During perimenopause and menopause, some women report that their muscles and joints hurt, but they don’t know why, says Vonda Wright, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and researcher in Orlando, Florida.
“They say, ‘I don’t know what happened, but I think I’m falling apart.’ And many times they’ve been told by other clinicians or read somewhere that it’s just part of aging,” says Dr. Wright.
In fact, it could be a symptom of menopause. When estrogen “walks out the door,” it impacts musculoskeletal tissue, including muscle, bone, fat, and muscle-derived stem cells, because those all have estrogen receptors, she says.
“I had this, and it was devastating. I’m an athlete, and I could barely get out of bed,” says Wright.
But there are a few things women can do to combat muscle and joint pain in addition to taking medication.
Replacing sugary carbs with fibrous carbs (think broccoli) as part of an anti-inflammatory diet may also help reduce muscle and joint pain, she says.
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