The Orthopedic Menopause for Body-Savvy Women

Are you between 40 and 50 and experienced how your body has lost its “forgiving factors”? Many perimenopausal women experience diffuse pain and become more sensitive to both stress and pain. It can lead to many women feeling unwell. In this blog article, Dr. Soheila Zhaeentan explains it all and gives her best tips for how to stay healthy during menopause.

There are a lot of dramatic changes happening in the body when we pass the age of 35, this is true for both men and women. For women, our bodies further lose some of the “forgiving factors” we enjoyed in youth due to declining estrogen levels from the age of 40. 

In addition to the most common and well-known symptoms of menopause, such as hot flushes, mood swings and sleep disturbances. Experiencing diffuse pain is something many women describe. However, this unfortunately does not receive as much attention as the other perimenopausal symptoms. 

Another important factor often overlooked when assessing our well-being and functioning during perimenopause is that:

Many become more sensitive to both stress and pain. 

This powerful combination of stress and discomfort from the back, neck, joints, tendons, and muscles leads to many women feeling unwell. And they’re seeking care for problems that both they and others find difficult to interpret and understand.

When life is hectic, it’s easy to forget that the body changes over time as we age. 

The Role of Exercise with Hormonal Changes

But it’s important to know your body and keep an eye on it. Exercise is a way for you to control and build muscles regardless of your age. 

When normal aging starts somewhere after the age of 35, but you can still improve your health by moving regularly and by maintaining and building up muscles. In addition, muscles can compensate for aging tendons and joints. 

For us women, there are particularly significant changes happening to our bodies during the transition years. Estrogen acts as a lubricant for the muscles and joints in the female body, and when levels begin to drop, from around age 40, it affects the body. 

Between the ages of 45–55, all women go through some stage of menopause. Recent years of research have shown that estrogen receptors are found throughout the body. In addition to muscles, tendons, joints, and the skeleton, they are also present in the brain and even in the gums.

It’s therefore not surprising that pain in muscles, and joints is one of the most common and first symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. 

I usually call these experiences and conditions the orthopedic menopause. 

Adjusting Workouts for Recovery and Resilience

Exercise and movement are important and help alleviate many perimenopausal symptoms. 

If you, in the past, could train quite hard without having to think much about recovery after and between workouts. You’ll need to adjust your training now. 

Because your body is not as forgiving anymore. Rest and recovery will become even more important for you. So now is not the time to increase training, as you risk more pain and discomfort. 

Also, during orthopedic menopause, what you do between your workouts becomes even more important.

Adapting to New Needs

In summary, it‘s not surprising if you, as a woman over 40, experience more pain and stiffness in the muscles. Moving your muscles and joints is essential for reducing pain and stiffness and for speeding up the healing of injuries. 

When we move, the body’s own healing and pain-relieving systems are activated. 

Most common orthopedic ailments are self-healing, even if it takes time. And it’s important not to lose routines, muscles, or the normal functions of the joints during periods of healing. 

Exercise in a way that feels good for you, and make sure your body gets the recovery it needs in the form of enough nutritious food and sleep. 

Alternate cardiovascular training with strength and flexibility exercises to avoid overuse injuries due to too one-sided training. 

And above all, listen to your body and do not compare yourself to anyone else or yourself 10–20 years ago. Your body has different needs and limitations now!

Empowering Women Through Awareness and Action

I am passionate about raising and spreading awareness about what happens in the female body during normal aging and the consequences these significant hormonal changes can have for the body and well-being. 

You can read more about my best tips for what women between the ages of 35 and 65 need to know about their bodies on MindHub in the Letterlife app.

You’ll also learn what you can do to take the best possible care of your body during times of hormonal changes.

Soheila Zhaeentan studied at Karolinska Institutet, earned a PhD with a dissertation on shoulder surgery and has been a specialist in Orthopedics for over 20 years. She has extensive clinical experience in both large and small hospitals in Sweden, Norway, and Australia.

Soheila is also the author of the Swedish book Kroppssmart – vardagsortopedi för folk i rörelse (Natur & Kultur).

Dr. Soheila Zhaeentan

MD PhD and Specialist in Orthopedics

Profile Photo: Eva Lindblad

Latest posts