Have your knees begun to ache on the stairs? Do your hands feel stiff in the morning? Or have sore hips, shoulders or feet made exercise that you once enjoyed feel harder?
Joint and muscle pain are commonly reported during perimenopause and after menopause. Changing oestrogen levels may be part of the picture, but menopause is not the only possible cause of new joint pain in midlife.
Understanding what may be contributing to your symptoms, and knowing when pain needs to be assessed, can help you make informed decisions about your joint health.
Can Menopause Cause Joint Pain?
Yes. Aching and stiff joints are commonly reported during perimenopause and after menopause. Fluctuating and declining oestrogen can influence pain processing, inflammatory pathways, muscles, tendons, ligaments and cartilage. However, not every new ache or pain in midlife is caused by menopause.
What Causes Menopause Joint Pain?
When I reached my early 50s, my own joints began to ache. At first, I blamed weight gain and years of high-impact exercise. Like many women I now hear from, I wondered whether I was simply getting older or heading towards osteoarthritis.
My doctoral research on women’s healthy ageing helped me see the bigger picture.
Oestrogen receptors are found in tissues throughout the musculoskeletal system. As oestrogen fluctuates during perimenopause and then remains lower after menopause, pain sensitivity, inflammation, muscle function, bone turnover and connective-tissue biology may all be affected.
However, declining oestrogen does not explain every painful joint.
Midlife is also a time when previous injuries, osteoarthritis, autoimmune conditions, reduced muscle strength, disrupted sleep, stress and changes in physical activity or body composition may become more noticeable. This is why the timing, pattern and severity of joint pain matter.
Persistent or worsening pain should be checked, particularly when it limits your movement or stops you from doing your usual activities.
What Does Menopause Joint Pain Feel Like?
There is no single pattern of menopause-related joint pain. Women describe their symptoms differently, and pain may come from the joint itself or from the muscles, tendons, ligaments, or bursae around it.
Common experiences include:
- Aching, stiffness or reduced range of movement, particularly after rest or on waking
- Sore knees, hips, hands, wrists, shoulders, neck, back, ankles or feet
- Pain on stairs, when standing from a chair, gripping objects or returning to exercise
- Tight or aching muscles and slower recovery after activity
- Tendon or ligament discomfort, including around the shoulder, elbow, heel or sole of the foot
- Symptoms that disturb sleep or reduce confidence to move
- Pain that appears to shift location or fluctuate alongside other menopause symptoms
Some women notice that activities they previously managed comfortably begin to cause discomfort.
Others reduce their activity because movement hurts. This can make maintaining muscle strength and confidence in movement more difficult.
What More Than 500,000 Women Have Taught Me About Menopause and Joint Health
More than 500,000 women around the world have completed the MyMT™ Menopause Symptoms Quiz. In our latest analysis, more than 80% reported sore joints, whether they were on HRT or not.
This is community self-report data. It is not a population prevalence study or clinical trial, so it cannot tell us that menopause directly caused the joint pain experienced by each woman.
What it does demonstrate is why joint and muscle symptoms deserve greater attention in conversations about menopause.
Women regularly tell me that pain has affected their sleep, mobility, exercise confidence and quality of life. Yet many have also been told that nothing is wrong or that their discomfort is simply part of ageing.
Their experiences, together with my own, are why joint health is addressed across the MyMT™ programmes and why I developed the Restore Your Joyful Joints in Menopause module within all of the MyMT™ programmes.
The aim is not to promise one solution or cure. It is to help women understand the connected influences on their musculoskeletal health, build practical lifestyle foundations to support healthy ageing and seek appropriate clinical care when needed.
Why Does Menopause Cause Joint Pain?
Menopause may contribute to joint pain through several connected changes rather than one single cause. Fluctuating and declining oestrogen may influence pain processing, inflammatory pathways, muscle strength and tissues such as tendons, ligaments and cartilage.
Poor sleep, stress, previous injuries, activity changes, incorrect nutrition and body composition may also affect how joints feel during midlife.
This is why I don’t look at aching joints in isolation. My approach is to consider these changes alongside inflammation, recovery, nutrition and the demands placed on our bodies over time.
1. Changing oestrogen levels
Oestrogen plays a role in joint lubrication and the elasticity of tendons and ligaments. As levels decline, these changes may contribute to stiffness and discomfort.
I explore this connection further in my article on sore joints and changing oestrogen levels.
2. The wear-and-tear theory of ageing
When I studied theories of ageing during my doctoral research, I considered joint health through the wear-and-tear lens.
This theory considers how repeated stress and accumulated tissue damage may contribute to a more rapid increase in inflammation as women move through menopause and into post-menopause and their ageing.
In my discussion of menopause, inflammation and ‘inflammaging’, I look at these influences alongside hormonal changes. It is one perspective on joint health, not proof that exercise inevitably wears out your joints or that pain cannot improve.
3. Connective tissues and collagen renewal
Joint discomfort can also involve the tissues surrounding a joint. Collagen is a structural component of connective tissues, including tendons and ligaments, and is continually renewed.
In my article on vitamin C, collagen and joint health in menopause, I discuss changing tissue elasticity alongside the nutrients needed for normal maintenance and repair.
This is why I consider nutrition and exercise demands together, rather than looking at aching joints in isolation.
4. Sleep and exercise recovery
If you are sleeping poorly while continuing an exercise routine that leaves you sore, recovery deserves attention.
In my article on vitamin C, collagen and joint health in menopause, I also discuss disrupted sleep, exercise recovery and inflammation as connected concerns.
My approach considers whether your exercise type and amount still suit your body, alongside sleep and nutrient intake. These factors may contribute to how your muscles and joints feel, but they do not establish the cause of every ache.
Persistent or worsening joint pain should be checked by a physiotherapist or medical provider rather than automatically attributed to menopause.
Will Joint Pain From Menopause Go Away?
Joint pain may improve as hormonal fluctuations settle, but this differs between women.
There is no single answer that applies to everyone because persistent pain can have several contributing causes, as I’ve found from over 20,000 women who have joined me on the MyMT™ Menopause and Lifestyle Change Programmes over the past decade.
These may include osteoarthritis, previous injury, tendon problems or inflammatory conditions as well as the hormonal changes associated with menopause. Furthermore, I’ve found that too many women are exercising at an intensity that can be damaging to joints as they get older.
This is why it is important not to assume that every aching joint will simply disappear once you are through menopause, because it depends on the lifestyle changes you make … or don’t make!
At the same time, you do not have to simply accept aching joints as an inevitable part of getting older.
My approach focuses on supporting your body through menopause by paying attention to sleep, appropriate exercise, recovery and nutrition.
If pain continues, becomes worse or interferes with your usual activities, have it assessed by a physiotherapist or medical provider.
How Can I Improve Joint Health During Menopause?
Supporting joint health during menopause means taking an integrated approach. By this I mean looking at sleep, exercise, recovery and nutrition together. My approach focuses on practical changes in these areas, rather than expecting one supplement or exercise to resolve every ache.
1. Adjust your exercise to suit your body
If your usual exercise routine is leaving your joints and muscles sore, reconsider the type and amount you are doing. This is especially important if you aren’t sleeping. Our body only repairs tissues when we are sleeping all night.
Supporting your body through menopause may mean changing your routine rather than pushing harder or giving up exercise altogether.
In my article on collagen, vitamin C and menopause, I discuss why exercise demands, tissue maintenance and nutrition need to be considered together.
2. Give sleep and recovery attention
Looking after your joints as you age and reducing inflammatory changes in your muscles, joints and bones, means sleeping all night. This is why helping women to understand how to sleep all night, is the foundation of all of the MyMT™ programmes. This is especially so, when women move into their post-menopause years.
Poor sleep can also interfere with recovery from exercise. If you are continuing a demanding routine while sleeping poorly, recovery deserves attention alongside your activity levels.
My approach considers both rather than treating exercise as the only priority for sore joints.
3. Include foods that provide vitamin C
Vitamin C is needed for normal collagen formation and helps the body absorb iron.
Collagen forms part of the connective tissues supporting your joints, including tendons and ligaments.
Papaya and blood oranges are two foods I highlight in my article on vitamin C, collagen and joint health.
The focus is on providing nutrients your body needs, not promising that a particular food or supplement will take away joint pain. I’ve found that many women are spending hundreds of dollars on supplements, without getting the basics of their nutrition right for their stage of life.
4. Consider your overall eating pattern
In my joint-health guidance, I discuss food choices, particularly nutrient choices, as part of supporting healthy ageing. For example, Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is well evidenced to have compounds that attach to oestrogen receptors in joints, which is why I call EVOO your HRT when it comes to joint health and lifestyle change!
Variety matters too. Carrots, pumpkin and citrus fruit provide carotenoids, which I discuss in my article on carotenoids and aching joints.
These foods can contribute to an overall anti-inflammatory and nutrient-rich diet, but no single ingredient is a guaranteed remedy.
A Connected Approach to Menopause and Joint Health
My approach is about connecting the dots, especially as chronic pain and the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause is now a recognised condition – only since 2024!
Studies show that over 80% of women experience changes in their pain as they move through menopause, which is why taking an integrated lifestyle approach is an important dimension of caring for yourself. That’s the purpose of the MyMT™ programmes.
Joint health is connected with muscle and bone changes, sleep dynamics, stress, metabolic health, food, movement and appropriate medical care.
Supporting one area may make another easier.
Better sleep can improve pain tolerance and recovery. Stronger muscles can support your joints. Less pain can help restore your confidence to move freely.
This is why I encourage women to consider the wider picture rather than looking at a painful joint in isolation.
When Should Joint Pain Be Checked?
Not every new ache during menopause should be assumed to be caused by hormonal changes.
Seek urgent care if you have:
- A hot, red or markedly swollen joint, particularly if you also have a fever or feel unwell
- Severe pain following an injury
- A joint deformity
Numbness - An inability to move the affected area or bear weight
Persistent or worsening unexplained pain also needs medical assessment.
Morning stiffness deserves attention too.
Short-lived stiffness can occur with inactivity or osteoarthritis. Stiffness lasting more than about 30 minutes, particularly when joints are swollen or warm or when symptoms occur on both sides of the body, should be discussed with a clinician because inflammatory arthritis and other conditions need to be considered.
Watch: Menopause and Joint Pain
In this short MyMT™ video, I explain why menopause-related changes may affect joints, muscles, tendons, inflammation and recovery, and how lifestyle strategies can support mobility and healthy ageing.
In Summary
Menopause may contribute to aching joints and stiffness, but not every ache experienced during midlife is caused by hormonal changes.
Changing oestrogen levels, ageing, exercise demands, sleep and recovery can all form part of the joint-health picture.
For some women, joint pain may improve as hormonal fluctuations settle. For others, persistent pain may have several contributing causes and needs further assessment.
Lifestyle approaches consider sleep, exercise, recovery and nutrition together. Adjusting activity that leaves you sore, allowing adequate recovery and including a variety of nutrient-rich foods are practical ways to support your joint health.
Most importantly, you do not have to simply accept joint discomfort as an inevitable part of getting older.
If pain persists, becomes worse or interferes with your everyday activities, have it assessed by a physiotherapist or medical provider.
Other menopause and joint-health resources
Research References
The following research is also cited in my linked joint-health articles. Each paper has a specific scope; these are not all studies of menopause-related joint pain.
- Holwerda AM, van Loon LJC. The impact of collagen protein ingestion on musculoskeletal connective tissue remodelling: a narrative review. Nutrition Reviews. 2022;80(6):1497–1514. doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuab083.
- DePhillipo NN, Aman ZS, Kennedy MI, Begley JP, Moatshe G, LaPrade RF. Efficacy of Vitamin C Supplementation on Collagen Synthesis and Oxidative Stress After Musculoskeletal Injuries: A Systematic Review. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 2018;6(10):2325967118804544. doi:10.1177/2325967118804544.
- Pavlović JM, Derby CA. Pain in midlife women: a growing problem in need of further research. Womens Midlife Health. 2022 May 5;8(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s40695-022-00074-x. PMID: 35509086; PMCID: PMC9068256.
- Schwingshackl L, Christoph M, Hoffmann G. Effects of Olive Oil on Markers of Inflammation and Endothelial Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2015;7(9):7651–7675. doi:10.3390/nu7095356.
- Wright VJ, Schwartzman JD, Itinoche R, Wittstein J. The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. Climacteric. 2024 Oct;27(5):466-472. doi: 10.1080/13697137.2024.2380363. Epub 2024 Jul 30. PMID: 39077777.
This article provides general educational information and does not replace personalised advice from a qualified healthcare professional.
