Your Joints Called - They Want Their Estrogen Back

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The Hormone-Joint Connection Your Doctor Should Tell You About

Picture this: You wake up one morning and your knees feel like they belong to someone twice your age. You haven’t started a new workout routine, you didn’t fall down the stairs, and you’re pretty sure you didn’t age 20 years overnight. So, what’s going on? The answer might surprise you - your hormones could be, not so subtly, messing with you.

Your Body’s Chemical Orchestra

It’s not something most of us are aware of, but our hormones behave like conductors of a large orchestra inside our bodies. When they’re in harmony, everything runs smoothly. During certain life stages, however, our hormones can start going off-key, affecting our joints and muscles in unpleasant ways.

For women, the star of this show is estrogen, which keeps our cartilage healthy, reduces inflammation, and helps maintain the collagen that keeps everything flexible and strong. When our estrogen levels start the roller coaster ride that is perimenopause or the the absolute nosedive known as menopause, our protector unceremoniously deserts us.

For men, testosterone decline is the big disrupter. Starting around age 30, testosterone levels gradually decrease (about 1% per year), and this can significantly impact joint health. Testosterone helps maintain muscle mass, bone density, and has anti-inflammatory properties. As it declines, men may experience:

• Joint stiffness and aches

• Reduced muscle recovery after exercise

• Increased inflammation

• Loss of that “bulletproof” feeling they had in their 20s

Other hormonal factors for men include:

• Thyroid dysfunction

• Cortisol imbalances from chronic stress

• Growth hormone decline with age

• Insulin resistance becoming more common

Why these disruptions are under-recognized: There’s less research on men’s hormonal health, less cultural awareness of “andropause” (male menopause), and men are often less likely to seek medical help for what they perceive as normal aging. Men experiencing unexplained joint issues, especially those over 40, should consider hormonal evaluation as part of their healthcare approach.

The Perimenopause Plot Twist

Here’s where things get really interesting. During Perimenopause — those fun years leading up to menopause — hormones don’t just decline steadily. They bounce around like a pinball machine, sometimes high, sometimes low, rarely predictable. This hormonal chaos can trigger joint symptoms that seem to come out of nowhere.

Many women find themselves in doctor’s offices, worried they’ve suddenly developed arthritis or wondering if they’ve injured themselves somehow. The truth is, their joints might be perfectly fine structurally — it’s the hormonal environment that’s changed.

As Dr. Tyna Moore, a Functional Medicine doc with over 30 years of clinical experience at the intersection of metabolic health, hormones and regenerative medicine, explains, “you can’t regenerate tissues, you can’t get good healing and you can’t decrease inflammation appropriately if you don’t have enough hormone onboard.” Even more to the point, she explains how “any bilateral joint pain — shoulders on both sides, hips, knees, etc. — is almost always hormonal, not orthopedic.” So the moral to that story is, be sure you consult the correct medical practitioner when your joints and muscles start talking to you.

Beyond Estrogen: The Supporting Cast

While estrogen gets most of the attention, other hormones play important roles too. Thyroid hormones affect how your muscles contract and recover. Cortisol, your stress hormone, can ramp up inflammation when it’s chronically elevated. Even insulin resistance, which becomes more common during hormonal transitions, can contribute to that achy, stiff feeling.

The Good News

Understanding this connection is incredibly empowering. Instead of feeling like your body is betraying you, you can recognize that these symptoms often have a logical explanation and, more importantly, targeted solutions.

Hormone replacement therapy can be game-changing for many women, literally giving their joints back their best friend. But it’s not the only option. Regular exercise, anti-inflammatory foods, stress management, and even certain supplements can help support your body through these transitions..

The key is recognizing that when your joints start complaining during times of hormonal change, you’re not falling apart — you’re just experiencing a very normal, if annoying, part of being human. And with the right approach, you can get back to feeling like yourself agai