today we’re talking about menopause joint pains and aches they’re such a big problem through the menopause transition that they can severely affect your quality of life whether it’s doing the exercises that you like, shopping traveling or just being able to sleep comfortably. Menopause and joint pain go hand in hand and many women experience this in their lives.

Factors causing menopause joint pain

Estrogen and menopause joint pain

loss of estrogen results in menopause joint pains and aches. you lose estrogen which your ovaries produce when you go through perimenopause and into menopause, you no longer make any estrogen and estrogen helps to keep your joints lubricated it helps to keep good fluid in between the joints and therefore as you lose estrogen in the menopause transition Bingo you can experience joint aches and pains seemingly out of nowhere. especially if you’re aches and pains started at the same time as your period started changing or menopause or hot flashes or night sweats it’s likely that the joint aches and pains are from nothing other than the loss of estrogen.

Estrogen is also responsible for joint and bone health so when there is a decline in estrogen levels the wear and tear of the joints and osteoporosis of the bones increases

Other hormonal changes

hormone changes in other hormones such as relaxin which affects the ligaments and joints of the pelvic area during pregnancy May contribute to Joint instability and discomfort during menopause

aging

natural wear and tear as women reach menopause they also typically enter an age where joint wear and tear become more common osteoarthritis the most common form of arthritis tends to increase with age and can exacerbate joint pain during menopause

effects of muscle mass on joints

decreased muscle mass supporting muscle loss Muscle mass naturally declines with age which can reduce support around joints leading to increased pain and susceptibility to injury

effects of weight gain on joints

weight gain increased pressure on joints many women experience weight gain during menopause due to a combination of hormonal changes aging and lifestyle factors extra weight can put more pressure on joints particularly the knees hips and lower back increasing pain managing menopausal joint pain one exercise regular activity engaging in regular physical activity including strength training can help improve joint health by strengthening the muscles that support them enhancing flexibility and reducing

you can read more about menopause and weight loss by clicking here

How do you deal with menopause joint pain?

Here is a list of a few things that you can do to decrease the joint pain caused by menopause

Hormonal replacement therapy (HRT)

the first is hormone therapy one caveat here is that hormone therapy is not FDA-approved for joint aches and pains which means that some people might disagree with using hormone therapy for joint aches and pains but if you really think it’s hormonal the symptoms started around the same time as classic menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats and you have no contraindications to trying hormone therapy as long as you have one other indication a hot flash night sweats vaginal dryness or osteopenia you can definitely try hormone therapy to see if it’s going to improve your joint aches and pains I have seen many  patients saying that the hormone therapy is significantly changed their life because all of a sudden they didn’t have the joint aches and pains they weren’t woken up at night they could go hiking they could exercise they could just play with their grandkids again

supplements

so a couple of supplements that you can try and don’t try all at once is

 1 .glucosamine chondroitin

2.  fish oil

3. collagen

4 . joint genesis

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now anytime you start a new supplement be sure to talk to your doctor about it I would start with one at a time to see if it helps if after about eight to twelve weeks it’s not helping go to another supplement.

Anti-inflammatory diet

The next thing that you can do that may help to relieve that Pain is to increase the fluid within those joints so it’s not causing so much pain and friction the next big bucket is an anti-inflammatory diet now there are lots of different books on anti-inflammatory foods and I’m not a bona fide nutritionist but a plant-based diet with fruits specifically berries nuts chia seeds some good fats like salmon cooking with olive oil incorporating anti-inflammatory foods like omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and flax seeds and antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables can help reduce joint inflammation adequate calcium and vitamin D important for bone health which is crucial for joint support. these can all help to reduce inflammation if you want to go the extra mile you could even add some turmeric or some black pepper to your cooking.

Lifestyle management

lifestyle style modifications weight management Maintaining a healthy weight can significantly reduce stress on joints ergonomic adjustments using supportive seating proper lifting techniques and ergonomic tools can help reduce joint strain during daily activities.

Home remedies to manage menopause joint pain

Removing inflammatory foods from the diet

first thing we want to do is remove sources of inflammation sugar is the big one sugar is very influential and always aggravates joint pain and stiffness in addition to that inflammation could be caused by gluten by dairy by soy by corn we’re all individuals and we just have to kind of be aware of how we feel how the body feels after we eat these Foods if we find eating these Foods aggravates our symptoms we can try removing those foods for four to six weeks to see if that helps improve symptoms other inflammatory foods which we just want to remove all together because they’re just absolutely terrible for the body our processed foods trans fats hydrogenated oils and vegetable oils all of which are highly inflammatory and do a lot of damage to the body

adding anti-inflammatory foods to the diet

we can add in anti-inflammatory foods one of the best sources of anti-inflammatory foods are spices so spices like garlic turmeric and ginger are highly anti-inflammatory and unknown to help joint pain top tip for you if you’re cooking with turmeric add in some fat and black pepper that will make your turmeric more bioavailable I.E easier to absorb so your fat could be the oil that you’re cooking in and just add some black pepper for a seasoning job done polyphenols are also anti-inflammatory so they include all of your berries blackberries blueberries strawberries raspberries leafy greens flax seeds and olives to name but a few don’t forget about herbs they’re really really nutrient dense you get a lot of bang for your buck two herbs that are great for arthritis joint pain and stiffness are nettle and Devil’s claw and of course, we want to be eating lots of phytoestrogens

phytoestrogens are those plant-based estrogens that help to balance estrogen levels so they are your cruciferous vegetables like broccoli cauliflower cabbage, and kale but also flax seeds chickpeas and Maca are all a great source of phytoestrogens collagen is also a great food source for joint pain you might have heard about collagen in relation to Hair Skin and Nails in the menopause but it’s also really good for joint pain joint stiffness general aches and pains we can increase collagen

exercising

women get to this stage and everything hurts and is stiff and they stop exercising of course if you have a serious mechanical issue you do want to work with an Osteo or a physio or a chiropractor and take their advice on this but the general rule is to keep moving the best type of exercise for menopause in general but particularly with joint pain and stiffness is strength training is joint protective and Bone protective with strength training we can build up the muscle around the joint so it protects the joint it creates more stability in the joint so if you’re not strength training I do recommend that you get started and then, of course, we also want flexibility and this is where yoga is invaluable yoga provides the flexibility of course but also stability and strength plus it’s very very calming and it helps to reduce those stress levels and overall inflammation in the body

conclusion

it is hard going through all these changes during menopause. But with proper diet medications and HRT these symptoms can be managed and have a better quality of life.

Keep in mind that you should always visit your doctor before taking any sort of medication or if you are considering HRT.