This Sunday, 18 October, is World Menopause Day, and October is Menopause Awareness Month. This year’s theme from the International Menopause Society is chronic pain at midlife.
It’s a good theme, because aches and pains are one of the less well-known effects of perimenopause and menopause, and they’re often put down to simply getting older. This can involve stiff joints, sore shoulders, and muscles that ache for no obvious reason.
One 2026 review of more than 93,000 women found that around 40% of premenopausal women reported muscle or joint pain, rising to 57% in perimenopause and 59% afterwards. Most of the studies were one-off surveys, so they show a pattern rather than prove a cause, but they’re a reminder that aches and pains are more common around menopause than many of us realise.
Researchers suspect falling oestrogen plays a part, and a 2024 review proposed the name “musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause”, although it isn’t a formal diagnosis yet.
It also helps that menopause is talked about so much more openly than it used to be. UK TV presenter Davina McCall is widely credited with helping to break the taboo through her Channel 4 documentaries in 2021 and 2022. Her second film looked at brain fog, which I know all too well as I go through perimenopause. Women now feel able to share what they’re going through, and I think that’s a really positive change.
One downside is that, inevitably, it has brought a boom in products made and marketed specifically for menopause, and not all of them live up to their promises. Two recent reports raise questions about this.
UCL researchers looked at 201 menopause supplements sold across nine UK retailers. Half contained no vitamin D and fewer than a quarter contained calcium, the two nutrients that menopause societies routinely recommend for bone health, while the doses of other vitamins and minerals varied enormously.
Which? then reviewed 26 popular supplements, comparing more than 78 ingredients with the evidence, and found that none had the right balance and doses for menopause. Many contained key nutrients at doses too low to matter, sometimes called “fairy-dusting”, and some cost around 20 times more than a basic multivitamin.
Botanicals such as black cohosh, soy and red clover had mixed evidence and were often included at doses far below those used in trials.
I think those are fair challenges, and they apply to any supplement, including ours. Before you buy one, check what’s in it and how much is in each serving.
Which? says calcium and vitamin D matter most for bones as oestrogen declines. Most people can get enough calcium through their diet, but if your intake is low, a supplement can be helpful. Which? also suggests that a good multivitamin plus targeted supplements where you need them could be cheaper than an all-in-one menopause blend, and potentially more effective. A doctor, pharmacist or registered nutritional therapist can help you work out what you actually need.
For the aches themselves, strength training has the most support for protecting muscle and bone, alongside enough protein, sleep and staying active. The trials measured muscle and bone rather than pain, so it isn’t proven to ease aches, but it’s a sensible foundation.
See your doctor if morning stiffness lasts more than 30 minutes, if joints look swollen or feel hot or tender, or if pain persists or limits what you can do, as these can point to something other than menopause.
We’ve fully updated our guide to staying healthy at menopause and beyond for this month. It now includes a section on joint and muscle pain, and also looks at how strong the evidence is for popular supplements. Read here: Natural Ways to Stay Healthy at Menopause and Beyond
As always, if something here resonated or there is a topic you would like me to dig into, just hit reply. I read every message.
