Does suddenly while getting up you experience extreme pain and stiffness? Does it get painful to bend and do some tasks that you would easily do in your 30s and 40s? Do your neck, shoulders, and knees ache a lot by the end of the day? 

Well, you aren’t alone in this. These are symptoms of your menstrual cycle ending and menopause hitting. And no matter how challenging this period is, following a healthy lifestyle will help you stay strong rather than suffer.

Joint Pain in Menopause can make life extremely challenging and painful. And while women already go through a lot of sufferings in life menopause makes it even more difficult. But Why Does Joint Pain in Menopause?

The Reason behind Joint Pain in Menopause

As a woman reaches the age of 45 to 55, her body experiences various menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, anxiety, irregular menstrual cycle, night chills, obesity, vaginal dryness, mood swings, and insomnia. 

These hormonal changes take a toll on a woman’s mind and physical health. However, among these the most disturbing change is Joint Pain.

But haven’t you wondered why suddenly your body feels so much pain as you age? The answer is quite simple. Hormonal Change.

Estrogen is a female hormone responsible for retaining fluids, bone growth, and anti-inflammation in the body. And as Menopause arrives the Estrogen levels drop leading to severe pain and inflammation(swelling) in joints like the spine, knees, hip, neck, and shoulders.

How To Treat or Avoid Joint Pain in Menopause?

Women face many challenges throughout their lives, not just mentally but physically. The menstrual Cycle, Pregnancy, and Menopause are one of the major phases of a female’s physiology. 

Every woman has different symptoms and problems but joint pain is common. The joint pain in menopause can lead to arthritis too if the joints get swollen up leading to aches and stiffness. 

Arthritis is also of two kinds Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Both these conditions cause inflammation of the joints. Where Rheumatoid is an autoimmune disease affecting fingers, ankles, feet, and wrist. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease of the cartilage particularly hip, knee, and thumb joints. This condition is more probable to happen during Menopause. 

Fortunately, there is always a way when there is a problem. And there are a set of tips to follow to treat or avoid Joint Pain in Menopause.

1. A Perspective change toward women’s health

A women’s health is extremely delicate, more so when Menopause is around the corner. The good part however is that this joint pain can be managed or avoided if a healthier and responsible lifestyle is chosen.  A healthy diet, exercise, and stress-free and positive routine can make a difference in tough times. A responsible selection of dietary supplements can increase the levels of estrogen and reduce inflammation.

2. Avoid Inflammatory Food

Oily, carbohydrate-rich, saturated, and sugar-heavy food must be avoided because these foods increase inflammation levels in your body. And your body that is already in a swollen state of arthritis and joint pain can get even more painful. 

Hence, your diet must be full of Phytoestrogen supplements like Soybeans, flaxseeds, and sesame seeds, which are plant-based compounds similar to estrogen.

Herbal supplements like Black Cohosh, chaste berry, evening primrose oil, red clover, dong Quai, turmeric, cinnamon, and vitamin minerals like B vitamins, vitamin D, Boron, and DHEA. These nutrients are anti-inflammatory and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and various heart diseases.

3. Avoid a Sedentary Lifestyle

A lazy and stationary lifestyle is the root cause of major diseases and suffering. In menopausal joint pain too, a no exercise regime can create havoc. Regular exercise, meditation, yoga, swimming, jogging, walking, and dancing are some activities that can reduce the pressure on the joints due to obesity or stiffness. Because as women reach the stage of menopause weight gain due to hormonal change is at a faster rate. Hence, a lot of weight on the joints can increase the pain and be the reason for even serious diseases like Osteoarthritis.

4. Avoid Dehydration

As discussed above due to falling estrogen levels water retention in the body slows. Hence, there is a major need to be hydrated all the time. So, that there is less friction and less pain. And this habit must be developed in perimenopause.

5. Avoid late sleeping patterns

Insomnia is common in menopause. And joint pain in the knees, hips, and spine increases causing even more sleeping problems. However, anti-inflammatory medicines could be taken by your pharmacist. Ice-pack or heat bags could be a good way of relieving pain too. 

Sleep deprivation can cause more pain and stress, hence a good night’s sleep is important.

6. Avoid a Stress full life

Stress in the mind releases the cortisol hormone which leads to inflammation, causing the joints to swell up, even more, bringing in more pain. Therefore, avoid stress as much as possible.

7. Avoid Strenuous Work

Hard and strenuous exercises must be avoided to put less pressure on the joints. Lifting heavy objects or jogging on a rough road or wrong positioning can break a tissue or increase pain. But, at the same time, some weight-bearing exercises(under expert guidance) could help joint strengthening and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

8. Avoid Postponing a doctor’s visit

A doctor will always give you the right advice. So, whenever you experience extreme pain, redness, or soreness you must see a doctor. As they can help with the right treatment. Postponing may lead to serious diseases like osteoarthritis or osteoporosis.

Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) which enables the treatment of menopause, could be suggested by your doctor when nothing works.

Conclusion

There could be various other treatments for menopause. But these 8 tips could bring a huge difference in menopausal joint pain. Life in menopause is challenging but could be managed if a proper diet and exercise regime is followed. 

Joint pain in menopause can get worse and lead to Osteoarthritis. The situation can get more serious than Arthroplasty(medical treatment for restoring the joint) may be required. However, a disciplinary lifestyle can cure a lot of problems.

How Can Haryana MultiSpeciality Hospital help in Arthroplasty(Joint Replacement)?

Haryana Multispeciality Hospital is the number one hospital in the numerous services it provides from general to specialized. The remarkable Orthopedic department with dedicated and professional experts provides a patient with fast, effective, and fruitful results. Joint Replacement is a very delicate surgery that requires utmost care. At Haryana Multispeciality Hospital you will receive treatment with the latest technology & instruments along with the safety of your body. 

To know more about our joint replacement surgery and other services visit our website.