Frozen Shoulder and Perimenopause: Is This Another Thing No One Told Us About?

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Frozen Shoulder and Perimenopause: Is This Another Thing No One Told Us About?

Amy Poehler, Naomi Watts and other women have talked about the painful midlife condition. And, welp, I think I might have it too.

There are certain things we were warned about with perimenopause: hot flashes, sleep problems, mood changes, maybe some brain fog. But waking up one morning and discovering that putting on your bra suddenly hurts like hell because your shoulder has apparently stopped cooperating? Nobody mentioned that one.

And yet frozen shoulder has somehow entered the midlife group chat. Amy Poehler, Naomi Watts, Jenna Bush Hager, Teri Hatcher and Amanda Peet have all publicly talked about experiencing it. ELLE recently explored the condition and its possible connection to menopause after Poehler discussed having frozen shoulder with Michelle Obama on her Good Hang podcast. (ELLE)

And, welp, I think I might have it too.

It Started With My Bra

I have an appointment next week, so let me be clear: I have no idea yet whether I actually have frozen shoulder. But one morning I woke up, went to put on my bra and thought, OW. Why is this suddenly so hard? I hadn’t fallen, injured myself or done anything I could think of that would explain it.

At first the pain was in my shoulder, then I started feeling it farther down into my bicep. Now sleeping has become its own ridiculous nightly puzzle because I genuinely don’t know what the heck to do with my arms. I move them around, something starts feeling numb, I reposition and repeat. Apparently after 40 I have forgotten how arms work.

Naturally, I started researching. That’s when I learned that frozen shoulder is more common after age 40, particularly among women, according to the Mayo Clinic. Brown University Health says it is especially common in women between 40 and 60—which happens to overlap rather perfectly with the perimenopause and menopause years. (Mayo Clinic) (Brown University Health)

My immediate reaction: Wait. Is this perimenopause too?!

What Is Frozen Shoulder?

The medical name is adhesive capsulitis. It happens when the connective tissue capsule surrounding the shoulder joint becomes thickened and tight, causing pain, stiffness and restricted movement. It usually develops gradually and, unfortunately, can take one to three years to fully resolve. Mayo Clinic describes three stages—freezing, frozen and thawing—with nighttime pain sometimes becoming particularly disruptive. (Mayo Clinic)

One to three years. I would like to formally decline.

One of the telltale problems is difficulty reaching behind your back, which can make everyday things like getting dressed or fastening a bra surprisingly difficult. So apparently my bra situation wasn’t as random as I thought.

The numbness I’m experiencing, however, is not one of the hallmark symptoms Mayo Clinic lists for frozen shoulder. Shoulder and arm pain can have many causes, which is why I’m getting mine checked rather than declaring myself diagnosed by Google. (Mayo Clinic)

So What Does Estrogen Have to Do With It?

This is the interesting part. Frozen shoulder isn’t exclusively a menopause issue, and diabetes, thyroid disease, shoulder injury and prolonged immobility are among its known risk factors. But researchers are increasingly interested in why the condition appears so frequently in middle-aged women. (Mayo Clinic)

One theory involves estrogen. Estrogen has effects on inflammation, collagen and connective tissue throughout the body. Brown University Health notes that estrogen has anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects, so declining estrogen during menopause could potentially contribute to the inflammation and tissue changes involved in frozen shoulder. (Brown University Health)

There may also be a collagen connection. Alloy’s review of the research explains that estrogen helps regulate collagen production and connective-tissue health. As estrogen levels fluctuate and decline, changes in those tissues may potentially contribute to stiffness and musculoskeletal symptoms. (Alloy)

But—and this is important—researchers have not proven that declining estrogen causes frozen shoulder. The menopause connection is still being studied. Menopause Specialists similarly notes the association between menopause and frozen shoulder while emphasizing that the precise relationship between hormonal changes and the condition remains an area of ongoing research. (Menopause Specialists)

And What About HRT?

Obviously, this caught my attention because I’m already on HRT, which has helped me a ton in other ways. I’ll get into my HRT experience in another article because that’s a whole conversation of its own.

There is preliminary research looking at whether menopausal hormone therapy might affect frozen-shoulder risk. ELLE discusses a small Duke study in which women who weren’t taking hormone therapy had higher observed odds of adhesive capsulitis than women who were, but the finding was not statistically significant. Translation: interesting, but nowhere near proof that HRT prevents or treats frozen shoulder. (ELLE)

So I’m certainly not assuming my HRT will fix whatever is happening with my shoulder. But given how much it’s helped me in other areas, I’m curious to ask about it at my appointment—and hopefully this thing goes away soon.

What Can You Do About It?

If frozen shoulder is the diagnosis, treatment generally focuses on managing pain and restoring movement. Mayo Clinic says range-of-motion exercises are commonly used, while corticosteroid or numbing injections may sometimes help. Most cases improve without surgery, although recovery can be slow. (Mayo Clinic)

For now, I have no idea whether that’s what I have. My appointment is next week, and between the shoulder-to-bicep pain and the weird nighttime numbness, I’d rather have an actual doctor tell me what’s going on.

But I am glad I went down this rabbit hole because I had no idea frozen shoulder was so common among women in midlife—or that researchers were investigating a possible relationship with menopause.

Another entry for the ever-growing file titled: Why did nobody tell us this could happen?

I’ll report back after my appointment.

This article reflects the author’s personal experience and is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice and should not be used to diagnose or treat a medical condition.

References

Mayo Clinic. “Frozen Shoulder — Symptoms and Causes.”

Brown University Health. “Frozen Shoulder: Causes, Symptoms and the Link to Menopause.”

ELLE. “What Is Frozen Shoulder? The Menopause Symptom, Explained.”

Alloy. “Frozen Shoulder and Menopause: What Is the Estrogen-Collagen Link?”

Menopause Specialists. “Menopause and Frozen Shoulder.”