Chronic pain after menopause can be influenced by hormone changes, aging, and other health conditions.
Ongoing pain can affect your mood, sleep, relationships, and daily life.
Treatment and healthy coping strategies can help you manage the physical and emotional effects of chronic pain.
Postmenopause pain can affect more than your physical health. Ongoing aches, joint pain, or other chronic pain can also affect your mood, sleep, and overall quality of life. These challenges can take a toll on your emotional well-being.
Postmenopause [1] begins after you’ve gone 12 months without a menstrual period. This stage lasts for the rest of your life. While not everyone develops chronic pain after menopause, ongoing pain can make this transition harder. Understanding the connection between pain and mental health can help you recognize when it may be time to seek support.
Common symptoms of postmenopausal pain
Pain during postmenopause can affect different parts of the body. Changes in estrogen may play a role in some types of pain. However, new or ongoing pain shouldn’t automatically be blamed on menopause. Other health conditions are linked to similar symptoms.
Common types of pain during postmenopause may include:
Joint and muscle pain: Aching or stiffness [2] can affect the hips, shoulders, legs, and other joints. Some people also experience general body aches or muscle pain.
Back pain: Lower back pain [3] may become more common with age. Age, changes in muscle and bone health, and other health conditions may all play a role.
Pelvic and lower abdominal pain: Pelvic pain, pressure, or cramping can occur after menopause. However, these symptoms can have many causes [4] and aren’t always related to menopause itself. You should discuss new or ongoing pelvic pain with a healthcare provider.
Pain during sex: Lower estrogen levels [5] can cause vaginal tissue to become thinner and drier. This can make sex painful or uncomfortable.
Breast pain: Breast tenderness and pain [6] are more common before menopause, but they can still occur afterward. New or persistent breast pain should be evaluated rather than assumed to be related to menopause.
There isn’t one age when these symptoms start or stop. Postmenopause may include your 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond. Some menopause symptoms improve over time, while others may continue [7]. The cause of ongoing pain also becomes especially important as you age because menopause isn’t always responsible for it.
How postmenopause can worsen chronic pain
Pain can change during and after the menopause transition. Hormone changes may play a role, but they aren’t the only factor. Age and overall health can also affect pain. Research [8] also suggests that women who have chronic pain before menopause may experience a greater burden of menopause symptoms later.
Factors that may contribute to chronic pain include:
Hormone changes: Estrogen levels fall during menopause. This may affect the health of muscles, joints, bones, and other tissues.
Age-related changes: Changes in muscles, joints, and bones become more common with age. These changes can occur around the same time as menopause.
Existing health conditions: Conditions linked to chronic pain may continue or become harder to manage during this stage of life.
Emotional health: Stress, anxiety, and depression can affect how you experience pain. Chronic pain can also affect your mental health.
Who’s more likely to experience pain after menopause?
Research [9] suggests that muscle and joint pain becomes more common during perimenopause and remains common after menopause. Moderate to severe pain may also be more common during postmenopause.
People with existing pain or other health conditions may have a harder time managing pain. Age and lifestyle factors may also play a role.
Emotional impact of postmenopause chronic pain
Living with chronic pain can affect much more than your physical health. Pain can make it harder to work, exercise, socialize, or keep up with daily tasks. You may also have to change activities you once enjoyed. Over time, these changes can affect your independence, relationships, and emotional well-being.
Chronic pain can affect your mental well-being in a variety of ways, including:
Anxiety and depression
Chronic pain can take a toll on your mental health. You may worry about when pain will return or if it will worsen. Feeling limited by pain can also leave you feeling discouraged or isolated.
Anxiety and depression [10] may also occur during and after the menopause transition. When you’re managing pain at the same time, these challenges can feel even harder to cope with.
Mood changes
Ongoing pain can leave you feeling frustrated, irritable, or emotionally drained. Some people also experience mood swings [11] during the menopause transition.
Pain may not be the only factor affecting your mood. Hormone changes, sleep problems, other menopause symptoms [12], and midlife stress can all play a role.
Sleep problems
Pain can make it harder to fall asleep or stay asleep [13]. Menopause symptoms, like hot flashes and night sweats, may also interrupt your rest.
Pain and poor sleep can create a difficult cycle [14]. Pain may keep you awake, while a lack of sleep can make pain harder to manage the next day. Poor sleep can also affect your mood, energy, and ability to handle daily stress.
Outlook for chronic pain after menopause
Postmenopause lasts for the rest of your life, but that doesn’t mean your pain will always stay the same. Some menopause symptoms may improve over time [15]. Chronic pain may also improve with the right treatment and support.
Your outlook can depend on what's causing your pain and how it affects your life. Working with a healthcare professional can help you identify possible causes and find ways to manage both the physical and emotional effects of chronic pain.
Managing pain and emotional well-being in midlife
Living with chronic pain can be difficult, but there are ways to care for both your physical and emotional health. The right approach will depend on what’s causing your pain and how it’s affecting your life.
Self-care strategies and lifestyle changes can help you cope with chronic pain associated with hormonal changes and aging. These can include:
Stay active when you can. Gentle movement can support your physical health and may help with some types of chronic pain. Start slowly, and choose activities that feel safe for your body.
Protect your sleep. A regular sleep routine may help improve your rest. Talk to your healthcare provider if pain or menopause symptoms regularly keep you awake.
Find ways to manage stress. Relaxation exercises, mindfulness, and enjoyable activities can help you cope with the stress of living with pain.
Stay connected. Chronic pain can make it tempting to pull away from others. Staying connected with supportive people can help protect your emotional well-being.
Consider therapy. Therapy can help you cope with the emotional effects of chronic pain. Approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help you build skills for managing difficult thoughts and feelings.
Explore treatment options. Treatment depends on what’s causing your pain. Your healthcare provider may recommend medication, physical therapy, hormone treatments, or other options based on your needs.
Chronic pain may not disappear completely, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always feel the way you do today. Treatment, support, and coping skills can help you manage symptoms and continue doing things that matter to you.
If pain is getting worse or becoming difficult to manage on your own, consider talking to a healthcare professional. You don’t have to wait until pain feels unbearable to ask for support.
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Feeling frustrated, sad, anxious, or exhausted by chronic pain doesn’t mean you’re coping poorly. Pain can affect sleep, relationships, independence, and daily life, so it makes sense that it can affect your mood too. Having an emotional response to something difficult is different from failing to cope.
Brandy Chalmers, LPC
Clinical reviewer
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Living with chronic pain after menopause can be challenging, but you don’t have to manage it alone. The right care and support can help you protect your well-being and continue doing the things that matter to you.
At Rula, we’re here to help you feel better. Rula makes it easy to find a licensed therapist or psychiatric provider who takes your insurance. That way, you don’t have to choose between great care and a price you can afford.
Rula patients pay about $15 per session with insurance, and 93% say they feel better after getting care through Rula. We have 21,000+ providers, and appointments are available as soon as tomorrow. We’re here to help you take the next step — wherever you are in your mental health journey.
References
- Navigating the Road to Menopause https://womenshealth.gov/nwhw/menopause
- Joint pain and menopause https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12915535/
- The Seattle Midlife Women’s Health Study: a longitudinal prospective study of women during the menopausal transition and early postmenopause https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6299967/
- Chronic Pelvic Pain https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/chronic-pelvic-pain
- Vulvovaginal Health https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/vulvovaginal-health
- Breast Pain (Mastalgia) https://www.breastcancer.org/benign-breast-conditions/mastalgia
- Menopause symptoms and relief https://womenshealth.gov/menopause/menopause-symptoms-and-relief
- The association between chronic pain and the clustering of menopausal symptoms: Evidence from a British birth cohort study https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037851222500564X
- Musculoskeletal Pain during the Menopausal Transition: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7710408/
- Prevalence and incidence of depressive, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women: Systematic review and meta-analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41946603/
- Menopause Topics: Mental Health https://menopause.org/patient-education/menopause-topics/mental-health
- Mental health and quality of life in post-menopausal women as a function of retrospective menopause symptom severity https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9178181/
- Impact of sleep disturbances on health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women: a systematic review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40924877/
- Temporal Analysis of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain and Sleep in Postmenopausal Women https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6374090/
- Menopause basics https://womenshealth.gov/menopause/menopause-basics
Brandy Chalmers, LPC
Having faced challenges like childhood abuse, neglect, and the loss of her father to suicide, Brandy Chalmers is deeply passionate about providing compassionate care. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and Registered Play Therapist with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy.
Brandy also teaches at a university, sharing her expertise with future mental health professionals. With over a decade of experience in settings like inpatient care and private practice, she specializes in helping clients with perfectionism, trauma, personality disorders, eating disorders, and life changes.
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