help, and she said moisturizers available in drugstores can be effective—particularly products with ceramides that help keep skin hydrated.
Mauskar also warned about how ingredients are marketed and what consumers may tolerate. “But you don’t want to have anything that has too many additive ingredients — just because it’s natural and a botanical does not mean it’s better,” she said, adding that such additives can be contact allergens that make some people more sensitive. She said ingestible collagen is being marketed to women, but that studies are mixed and that ingesting it “doesn’t mean that it’s going to make its way to your skin and plump up your face” despite claims to the contrary.
For devices sold with menopause-related skin promises, Mauskar said light masks generally won’t hurt and that some studies suggest they could help, but she said they will not make a difference overnight. She added that seeing improvements would likely require daily use for many years, and she said sun damage remains a major factor behind more wrinkles, making consistent sunscreen use important for people of all ages.
At the end of the guidance from physicians, the recurring message is to treat advertising as a starting point for conversation—not as a substitute for evaluation. Mauskar said there are “a lot of new fancy things coming out and targeted to perimenopause, menopause patients,” but she argued that tried-and-true options with supporting evidence remain “my kind of gold standard for my patients.”