Stiff muscles during menopause: what can you do?
Hot flashes, sleep problems and night sweats: you probably recognize it when you are going through menopause. But in addition to these complaints, do you often suffer from stiff or painful muscles? Then you are not alone! Experiencing stiff muscles during menopause is a common complaint. During menopause you are more sensitive to muscle tension. Super annoying of course!
Fortunately, there are ways in which you can reduce these menopausal symptoms. In this blog we will tell you how to tackle these stiff and painful muscles, because you naturally want to get through the transition as comfortably as possible.
How come? Menopause symptoms
Menopause is a natural process in women's lives. During menopause, the body responds to the decrease in sex hormones, including estrogen and progesterone. This is often accompanied by various symptoms that can affect women's physical and emotional health. Menopause is known for typical symptoms such as hot flashes, difficulty sleeping and night sweats, but these are not the only symptoms.
During menopause, estrogen production decreases, and this sex hormone not only affects the reproductive system, but is also involved in the function of nearby organs and skeletal muscles. When estrogen levels decrease, you may experience: drier mucous membranes and the cartilage between your joints can become thinner. Many women experience stiff muscles and muscle pain during menopause.
Muscles become less elastic
Maybe you recognize it: the feeling that you are no longer as flexible as before. This is very possible, because your muscles become less elastic during menopause. This is caused by the drop in your estrogen levels. Estrogen is responsible for stimulating the production of collagen, which in turn contributes to the maintenance of supple ligaments, tendons and muscles. When the amount of estrogen decreases, collagen production also decreases and your muscles will lose their elasticity. This lack of elasticity can then lead to stiff and painful muscles.
Muscle mass decreases
During menopause, the production of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone decreases significantly. These hormones play a crucial role in energy metabolism and body composition. This leads to physical changes, including an increase in fat around the organs, a decrease in bone density and loss of muscle mass and strength. On average, a woman loses around 0.4 to 0.8 kilos of muscle mass per ten years around menopause, which is also sarcopenia is called. Decreasing muscle mass results in reduced muscle strength and stability, which in turn can lead to stiff and painful muscles.
Worse sleep
During menopause, the amount of estrogen and progesterone decreases, which unfortunately can have a negative impact on your night's sleep. Progesterone naturally causes drowsiness, while estrogen helps you sleep more deeply. When your body produces fewer of these hormones, it can make it harder to fall asleep and you may also wake up more often during the night. If you sleep poorly, your muscles are less rested, causing you to wake up with increased muscle tension muscle tension.
Complaints in muscle groups
Many women suffer from stiff or painful muscles during menopause. Most complaints occur in the hands, knees, hips, lower back and shoulders. These complaints are often caused by hormone fluctuations of estrogen or progesterone and manifest themselves in muscle tension, stiffness and pain. Muscles and joints that undergo frequent movements are most affected.
What can you do?
Complaints during menopause, such as muscle pain in legs and muscle pain in arms, are very annoying, but the good news is that you can do various things to reduce these complaints!
First of all, it is important that you relax and exercise enough. For example, try breathing exercises or yoga and take a walk during your lunch break. When your body is relaxed, it can respond better to the calming effects of progesterone and you sleep better. Physical exercise also causes an increase in adenosine, which also contributes to an improved night's sleep. When you sleep better, muscle tension decreases and your muscles remain more flexible.
Furthermore, strength training is essential to reduce complaints during menopause. The World Health Organization have been recommending adults for a long time to do strength training twice a week to maintain muscle mass. This advice is especially important for menopausal women, as they experience an accelerated decline in muscle strength. So try to do strength training at least twice a week and focus on exercises that target different muscle groups, for example doing lunges and push-ups.
Supplements for stiff muscles
If you suffer from stiff muscles or painful muscles during menopause, guidance from a physiotherapist can significantly reduce the complaints. There are also various supplements that can alleviate the symptoms. This combination ensures that you go through this phase as smoothly as possible.