The Fact
In 2024, researchers named the “musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause.” They report that more than 70% of women will experience musculoskeletal symptoms during the menopause transition, and 25% will be disabled by them. The syndrome includes muscle and joint pain, loss of lean muscle, loss of bone density with higher fracture risk, more tendon and ligament injuries, frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis), and cartilage weakening that speeds up osteoarthritis.
What This Means
If your joints, muscles and shoulders started hurting in your 40s or 50s, you are not imagining it and you are not just “getting old.” Most women go through this, it is tied to the drop in estrogen, and doctors now have a name for it.
Sources
- Wright, V. J., J. D. Schwartzman, R. Itinoche, and J. Wittstein. “The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause.” Climacteric 27, no. 5 (2024): 466–472. https://doi.org/10.1080/13697137.2024.2380363
- Salamon, Maureen. “Musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause: When menopause makes you ache all over.” Harvard Women’s Health Watch, Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/musculoskeletal-syndrome-of-menopause-when-menopause-makes-you-ache-all-over