Joint and Muscle Pains
Suddenly you feel tighter and stiffer. You need time to get started and you may have trouble with your joints in your hands or back, for example. Joint and muscle pains during the transition, what happens, what can you do about it. Its medical name is arthralgia.
What happens?
Some women in their (peri)menopause can start experiencing pains in the hands and fingers, wrists, knees, hips, and shoulders. They can also experience that they suddenly become stiff, making moving less souple. More than 50% of women suffer from it.
What causes it?
How is it possible that you suddenly get joint pain on the journey towards and after menopause? During the menopausal transition, the female hormone estrogen in your body drops, influencing the decrease in moisture and blood flow in your mucous membranes. Because the humidity decreases, joints can rub off on top of each other. The protective layer between joints, the joint cartilage, becomes thinner, which causes joint pain.
Muscle complaints arise because the tension in the muscles changes, so your muscles need more time to literally 'get tense': that gives you a feeling of stiffness. Your muscles are more vulnerable. In addition, hormone changes during menopause cause a decrease in muscle tissue. If you're used to sports: make sure you warm up properly to prevent damage. In addition, good nutrition can also reduce muscle complaints.
What can you do about it?
Muscle and joint pain during menopause can be very annoying. Luckily you can do something about it: There are many remedies that are said to work. However, this is something very personal, it is best to try what works for you and that you feel comfortable with. Commonly used alternative remedies for joint pain are glucosamine and chondroitin.
Some tips:
- Keep moving. Do this responsibly and listen to your body.
- Make sure you have a good posture so that muscles and joints can keep moving smoothly.
- Depending on whether your joints may swell, heat or cold can help. See what works for you.
- Make sure you have enough rest, both physically and mentally.
- Nutrition with little sugar, alcohol, and caffeine can soothe joint pain.
