Night sweats (adjunctive care)
Also known as: night sweats, nocturnal hyperhidrosis
Night sweats are heavy sweating during sleep that soaks clothes or bedding. Common causes include menopause, infections, medicines and anxiety, but they can signal serious illness, so a GP check comes first. Chinese medicine calls it Dào Hàn ('stolen sweat'), mainly Yin deficiency with empty Heat, Heart Blood deficiency or Damp-Heat.
Plain-English one-pager you can print or hand to a patient. Free, no sign-in needed.
Lifestyle & Diet
- •Keep the bedroom cool and use breathable bedding.
- •Cut back on alcohol, caffeine and spicy food in the evening.
- •Note when sweats happen and any other symptoms for your GP.
- •Review medicines with your doctor or pharmacist.
Cautions & Contraindications
- •Don't treat unexplained night sweats without a GP work-up first.[,]
- •Needle LU1 shallowly and obliquely — pneumothorax risk.[]
When to reassess or seek care again
Track sweat nights per week at baseline and every 4 sessions; refer back if new symptoms appear.
Explore more diseases
Sources & Further Reading
Clinical guidance, red flags and safety notes on this page draw on the following current sources alongside the classical references above.
- NHS · 2024
- Healthdirect Australia · 2024
- World Health Organization · 2024
- AHPRA / Chinese Medicine Board of Australia · 2024
Educational reference for licensed practitioners. Not a substitute for individual clinical assessment. Refer to conventional care for any red-flag or undiagnosed presentation.