Does menopause cause joint pain?

Yes, aching, stiff joints are a real and surprisingly common symptom of perimenopause and menopause, sometimes called menopausal arthralgia. Many women are caught off guard by it.

Oestrogen is the key. It helps keep joints lubricated, dampens inflammation and supports the cartilage and connective tissue around them. As oestrogen falls, joints can become stiffer, achier and more inflamed, often worst in the morning, and commonly felt in the hands, knees, hips, shoulders and neck. Poorer sleep and higher stress hormones add to the aches. It is easy to mistake for "just getting older", but the timing alongside other menopause symptoms is the giveaway.

The reassuring part is that for many women this is treatable and not a sign of permanent damage. That said, genuine arthritis should still be ruled out, and a few features point that way rather than to hormones:

• Pain that is severe, one-sided, or in a single joint
• Visible swelling, redness or heat in a joint
• Aches that do not track with your other menopause symptoms

Keeping the two apart matters, because the hormonal kind tends to ease with movement and oestrogen, while inflammatory arthritis needs its own treatment.

A few joints have menopause-linked patterns worth naming. Frozen shoulder becomes markedly more common in midlife women, and stiff, achy hands in the morning are a classic complaint. Carrying extra weight also loads knees and hips directly, so the weight changes of this stage and the joint aches often feed each other, and easing one tends to ease the other.

What to do: keep moving, since gentle, regular activity such as walking, swimming, strength training and yoga lubricates joints and eases stiffness more than rest does. Maintain a healthy weight, prioritise protein and sleep, and consider omega-3s. For many women HRT noticeably improves joint pain by restoring oestrogen, so if your aches track with other symptoms, discuss it with your GP. Persistent or swollen joints deserve a proper check.