Perimenopause through Menopause is a normal season in life, but it can come with unexpected and unnerving changes.  Many changes begin long before people born with a uterus report ‘classic menopause’ symptoms such as hot flashes and changes in menstruation.  Some people will never experience hot flashes but report other debilitating symptoms such as severe joint pain, dizziness, interrupted sleep from bladder urgency, and new or worsening bowel or bladder incontinence.   Lesser known symptoms include increasing blood pressure and A1c levels or weight gain around the abdomen.   We just assume it’s a normal part of aging.  While aging IS normal, pain is not.  We can change several very important factors affecting the future.

Estrogen is a powerful anti-inflammatory hormone that helps our bodies react to environmental stressors.  With fluctuations in estrogen levels, our tolerance for these stressors decreases.  Commonly, our tolerance for inadequate sleep, poor diet, or long hours at work starts to change in perimenopause.  More subtle changes from decreased estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are decreasing bone density and muscle mass, changes in memory, inability to sleep through the night despite practicing good sleep hygiene,  pain with intercourse, and frequent urinary tract infections or tendonitis, to name just a few.  It can be easy to discount the importance of these changes, but they can be the beginning of reversible conditions such as osteopenia, vaginal atrophy, incontinence, and early metabolic disorders.

Orthopedic and Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy addresses many of the difficult symptoms people experience from loss of hormones that can limit their ability to live the life they envisioned during this time.  

5 Ways Physical Therapy Can Help

Physical therapy can halt and reverse osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Osteopenia and osteoporosis benefit from careful treatment by a trained and licensed physical therapist to gradually progress muscle strengthening and impact through bones, which triggers bone remineralization. Resistance exercise has been proven to improve bone density across the lifespan, not just in young people.  We help our patients incorporate safe exercise at home, improve posture, and avoid falls by incorporating balance training.

Physical therapy can halt and reverse the debilitating trend of muscle loss that contributes to weight gain, metabolic diseases, and even insomnia.

We start to lose precious muscle mass in our 30’s at 3-5% a year.  The rate increases with menopause and can lead to sarcopenia, which is the debilitating loss of strength and function later in life.  Physical therapists are trained to assess muscle weakness and movement patterns resulting from injury with exercise.  We can teach you better habits to preserve your muscle mass and reverse this trend. 

It can address limiting joint pain from TMJ to the toes.

Has it gotten harder to reach your toes and tie your shoes?  Incidences of frozen shoulder, stiff joints, tendonitis, and aching backs are frequent concerns our patients have. Hormonal fluctuation in perimenopause and loss of estrogen in menopause means the protective anti-inflammatory function of estrogen has diminished or left the building. Inflammation causes many problems, but you don’t have to suffer in silence or accept this as the new normal.   We can help you recover quickly and safely by teaching you a progressive stretching and strengthening program with proper technique and identifying contributing factors to these conditions. 

Urinary and fecal incontinence is never normal, even if all your friends have it. 

While incontinence is very common with exercise or urgency, it’s a treatable condition and not normal.  Pelvic floor therapy will assess the root cause and target specific muscles, joints, or behaviors that limit a person’s ability to stay active and enjoy social settings. At Evolve Physical Therapy in Sherwood, our Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist uses biofeedback in surface electromyography and rehabilitative ultrasound imaging to help you better understand your body and effectively train your muscles.

Painful intercourse can have some surprising causes.  

Dyspareunia, the medical term for pain with intercourse, is a multifactorial condition that can occur at any time and affects relationship satisfaction, self-confidence, and even long-term health outcomes.  Our Pelvic Floor physical therapist is trained to assess and treat pelvic organ prolapse, vaginal atrophy, scar tissue, tight or weak muscles, and dryness with strategies to help you return to intimacy without pain.  We offer private, trauma-sensitive care that recognizes the sensitivity of this experience.

Who is a candidate?

Anyone with a uterus!  The average age of menopause in the United States is 51, which means 5 years earlier or 5 years later is the most common age range for menopause.  Perimenopause starts much sooner than we think, up to 10 years before menopause.  If you are 35 or older and experiencing changes, that’s a great time to be proactive and visit with an orthopedic physical therapist who specializes in pelvic floor dysfunction.  If you are well into this journey, it’s never too late to learn about your body and make healthy changes that will keep you independent.

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Thank you for reading: 5 Ways Physical Therapy Can Support Perimenopause and Post-Menopause Patients Change is Normal, Suffering is Not.

Our women’s health physical therapists have advanced training for pre and postpartum, perimenopause through post-menopause, and pelvic floor dysfunction. Our comprehensive evaluation and one-on-one treatment go beyond alleviating symptoms; we strive to determine the root cause of the problem.

For a thorough evaluation and individualized treatment, contact our Sherwood or Bethany clinic today and be seen in less than 48 hours.