Menopause Joint Pain: Why Joints Ache, And How Yoga Helps Them Move

Menopause joint pain: the short answer

Menopause joint pain is very common, and it is rarely talked about. A 2024 review in the journal Climacteric estimated that more than 70% of women have muscle and joint symptoms through the menopause transition. Oestrogen helps keep joints moist and moving, so as it falls, knees and shoulders can ache. Yoga does not stop menopause, but it keeps the joints and muscles working, and research on stiff knees is encouraging.

Geeta Iyengar put it simply: “Stiffness comes everywhere after the menopause. So make the muscles juicy a bit.”

• How common: more than 70% of women have muscle and joint symptoms in the transition.
• Why: oestrogen helps keep joints moist, and moving less stiffens them more.
• Geeta’s view: if you keep moving the stiffness goes, and if you do not it can stay.
• Research on knees: yoga eased stiffness and improved function in knee osteoarthritis (wear in the joint).
• What we teach: gentle, even, supported poses that make the muscles around the joints strong.
• Where to learn: in a studio class or LIVE online, with a teacher.
• New students: 12 classes for $59.50 in Darwin or LIVE online.

Last updated: 25 October 2026

Why do joints ache at menopause?

Rajvi Mehta explains the tradition’s understanding in Yoga Rahasya, a classic text on yoga for health. Oestrogen helps keep the joints moist and lubricated. As it falls, the knees and shoulders can ache. And moving less stiffens them further.

That last point matters. Aching joints make us want to move less. Moving less makes the joints stiffer. Stiffer joints ache more. It becomes a circle.

The researchers have given it a name. The 2024 Climacteric review, from American medical schools, called it the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause: the joint aches (arthralgia), loss of muscle and bone and the wear of osteoarthritis that go with falling oestrogen. According to PubMed, more than 70% of women experience these symptoms through the transition, and 25% are disabled by them. DOI: 10.1080/13697137.2024.2380363

So if your joints have started to complain, you are not imagining it, and you are far from alone.

Does the stiffness have to stay?

Not according to Geeta Iyengar. She was clear about it: “If they do decidedly the stiffness goes. If they don’t do at all then the stiffness becomes a permanent feature.”

Geeta Iyengar taught women through the change for many years. Her message was to keep moving, and to move sensibly. That means working the muscles around the joints so they are strong and “juicy”, rather than leaving the joints to take everything.

Mr BKS Iyengar, the twentieth-century teacher who collected and passed on traditional Indian yoga, was a pioneer of props. Props let you move a stiff joint safely, with support, until it gets used to moving again. His style is sometimes called modern classical yoga, and it is the style Flametree teaches.

What does the research say about stiff joints?

There is no trial of yoga for menopause joint pain itself. But many of the people in the trials of yoga for knee osteoarthritis (wear in the joint) are women in the same age group. Here is what three studies found, according to PubMed.

A review of nine trials (2019). An Australian-led review pooled nine trials of yoga for osteoarthritis, with 640 people aged 50 to 80. Most were women, and most had arthritis in the lower body. In knee osteoarthritis, yoga may be effective for pain, stiffness and physical function, compared with both exercise and non-exercise groups. DOI: 10.1007/s11926-019-0846-5

A review of 39 trials (2023). This review compared five kinds of exercise for knee osteoarthritis, in 39 studies with 2,646 people. All five helped. Yoga ranked as the most effective for stiffness, everyday function and quality of life. DOI: 10.1177/23259671231172773

A small Canadian trial (2018). Thirty-one women with knee osteoarthritis were randomly given 12 weeks of yoga poses chosen to go easy on the knee, leg strengthening on gym machines, or meditation with no exercise. The yoga group improved in pain and in how well they could do everyday things, compared with the no-exercise group. They improved by a similar amount to the leg strengthening group. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195653

These trials are about knees, not about menopause. They were also small in places. Yet they show a pattern, and the people in them were often women of the same age as many of our students.

What is known, what is supported, and what is still being studied?

We sort things into three ways of knowing.

• Known from practice. Teachers have watched women through the change for generations. Gentle, supported movement keeps stiff joints from becoming stiffer.
• Supported by research. In knee osteoarthritis, yoga has been found to ease stiffness and improve function in several trials.
• Still being studied. Yoga has not yet been tested for menopause joint pain as such. Most trials are short, around 8 to 12 weeks, and each pose has not been tested one at a time.

Something not yet tested by modern trials is not the same as something that does not work. It means the full picture is still being drawn.

Please note: yoga does not prevent menopause. It does not stop the change. What it offers is a way to look after the joints, muscles and body through it.

What does a class for menopausal joints look like?

At Flametree, classes are adapted to the people in them. A class for stiff joints in midlife has a few features.

• Strong legs and hips. Standing poses build the muscle that is falling at exactly this time, and the legs and hips are where it is built.
• Even movement. Both sides get equal work, and joints move through their range without being forced.
• Props. Chairs, blocks, belts and bolsters bring the pose to you, so you get the benefit without strain.
• Time to rest. Supported poses held for five or ten minutes let the body settle.
• Change with the day. Geeta said that if you change the order of the poses, “the effects differ.” A tired day and a strong day need different practices. A teacher sets that for you.

If a joint needs particular care, you can tell your teacher, and the poses can be chosen for you. That is an invitation, not a rule.

Is the shoulder a special case?

Yes. Many women find a shoulder becomes stiff and sore around menopause. See our post on frozen shoulder and menopause. If you are in perimenopause, our post on yoga for perimenopause explains how yoga fits through all the stages. For arthritis in general, see yoga for arthritis.

Start with the free ebook and the beginner deal

Our free ebook, Cool, Calm And Strong, covers yoga through all three stages of the change, including joints, bones, sleep and mood. It explains yoga. It does not teach it, because classes do that.

New to Flametree? Get 12 beginner yoga classes for $59.50 (10 at half price plus 2 free). Use them in a Darwin studio or LIVE online. You are eligible if you are new to Flametree, or away for three months or more. Props are supplied, no discount code is needed, and there is a 14-day money-back guarantee. Studio classes are for permanent NT residents, and online is open from anywhere.

See the beginner deal or look at the beginner timetable for your first class.

Menopause joint pain questions

Why do my joints ache during menopause?

Oestrogen helps keep joints moist and moving, and it falls through the transition. Moving less because of the aches stiffens the joints further. A 2024 review estimated that more than 70% of women have muscle and joint symptoms in this time.

Is joint pain a sign of menopause?

It is a very common part of it. The 2024 Climacteric review called these symptoms the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause, and estimated that 25% of women are disabled by them.

Can yoga help menopause joint pain?

Yoga has not yet been tested for menopause joint pain itself. In knee osteoarthritis, which affects many women at this age, several trials found yoga eased stiffness and improved everyday function. Many students also tell us gentle, supported movement keeps their joints freer.

Does yoga stop menopause?

No. Yoga does not prevent menopause. It is a way to look after your joints, muscles, bones and mood through the change.

Which yoga is best for stiff joints in midlife?

Gentle, even, supported yoga with props, taught to the people in the class. Iyengar yoga works both sides equally and builds strong legs and hips, which is what the body needs at this time.

Should I keep moving if my joints are stiff?

Geeta Iyengar said that if women do move decidedly the stiffness goes, and if they do not move at all it can become a permanent feature. A teacher can choose poses and props that suit you.

Sources

• Wright VJ, Schwartzman JD, Itinoche R, Wittstein J. The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. Climacteric 2024. PubMed, DOI
• Lauche R, Hunter DJ, Adams J, Cramer H. Yoga for osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Curr Rheumatol Rep 2019. PubMed, DOI
• Mo L, Jiang B, Mei T, Zhou D. Exercise therapy for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Orthop J Sports Med 2023. PubMed, DOI
• Kuntz AB, Chopp-Hurley JN, Brenneman EC, et al. Efficacy of a biomechanically-based yoga exercise program in knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial. PLoS One 2018. PubMed, DOI
• Mehta R. Yoga Rahasya. Geeta Iyengar quotations as recorded in the Flametree Cool, Calm And Strong ebook, section 2.5.6.

This post is general information about yoga. Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin, Northern Territory.