Muscle tension during menopause & tips to ease it

What is muscle tension?

Muscle tension refers to a state where your muscles remain semi-contracted or tight for extended periods, even when you're not doing anything or you haven't used your muscles for a while.

The key signs of this are that your muscles feel tight and stiff. You may wake up in the morning and feel very stiff, like you've done a huge amount of exercise the day before when you've done absolutely nothing. And you might find that it's really quite uncomfortable to get everything loosened up and working again properly.

It could be that your muscles are painful or they just feel really uncomfortable. And it can be mild discomfort, maybe you feel as if you've just pulled a muscle, or you can end up getting really sharp, achy pains that come on really suddenly.

You might find it restricts your movement range. This is really common first thing in the morning when maybe you've been sleeping in one position. I find that sometimes, when I've been sitting for a long time and I get up, everything feels really tight. And I can't move and turn as well as I normally do.

It could be tenderness - if you touch your muscles, you feel that they're sore, as if something is going on there.

What is muscle tension?

Muscle tension can happen really with any muscle, but it tends to involve the biggest ones. The common ones would be the neck and shoulders. It could be your back, either your lower back or your upper back. It could be your thighs or your calves, and your jaw. I know that's one area where it happens with me, especially if I get stressed - I tend to clamp my jaw.

Causes of muscle tension during perimenopause and menopause

During perimenopause and menopause, muscle tension can be caused by a number of factors, including:

Hormonal changes

First of all, we know it can definitely be hormonal. Oestrogen plays quite an important part in keeping your muscles and your joints healthy. So, when your oestrogen starts to decline, this can have quite an impact on your muscles generally.

Hormonal changes can also trigger the ‘flight or fight’ response. And again, if you're in that flight or fight situation, your muscles tense up, ready for you to jump into some kind of action.

Stress

We know that with any kind of stress, everything tightens up. You're in this heightened state of anxiety, so your muscles become really tense because your body is in that flight or fight situation, ready for action. Even though there's not going to be any action for you at all, it just puts your muscles into that state. It can be really uncomfortable, and it can take quite a while for that tension to actually dissipate.

Sleep issues

We know that if you're getting night sweats or if you're getting poor sleep generally, that can have a big impact. You can't relax during the night, so you end up with this muscle ache and muscle tension first thing in the morning before you start getting moving again.

It can be that poor sleep can impact anxiety and stress levels. So, all of these things can be interconnected. You may be getting poor sleep but not realising that it's the poor sleep that's causing muscle tension and muscle discomfort during the day.

Magnesium deficiency

This is so common. For those of you that have been following for a while, you know how much I go on about magnesium. It's such an important mineral for perimenopause and menopause. We need it for so many different things. And our need for magnesium goes up when there's any kind of emotional or physical stress.

So, if our magnesium levels are low, if we're deficient in magnesium, if we're not eating enough magnesium-rich foods, then one of the first areas to be impacted will be the muscles because they just can't function well without a decent level of magnesium.

Dehydration

Again, for those of you that have been following, you will know that dehydration impacts everything, and will impact muscle function.

Physical overexertion

Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that you are going mad at the gym or going out for a 10-mile run or a hike. If your muscles are already in a weakened state with low magnesium and you do just a normal day's exercise, it takes the muscles a lot longer to recuperate, and you can then end up getting sore muscles.

And a word of warning here if you do a lot of sports every day, your recovery time is going to take much longer. Doing heavy exercise every single day in the perimenopause and menopause can therefore lead to muscle tension, and muscle aches and pains, and joint problems. So, you have to be really careful if you're a serious athlete to make sure that you give yourself plenty of recovery time between exercise sessions.

Standing or sitting for too long

Another factor can be standing for too long. For me, I know if I'm sitting for long periods, especially if I'm at the computer it takes a while for your body to stretch out again. So just make sure that if you're sitting or having to stand for long periods of time, that you do some kind of movement, get up and walk, or just stretch your legs or do something, just to keep the muscles moving nicely.

Tips to help relieve and prevent muscle tension

Tips to help relieve and prevent muscle tension

To reduce muscle tension during perimenopause and menopause, here are a few things to consider:

Regular exercise: We're not talking about going mad, but it's about keeping moving. Maybe exercise is the wrong word because sometimes you may think, "Oh, I don't want to exercise." Keeping active is probably a better way to put it. Keep active every day. That will keep your muscles working well. It can be things like yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, swimming and walking. These are all exercises that are not going to put a huge amount of impact on your joints, but are going to keep your muscles nice and stretched.

And I know, for me, I love yoga. But if I forget it for three or four days, it really tells on my muscles. I know that, for me, things like stretching are really important. Even just a five-minute stretching routine before you go to bed can help with that morning ache and tension. Go to YouTube and you can find different sets of stretching exercises. They can make a huge amount of difference.

Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of water (1.5-2 litres) every day to prevent dehydration.

Stress management: The more stressed you are, the more muscle tension you get. Practice relaxation techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or progressive muscle relaxation to help reduce stress-induced tension.

Boost your nutrients: Nutrition is really, really important for everything, so make sure that you're getting your magnesium, your vitamin D, and your calcium. And you can top up these with our Balance Perimenopause Multi-nutrient drink, which you can take during menopause too, because it contains all three of these nutrients.

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Massage therapy: Massage can be really lovely for muscles that are tense and tight. Treating yourself to a nice massage session once a month can often be really good in this situation.

Herbal remedies: You can look at Atrosan ​Devil's Claw, which is recommended for muscle aches, and ​Atrogel Arnica gel, which you can apply again for muscle aches and pains.

Good posture: Remember, especially if like me you're sitting at a desk, keep your shoulders back, to stop that particular tension.

So, I hope you found this one helpful. We've had a lot of queries about this recently, and this is the reason I've brought it up. We've done muscle and joint aches and pains before, but there seems to be another one that's creeping in for everybody. Have you experienced it? What did you do to help yourself? Was there anything that really made a difference for you? ​Remember to share your stories. I love hearing about them, and your little tip might help someone else down the line ​as well, which is absolutely great.

Until next time, take care and have a lovely week.

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