Today's Topic
Are you feeling stiff? Are your muscles and joints creaking a little bit? Are you wondering, "Is this just my age or is it anything to do with menopause?"
Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I explain why stiffness can be a symptom of perimenopause and menopause and what you can do to help yourself.
Muscle stiffness in perimenopause and menopause
We know that joint pain is a really common symptom of menopause and the majority of women can experience this to some degree at some point as they go through the whole process. But one of the things we've noticed, especially just recently, is that a lot of women are complaining about muscle stiffness.
Now, this can be something that can be localised to one area. It can be all over. It can just be stiffness on its own or it can also be accompanied by pain.
You can wake up very stiff. You might find as you get out of bed, you're creaking, and you just can't move about too much. But as the day goes on, everything eases up and then you feel okay.
You might find that you feel stiff after sitting for a while, so maybe, if you've been working at a desk, if you've been standing for a long time in one position, or maybe in the evening, when you're sitting watching the TV or reading, and then when you get up, you find that everything's creaking and stiff and it takes you longer to move properly.
You might find again that your neck and shoulders are getting stiffer, especially if you're sitting or working at a desk. You might find as well that it's just specific areas. It might just be your fingers that are getting stiff. It might be just your hips, or it might just be the leg muscles when you start to move.
What causes stiffness during perimenopause and menopause
So why on earth does this happen at this particular time? Here are a few common causes:
Cause 1: Hormonal changes
It is known that falling oestrogen itself can affect muscle function, so it can just basically be to do with muscle flexibility.
Cause 2: Dehydration
It can also be due to dehydration. It is also known that falling or fluctuating hormones can affect the elasticity of your tendons and ligaments. These tendons and ligaments help to attach muscle to muscle and muscle to bone. So, if these are starting to stiffen up, that is going to affect your whole range of movement of the muscles. So, the muscles are not going to be able to move as far and that's when they start to seize up and get that little bit stiffer.
Cause 3: Low magnesium
It can be due to low magnesium. Magnesium is one of these minerals that's needed for so many different things in menopause. And, especially if you're stressed and anxious, your body is going to burn magnesium up in that process and there's going to be less available to help with proper muscle function.
Cause 4: Stress and anxiety
And again, it can just be due to stress and anxiety itself. When you're stressed and anxious, you tend to hold yourself a lot stiffer anyway. And if you're doing this daily, you're not using the whole range of your muscles and they can end up stiffening up regularly.
Cause 5: Recovery from exercise or muscle/joint overuse taking longer
It can be because you're not exercising regularly so when you do exercise, you find that it takes longer to recuperate. If you do heavy-duty exercise maybe once or twice a week or you do something out of your usual daily activity, you may find that the next day, your muscles are very sore and stiff, whereas a few years ago, that wouldn't have happened.
It can also be due to muscle overuse. I usually find that in the spring, when I haven't done any digging in the garden for about five or six months, the first few times I dig my back tends to get a little bit tender and stiff for a few days afterwards. So, it can just be that kind of overuse that your muscles are not used to.
Are you Menopausal? Need help with your symptoms? Try our Menopause Symptom Checker.
Answer 3 question to find out if you could be menopausal and get personalised tips and advice straight to your inbox based on your results.
What can help ease stiffness during perimenopause and menopause?
So, what can you do to help with this? Here are a few things I recommend:
Drink plenty of water: Since dehydration is a common cause, you need to remember to keep yourself well hydrated. This is something that can work really, really well.
Remember the magnesium: As I mentioned above, magnesium is needed for so many reasons in menopause and it is especially essential for good muscle function. So, a magnesium supplement, 150 to 200 milligrams a day, can often make quite a bit of difference, especially if you're also suffering from muscle cramps.
You can also look to introduce magnesium-rich food into your daily diet. So, these are things like nuts and seeds, leafy vegetables, grains, and pulses. If you want a really good comprehensive list, just Google magnesium-rich foods.
Do some stretching every day: As you get older, your muscles can atrophy, so that basically means that they stop supporting themselves. They get thinner. They get weaker. If this happens, you have less muscle function generally, which will affect your walking and daily movement.
This can also affect your joints. If your muscles are really weak, then they're not going to support your joints and that can be a contributory factor to things like arthritis. So, keeping your muscles strong and in good condition is absolutely vital for your general health, postmenopause.
For me, I do my yoga, usually 15 or 20 minutes, 3 or 4 mornings a week. There are really easy yoga exercises or routines on YouTube if you've not done them before. If you don't particularly fancy yoga but just want some good stretching exercises, again, YouTube is probably one of the best places to go to find something quick and easy.
Some women tell me they prefer to do stretching just before they get into bed. It seems to give them a better night's sleep and then they wake up less stiff the next morning.
You could try our Atrogel Arnica Gel: Arnica Gel is used traditionally to help muscle aches and pains so this is something you can apply after you've done that little bit of digging or that extra little bit of exercise.
A.Vogel Atrogel Muscle Aches & Pains
- Traditional herbal medicinal product used to relieve muscular aches and pains
- For targeted pain relief gel, apply the gel directly onto the affected area
- Atrogel can also help to relieve neck & shoulder stiffness, bruising and associated swelling, and can be used for sporting injuries (sprains)
- Made from extracts of fresh Arnica flowers - contains 50% arnica extract
- Easy to apply, non-greasy gel
Keep active: Try to keep active every single day. Use these muscles, because if you don't use them you will lose them. And just remember too, as far as weight is concerned, good muscle mass burns up more energy than weak muscles. The stronger and healthier your muscles are, the more they will help you to maintain your weight.
So, I hope you found this one helpful. If any of you out there have any other tips, please share them. I love hearing about all these different things that you wonderful ladies do to help yourself, so please keep them coming in.
Until next week, take care.
You may also find these topics helpful:
Does menopause affect your muscles?
Menopause aches and pains & how to ease them
3 back, neck and shoulder problems during perimenopause and menopause
Looking for a treatment to relieve pain in conditions such as muscle aches or pains, stiffness, rheumatic pain or after sporting injuries?
