treating menopause joint pain
As women age our muscle mass decreases each year and naturally the body ages, increases in muscoskeletal issues increase. Does the menopause mean that this is more of a problem in women than men? Well up to 40% of women in menopause report increase in joint or muscle pain. Estrogen decline in the later stages of peri-menopause and into menopause is likely to play an important role in the onset of musculoskeletal aches and pains. Estrogen affects your cartilage, which is the connective tissue in joints and bone turnover, so it can play a part in inflammation and pain.
What kind of pain do menopausal women experience?
Aching muscles and joint pain is a common complaint of women during per-menopause and post menopause, often more of an issue than hot flushes!
Typical issues that are faced by menopausal are the increase in pain in existing issues such as back pain, headaches, joint pain, previous injuries and existing pain conditions such as fibromyalgia or hypermobility.
A common issue is that GPs will misdiagnose these pains as new issues and women are likely to be labelled with chronic pain issues, when often this is not the case as muscle mass stabilises post menopause and joint pain can improve with natural treatments.
Why does menopause create joint and muscle pain?
The relationship between progesterone and estrogen and inflammation is becoming more recognised.
We know that our joints have estrogen receptors, when estrogen levels decline over peri-menopause it can lead to an increase in painful joints, which in turn can affect the ability to exercise, leading to muscle loss and weight gain. Estrogen protects joints and reduces inflammation, during peri-menopause inflammation can increase.
As testosterone falls in women along with oestrogen and progesterone, some women also find it harder to maintain muscle strength.
Other factors involve the disturbance to sleep during menopause, as we know progesterone helps us to remain relaxed and aides sleep, which is why we start to have more disrupted sleep during peri-menopause as progesterone starts to decline. Estrogen also plays a role in the production of serotonin which helps us stay asleep – the lack of deep restorative sleep can lead to the body not being able to recover as well and an increase in pain sensitivity.
How can we treat joint and muscle pain in menopause
HRT (hormone replacement therapy) can help by introducing body identical hormones, progesterone for example can help to improve sleep disturbances. Estrogen is thought to have some improvement on body pain in menopause, although the evidence is very limited. There is some research that suggests osteoarthritis is more avoidable with HRT.
More natural ways to improve pain in menopause include:
Hypnotherapy for sleep improvement.
The goal of sleep hypnosis is to change negative thoughts or habits related to sleep so that a person can sleep better.https://www.focusedhypnotherapy.co.uk/post/understanding-sleep-changes-during-peri-menopause-and-how-hypnotherapy-can-help
Sleep hypnosis may also promote improvements to develop healthier sleep-related routines.
While most studies have focused on in-person hypnosis, there is some evidence that self-hypnosis is possible. A study of cancer survivors found that most people were able to follow audio recordings for at-home hypnosis.
Gentle exercise.
Such as yoga, moving in ways that allow increased muscle strength and agility can support the loss of muscle, gentle movement is better for those with joint pain. It can also improve some of the symptoms of the menopause, including sleep disturbance, fatigue, low mood and anxiety.
Muscle strengthening exercises.
Starting to increase muscle strength using weights is beneficial during peri-menopause. Eccentric exercises, meaning working the muscle as it lengthens or extends is a good way to stimulate muscle repair.
Hypnotherapy for pain management
Studies show up to 75% improvement in pain relief using hypnotherapy for arthritis and related diseases. It can help to manage your worry and attention on the pain experienced. It helps you to relax, which in itself has many benefits, when we are feeling worried about pain we tend to tense and hold our body tightly, this can increase the pain by secondary muscular pain and also by sending signals to the nervous system that we are in pain and therefore increasing the intensity and awareness of pain. Relaxing can then initiate a parasympathetic nervous response, this helps us to rest and repair. When we feel stressed the increase in cortisol helps to send the pain signal, so relaxing also helps to stop that production of cortisol. Hypnotherapy for pain also helps to reframe how you perceive pain, it can help you to feel more confident and positive that you have ways to effectively manage the pain and this helps to create new associations with the experience, releasing the fear and worry.
How Does Hypnotherapy Work?
Visualizing calming imagery: Hypnosis normally starts with a focus on a calming image or thought. This beginning step promotes relaxation that enables an escalating level of focus.
Deepening focus: Hypnosis requires intense focus, so once a person is calm, further instructions enhance attention on the calming imagery.
Therapeutic suggestions: Once a person is in the trance-like condition, specific suggestions are offered that are tailored to address their medical problem or symptoms.
Ending hypnosis: In the final step, the patient is guided to return to being fully awake.
If you would like more information on how hypnotherapy can help to manage joint and muscle pain in menopause then get in touch with Emma, she offers a free 15 call where you can ask any questions and find out more about the process.
Comentarios