Dr Ortho Blog

Majority of women have experienced episodes of joint pain in their lives after menopause. Most of the women are unaware of joint pain episodes which may be due to menopause.

What Is Menopause?

Menopause is described as a set of changes every women experiences concluding her reproductive period when she stops menstruating. Menopause happens at the age of 40 yrs or above.

Every woman’s most common statement when she reaches age of 40 yrs` Why do all my joints/bones hurt? Well, as you age natural joints pain (For details read –  http://drorthooil.com/blog/old-age-and-joint-pain/ ) tend to happen, but what makes it worst in women? We need to ask one more question in relation to this` Is there a link between menopause and joint pain?

As joint pains are considered normal part of aging so is menopause in women as they age. Hormonal changes at menopause can lead to start of many off-shooting diseases. The worsening effect of hormonal change is worst in women who lead an unhealthy lifestyle. An unhealthy lifestyle includes-

• Poor eating habits
• Lack of exercise
• Lack of sleep
• Stress
• Any underlying disease ( like thyroid hormone imbalance at a younger age, diabetes etc)

Around 50 % of women experience joint pains as a natural menopause symptom .To all women, who are reading this, I advocate healthy living lifestyle. Whether you are a teenage girl or in your early 20’s or late 20’s or thirties, follow a healthy lifestyle.

Menopausal joint pain symptoms-

1. Generalized Aches over the whole body
2. Swelling and stiffness around joint area
3. Heat and inflammation in the joints

The above listed Menopausal joint pain symptoms are important to note. To add, Menopausal joint pains are related with high impact on knees and hips joint. In few cases, hands and fingers are also affected.

Let us now talk about hormone estrogen/oestrogen. Have you heard this hormone’s name before? It is one of the female hormones which play a significant role in supporting and keeping your bones and joints healthy. One important thing which one must be aware is estrogen is one of the hormones which play an important role in menstrual cycle along with other three hormones. The other three hormones in all beautiful creatures (that is- all women out thereJ) are-

• Progesterone
• FSHor Follicle Stimulating Hormone
• LHor Luteinizing Hormone

You can read the details of other hormones in the links attached to them. Well, here, it is important to sum up and know the work of estrogen in understanding menopausal joint pain. These are as follows-

1. Reaching menopause leads to decreasing levels of estrogen/oestrogen hormone
2. This decrease is directly correlated with starting the mild joint pain episodes
3. Dehydration is also directly correlated with oestrogen/estrogen levels. How? Firstly, Dehydration causes the accumulation of uric acid around joints area which results in joints inflammation. Secondly, important function of estrogen/oestrogen is regulation of fluid retention in your body. When this hormone level declines, retaining water seems a kind of impossible task.(Read the following blog to know how dehydration effects joint health- http://www.thehealthveda.com/water-for-joint-health/

Some tips for women to reduce the risk of menopause joint pains- 

1. Eat a healthy diet
2. Obesity is a big no( Read the blog for details- http://www.thehealthveda.com/body-mass-index-and-obesity/)
3. Avoid the repetitive strain on painful joints
4. Drink 7-8 glasses of water in a day
5. Over thinking and stress should be avoided
6. Take calcium rich diet (Calcium is good for bones, calcium supplements are also beneficial)
7. Sun bask regularly(Enrich you with Vitamin-D, it is good for your bones)