Midi
Jan 24, 2025

Menopause and Joint Pain: Causes and Treatment Options

Author:
Jessica MigalaJessica Migala
woman's hands on knee
The Big Picture

Menopausal joint pain is a common—and vexing!—issue caused by sweeping hormonal changes, including declining estrogen and progesterone levels, which can lead to stiffness, aches, and increased sensitivity to pain. What’s more, menopause symptoms like weight gain and poor sleep may make joint issues worse, along with conditions like osteoarthritis and chronic inflammation.

Ready for some positive news? There’s help! Treatment options, including lifestyle modifications like targeted exercise and an anti-inflammatory diet, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), non-hormonal medications, supplements, and alternative therapies such as acupuncture, can all ease your achy joints. Consulting a healthcare professional, like a Midi clinician, for an individualized plan is crucial to managing symptoms, improving mobility, and enhancing overall quality of life.

Oh, your aching body. No, seriously. Maybe your ankles crunch as you shuffle to the bathroom early in the morning. When you walk up the stairs, your sore knees play a symphony of creaks. Or maybe you feel as if sneezing the wrong way could throw out your back at this point. 

Welcome to midlife joint pain. It’s a common complaint that many women experience during the years leading up to menopause and even after periods have stopped for good. Complicating matters, joint pain during this time isn’t just related to the hormonal changes of menopause— discomfort can also occur due to age-related conditions like arthritis, overuse injury, and more.

statistic about menopausal pain

But better days are ahead for your knees, hips, spine (you name it…). There are numerous ways to treat menopause joint pain and go a little easier on your joints to prevent pain from taking hold in the first place. Here’s what you need to know. 

Menopause and Its Impact on the Body

Menopause is a transition phase in our lives as our reproductive system winds down. The changes we feel during this time—hot flashes and night sweats, sleep struggles, irritability and other mood problems, weight gain and body composition shifts, low libido, and many more—are due to gradually declining hormones, primarily estrogen and progesterone.

Notably, estrogen doesn’t quietly and steadily trend downward during these years. Rather, the hormone cycles up and down on its way to rock bottom levels.  Your body will go through three main stages of menopause:

  • Perimenopause: The years before official menopause. Symptoms begin during these years and last, on average, four years, though some women have symptoms for 10 years. Estrogen fluctuation may cause your most severe symptoms.
  • Menopause: Not a stage, officially, menopause is defined as the moment in time when you have gone without a period for 12 consecutive months.
  • Postmenopause: The years after menopause. Your body is still adjusting to hormonal changes, and so symptoms often persist.

But there's no need to tough it out, no matter what phase you're in. At Midi, we know how positive a woman's menopause experience can be when she works with a healthcare provider who takes her symptoms seriously. Midi clinicians are trained menopause specialists who can help you understand the “why” behind physical and emotional changes, and can offer a range of solutions, including prescription medications, supplements, and lifestyle coaching.

visual of midi clinicians

The Connection Between Menopause and Joint Pain

Is menopause directly associated with joint pain? The short answer is yes. Menopause pain affecting the joints is very real. And if there’s one thing we can bond over, it’s calling out our menopause symptoms. You’re in good company if you’ve got aches and pains: According to a 2020 meta-analysis of 16 studies, 71% of women in perimenopause reported experiencing musculoskeletal pain. (Musculoskeletal pain is an umbrella term for pain in a range of tissues like bones, joints, and muscles.) As women age, they’re also more likely to report moderate to severe pain, the research found.

Although there are many reasons that you can have joint pain—including injuries, arthritis, and underlying chronic conditions—the hormonal changes of menopause can themselves trigger this pain.  

graphic outline of a skeleton with callouts to reasons for pain

4 Reasons Declining Estrogen Impacts Joint Pain

Here are four reasons why, noted in research published in a January 2025 issue in the journal Maturitas, changing estrogen levels can have such an outsized affected on your joints:

  • Fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone contributes to joint pain and stiffness. Estrogen has anti-inflammatory benefits, so as levels decline, inflammation in joints can increase.
  • You’re more likely to develop joint pain conditions like osteoarthritis because estrogen helps maintain the health of joint tissues. As estrogen declines, these tissues degrade. 
  • Symptoms of menopause–—trouble sleeping, weight gain, and mood changes—can also play a role in your pain. 
  • Estrogen has a hand in your perception of pain, as it acts on opioid receptors and releases pain-managing endorphins. Progesterone also has pain-dampening properties. When both hormone levels go down, pain sensitivity and intensity may rise.

Other Factors That Contribute to Midlife Joint Pain

Joint pain has so many different causes. Here’s a list of some of the more common ones, according to the Cleveland Clinic, though keep in mind that there can be more than one thing contributing to joint aches, pains, and creaks:

  • Autoimmune conditions, like lupus
  • Inflammatory arthritis, which includes rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and psoriatic arthritis 
  • Injuries, both acute or overuse
  • Chronic pain conditions, like fibromyalgia
  • Osteoarthritis, otherwise known as “wear and tear” arthritis

Problems unrelated to the joint or musculoskeletal system but can cause pain in these areas anyway, including kidney stones, pelvic disorders, or gallbladder or pancreas dysfunction.

The good news: You can find relief. Often the first step is understanding that there could be a connection between the joint pain you're feeling and where you are on your perimenopause or menopause journey. Too often, they're dealt with as separate issues. Then, working with a trained specialist, like a Midi clinician, can help you further connect the dots and find a treatment plan that brings relief.

Symptoms of Menopausal Joint Pain

Menopausal joint pain can cause general joint pain symptoms in your hands, feet, hips, knees, shoulder, and spine, including achiness and discomfort, a feeling of heat or warmth, loss of range of motion, which then can lead to a reduction in your ability to do your everyday tasks and activities. You may feel especially stiff in the morning (sometimes accompanied by freakishly noisy joints), and swelling and tenderness can also be common. 

Diagnosis of menopausal joint pain

Joint pain is easy to brush off as just another part of getting older, or the price you pay for putting your body through competitive athletics/childbirth/chasing kids/a newfound love for pickleball (you name it). But seeking out a medical evaluation is important to identify the underlying reason for your joint pain or rule out conditions that require treatment. 

Your clinician might evaluate you in several ways:

  • Taking your medical history, which includes talking to you about your current and past health and listening to your unique story about your symptoms (what you’re feeling, when they’re occurring, and what makes them better/worse).
  • A physical examination to look at joint health or other tissues that are a cause for concern.
  • Imaging tests, if recommended. For example, if an injury is suspected, a clinician may recommend an x-ray or MRI.
  • Blood tests to rule out other conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Treatment Options for Menopausal Joint Pain

When the hormonal changes of menopause are triggering your joint pain (or contributing to it), a clinician can provide targeted recommendations to get you relief. Because many things factor into your experience of pain, it’s important to seek out an individualized treatment plan. While there's no one-size-fits-all protocol for pain relief during menopause, here’s where you can start:

Lifestyle Modifications

Exercise, or having a generally active lifestyle, is a great way to maintain the health of your joints, including improving range-of-motion, dampening pain, and getting you back to doing the things that you love. Don’t forget that exercise is a natural mood-booster and sleep-promoter as well, so staying active can also help your body process pain better. Eating a diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods—a great example is the Mediterranean diet—may also help reduce inflammation to lessen pain.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for Joint Pain

Hormone replacement therapy, which provides your body with a low but steady amount of hormones to supplement the ones your body still makes, can offer relief for many menopausal symptoms. The research on HRT’s effects on musculoskeletal pain is still emerging. Some studies have found that women taking HRT experienced a mild secondary benefit to aches, pains, and stiffness, as noted in The Lancet Rheumatology. A review study in Frontiers in Physiology also notes the “dramatic effect on musculoskeletal function” and finds significant evidence of how HRT can help improve musculoskeletal tissues. What’s more, HRT is effective for relieving hot flashes and night sweats and may improve your sleep, which alone can make a big impact on day-to-day pain relief. 

It’s also worth pointing out promising research about frozen shoulder and HRT: In preliminary research in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine in 2023, researchers looked at the electronic medical records of 1,952 menopausal women between ages 45 and 60. Four percent of patients who were treated with HRT experienced adhesive capsulitis (aka frozen shoulder) compared to 7.7 percent not on HRT. That meant those not on HRT had nearly twice the odds of developing frozen shoulder compared to those on hormonal treatment. Although that sounds like a very large spread, the conclusions weren’t considered statistically significant because of the small sample size. While researchers suspect that HRT may be protective, this is the first study to look at the potential connection, so more research is needed. 

Other Medical Treatments

Joint pain isn’t something to push through. Talk to a clinician about medication options like topical or oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and other pain relief medications.

Alternative and complementary therapies: Some women may be advised to take joint-supporting supplements for menopause joint pain including glucosamine, chondroitin, collagen, or curcumin. “Likewise, other therapies like acupuncture, massage, yoga, infrared (light) therapy, and tai chi may provide short-term pain management or have multiple benefits to your overall well-being during this time,” says Kathleen Jordan, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Midi Health. You won’t need all of these, but working with a clinician can help you combine both medical and complementary treatments into a care plan suited to your life.

Preventive Measures and Self-Care Strategies

Joint pain may come and go and change in intensity over the years. Remember to check in with a clinician if and when joint pain lingers. In the meantime, here’s what you can do to support the health of your joints, no matter your menopausal stage:

  • Maintain a healthy-for-you weight: Excess weight puts extra stress on your joints, triggering aches and pains. The healthiest weight is different for everyone, so talk to a healthcare professional about what feels best for your body. If weight loss is your goal, work with them to draw up a healthy weight loss plan, which can include diet, exercise, sleep optimization, and/or weight loss medications.
  • Continue to move your body: Exercise is amazing for keeping your body young. It strengthens muscles, fortifies tendons and ligaments, and improves bone density. But activities that you used to do before may not feel great now. Know that you don’t have to run if it causes soreness, for example. Activities that are gentler on your joints like swimming, cycling, or using an elliptical machine may become your new go-tos as you rebuild and get stronger. The most important takeaway is that exercise should feel good, and can as long as you’re willing to experiment.
  • Watch how you sit: If you have a desk job and are sitting hunched over a screen all day (when you’re not looking down at your phone), you may notice you feel remarkably better if you set up your workstation in an ergonomic way. Likewise, holding your phone at eye-level can do wonders for neck comfort.
  • Take care of you: Pain is individual and multi-factorial. Meaning, many things can affect how you experience pain–and some of these have nothing to do with physical function. Poor sleep, your mood (anxiety or depression), and even having a negative view of your age can heighten your feelings of pain. Draw up a list of stress management strategies and turn to them regularly when you need a release.

When to seek professional help for menopausal joint pain

Any time joint pain interferes with your ability to do daily tasks, participate in activities you enjoy, or negatively affects your quality of life, seek out medical attention. Other signs to look out for include:

  • persistent or worsening pain
  • joint swelling
  • deformity
  • symptoms that occur alongside joint pain (such as significant fatigue or pain in other areas of the body)

All of these could indicate an underlying condition that needs to be diagnosed and treated. To best prepare for a medical appointment, keep a symptom diary you can share with your clinician, along with a list of the current medications and supplements you’re taking and any questions you want to ask. Those notes will help you get the most out of your appointment.

The Takeaway

  • Although joint pain is a common symptom of menopause—due to a range of factors including hormonal changes—you don’t have to live with creaky knees or stiffness that makes things like climbing stairs a bigger challenge than it should be. 
  • Instead, with the right treatments that address your joint pain and manage your menopause symptoms, you can feel better in your body. 
  • There are many options available to you, but finding the secret sauce that decreases your pain, improves your mobility and range-of-motion, and gets you back to the things you love to do can take time—and requires an individualized approach.  

Find a Menopause Specialist

Frequently Asked Questions

Does menopausal joint pain go away?

Because joint pain is very common in menopause and it can greatly impact your quality of life, it’s important to seek treatment and/or get a diagnosis for other medical problems that may contribute to it rather than waiting for aches and discomfort to go away. Menopausal joint pain can be treated with medication (such as NSAIDs), lifestyle changes (such as weight management and exercise), supplements, and may benefit from menopausal treatments like hormone replacement therapy (HRT). 

What does hormonal joint pain feel like?

Joint pain during menopause can feel like aches, pain, discomfort, tenderness, stiffness, and reduced range-of-motion in your knees, spine, hips, hands, and other joints.

What causes joint pain in a middle-aged woman?

Many things can contribute to joint pain in midlife women. Hormonal changes during perimenopause and menopause, injuries, underlying joint conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, or diseases like fibromyalgia, among others, can cause joint pain in middle-aged women.

What are the symptoms of arthritis in menopause?

The symptoms of arthritis include pain, redness, heat, and joint swelling. There are many different types of arthritis, which can affect different parts of the body or involve other tissues, such as your skin. 

What helps joint pain during menopause?

Pain has many components, and taking care of yourself goes a long way in finding relief. Along with go-to treatments like taking NSAIDs when needed, self-care strategies can be effective in managing symptoms of menopause, including joint pain. That includes a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet, weight loss (if it’s necessary for you), regular exercise, good sleep, and stress-relieving strategies. For weight loss, you may be a candidate for weight-loss medications. And of course, you can also talk with a Midi clinician about HRT and how it could help you.

How long does menopause joint pain last?

There isn’t an average amount of time that you can expect to have menopause joint pain, especially since there are often other conditions at play, like osteoarthritis, that may factor into your discomfort. Talk to a healthcare professional about the best treatments to reduce your pain, some of which bring relief for other common symptoms of menopause as well.

How Midi Can Help You

If you’re in perimenopause or menopause and want guidance from clinicians who specialize in women’s midlife health, book a virtual visit with Midi today. 

‍Hormonal change is at the root of dozens of symptoms women experience in the years before and after their period stops. 

Our trained menopause specialists can help you connect the dots to guide you towards safe, effective solutions.

‍Whether you need personalized guidance or a prescription routine to tackle symptoms—including vaginal dryness and irritation, brain fog, hot flashes, sleep trouble, mood swings, and weight gain—we’ve got you covered.

EDITORIAL STANDARDS

Midi’s mission is to revolutionize healthcare for women at midlife, wherever they live and whatever their health story. We believe that starts with education, to help all of us understand our always-changing bodies and health needs. Our core values guide everything we do, including standards that ensure the quality and trustworthiness of our content and editorial processes. We’re committed to providing information that is up-to-date, accurate, and relies on evidence-based research and peer-reviewed journals. For more details on our editorial process, see here.