Exercise for Menopause!

At the risk of sharing TMI, I’ll just say that I seem to be fairly well along in my menopause journey.  Where exactly I am is hard to say because I haven’t had a period since my hysterectomy in 2017.  But boy, howdy, was I unprepared for the variety of changes this particular hormonal journey had in store for me.

So:  I’m going to talk about it.  Those of us who don’t expect to experience menopause can feel free to tune out, even though I’m pretty sure we all know someone who will at some point go through it and knowledge is power.  The more we know, the more we can get mad.  Just kidding.  Sort of.

 

Anyway:  menopause comes with a host of possible symptoms and effects.  Here is a link to a handy questionnaire that lists a whole bunch of them.  As is the case with everything, different people are going to have differing experiences.  Some of us will sail through with no problems and others of us will tick every box as if we wanted the full Spinal Tap reference.

 

How we deal with our personal battery of effects will vary.  It is beyond the scope of my practice to prescribe or treat or diagnose.  What I can do is let everyone know what exercise can do to help.

 

At menopause, women begin to lose bone density at a greater rate than before.  Weight-bearing exercise becomes even more important to keep our bones strong as long as possible.

 

Those of us who have sleep disturbances can improve the odds of sleeping well by getting plenty of exercise.  Ditto for fatigue, concentration problems, and mood swings.  Exercise reduces stress, which can, in turn, reduce muscular pain.  We will improve our breathing, reduce our likelihood of having headaches, and we’ll generally feel better.

 

Exercise is not the key to everything, but it can improve our quality of life.  Go play.