Pain in the foot does seem to be more common after menopause. This research on a group of women looked at the foot-related quality of life issues surrounding menopause and found that there is a poorer quality of life-related to foot pain after menopause. There are a number of physiological changes during menopause that affect foot pain in menopause.
These changes to the foot can include:
- Changes occur to the properties of the soft tissues in the feet. For example, the tendons become stiffer and this increases the risk for injury to those types of structures.
- Osteoporosis (brittle bones) are much more common after menopause to the changes in the different hormones. This makes the bones ‘softer’ and more likely to have a bone stress injury, a stress fracture or a fracture, especially if they are active
- there are changes to the hormone control of the small blood vessels and this can predispose to issues with the circulation as the circulation reacts sluggishly and differently.
- After menopause, there is almost always in increase in body weight. This increase puts more load and pressure on the foot and increases the risk for developing a wide range of foot problems.
Menopause on its own is not a direct cause foot pain. It is the physiological changes which occur during menopause that increase the risk for a lot of different types of foot disorders.