I'm suffering with daily joint pain. Sometimes I feel as if I'm 90 years old and I'm only 51. Can you suggest some herbs that I can try to see if that helps?

Oestrogen is a soft tissue relaxant. As levels change throughout the month, so does ligament laxity. Ligaments then become less elastic during the menopause as oestrogen levels fall permanently.

Taking a plant based oestrogen can reduce some of the impact of oestrogen loss, and Devils Claw can help counter pain and tenderness in the meantime.

Dehydration can also be a big factor for joint health so it is important to drink plenty of plain water (not artificially flavoured or sweetened) every day over and above other drinks, usually 1.5-2 litres a day is fine. If your joints feel a bit ‘creaky’ especially first thing in the morning then you may find a couple of cups of nettle tea or nettle tincture daily can be of benefit. Nettle is also a great herb for joint inflammation, itchy skin and acts as a cleanser so worth taking every day for all these benefits.

Make sure that you are getting plenty of oily fish in your diet to help with joint lubrication, if you are vegetarian or vegan a flax seed oil supplement would be the next best thing.

This is, of course, if the joint pain is being caused by the menopause.

Eileen Durward