If you’re a woman in your 40s or 50s and you’ve started to feel aches and pains that weren’t there before—achy knees when you wake up, stiff hips after sitting, or a shoulder that suddenly won’t let you wash your hair without pain—you’re not imagining things. And no, you’re not just ‘getting old.’
These changes could be part of what researchers are now calling the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause—a cluster of symptoms driven by the hormonal shifts of perimenopause and menopause that affect your joints, muscles, tendons, and even your physical performance.
In a 2024 peer-reviewed article published in Climacteric, Dr. Vonda Wright and colleagues coined the term and explained the mechanisms: estrogen plays a critical role in maintaining connective tissue integrity and regulating inflammation. As estrogen levels fall during midlife, women experience increased rates of tendinopathy, osteoarthritis, and soft tissue injuries, often without any inciting trauma.
Read the full article by Dr. Vonda Wright
Unfortunately, these symptoms are often brushed off or misdiagnosed. A woman may get an MRI that looks ‘normal,’ yet still feels limited, weak, or in pain. That disconnect between imaging and lived experience can leave women feeling unheard, unseen, and untreated.
At Form & Function Orthopaedics, we’re changing that. We take a hormone-aware approach to orthopedic and regenerative care. When a woman tells us, ‘I didn’t do anything—I just woke up with this pain,’ we listen. We ask about cycle changes, hormone therapy, sleep, stress, and muscle recovery. Because these things matter.
We also use non-surgical regenerative tools—like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and laser therapy—to support healing when tissues are slow to recover due to hormonal shifts. Our JointSpan™ Longevity Blueprint is designed to help midlife adults preserve and optimize joint health with movement, recovery, and metabolic support.
The bottom line? If your joint pain started around the same time your cycles got irregular or your sleep got worse, it’s probably not a coincidence. It’s a signal. And you deserve to be taken seriously.
Learn more about our approach to midlife joint care at Form & Function Orthopaedics .
Citation: Wright VJ, Schwartzman JD, Itinoche R, Wittstein J. The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. Climacteric. 2024;27(5):466-472. doi:10.1080/13697137.2024.2380363
