Pain, swelling, stiffness
Joint Problems During Menopause: Is It Rheumatic?
Updated 11/22/2025 – 08:31Reading time: 3 minutes
Many women experience joint problems during menopause. You can find out why this happens and what those affected can do here.
Menopause is not a disease, but a phase of natural hormonal changes in a woman’s life. However, various unpleasant physical changes and complaints can occur during this time. It’s not just vaginal burning and dryness that are common: joint pain, stiffness and swelling also often occur in women during and after menopause. Experts assume that more than half of women are affected after menopause, that is, the last menstrual period.
For most women, menopause begins in their 40s. From this age onwards, the risk of joint problems increases, regardless of gender: the older a person is, the more susceptible they are to joint diseases such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.
Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are two different diseases. Osteoarthritis occurs when joint cartilage weakens over time. Joints feel painful, especially when moving or doing activities. In contrast, rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammation in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the joints. Swollen, stiff and painful joints are characteristic, especially in the morning after waking up or resting.
However, age is not the only reason why so many women experience joint problems during menopause. This can be seen from the fact that men of the same age do this much less often. So gender clearly plays a role – but which one?
Hormones are probably the most important factor. Women experience hormonal changes in middle age or older that don’t occur in men: During menopause, levels of the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone fall. This not only affects fertility, but also the musculoskeletal system, more precisely: bones, cartilage, joints and muscles.
Estrogen in particular is needed in the body for more than just reproduction. This affects, among other things:
- cartilage and joint health
- feeling sick
- muscle
- immune system function and thus the inflammatory process
Estrogen reduces pain, inhibits inflammation, protects cartilage cells from damage and promotes the formation of collagen, which provides stability and elasticity to cartilage, bones, tendons, skin and other tissues.
If estrogen levels fall, joint cartilage becomes thinner, more sensitive, less tough and more susceptible to damage. At the same time, the load on the joints increases as muscles become weaker and many middle-aged and elderly women gain weight.
Added to this is an increase in pain perception, which is also associated with a decrease in estrogen levels. Damage, the beginning of wear and tear and inflammatory processes in the joints, including joint diseases such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, may become more visible in certain conditions.
Permanent or recurring joint problems should be seen by a doctor – this applies to all genders and age groups. Those affected can contact their family doctor or orthopedic practice.
The doctor must first find out what is actually behind the symptoms through detailed discussion and certain examinations. Possible causes include the above-mentioned hormonal changes in the musculoskeletal system and the diseases they cause: osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. But that’s not all: various diseases can trigger or be accompanied by joint problems, for example various infections and the chronic inflammatory disease systemic lupus erythematosus.
