Dr Vonda Wright gets in our bones

Deep diving into Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause

Photo by Otto Norin on Unsplash

We hear a lot about bone health as we age.

About falling and fracturing and frailty.

And death. 

Yet many women in perimenopause can’t even really think about their long-term health, because they are in such tremendous physical pain now – pain that no one seems to be able to diagnose or even recognize.

Recently I spoke to Dr Vonda Wright, a Florida-based orthopedic sports surgeon, author and speaker, about all of these things. 

Dr Wright is not here to scare us. She’s here with practical, evidence-based information and inspiration for a better way forward. She believes in us, and she believes in the power of our body. 

This is dropping on the podcast Saturday, but today I give you an advance listen and breakdown of the vitals. (With a hot take on frozen shoulder, to boot)

Disclaimer: Any information on Hotflash inc is not to be taken as medical advice – always consult your own physician before making any medical decisions. 

The role of estrogen 

Menopause can adversely affect our bone, muscle, fascia and cartilage health, leading to all-over body pain that is rarely diagnosed correctly. It happens primarily due to the decrease in estrogen and the impact that has on our tissues, and it’s critical that more of us know about it, Dr Wright explains. The issues appear to stem from two main estrogen receptors: alpha and beta, which are ubiquitous in every part of the body. 

She asks: “When estrogen uncouples or there's no more estrogen to fill the baskets, why wouldn't that impact the downstream tissues, muscle, tendon, cartilage, tendon, cartilage?”

What is the Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause (MSM)? 

Dr Wright is literally one of the only people in the world who is working at the intersection of musculoskeletal health and the menopause transition, so she was uniquely positioned to see that it is actually a constellation of things that may be happening – all that potentially need attention. So she is introducing vital new nomenclature to the conversation. Just as Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM) refers to the range of issues that can happen to the vulva-vaginal-urinary system – once just lumped together into “vaginal atrophy” and “incontinence” – she is hoping MSM catches on. And to be clear, her MSM refers to various symptoms that could lead to substantial impairment – even death – if left unaddressed. They include acute total body joint pain, body-wide inflammation and ongoing loss of lean muscle mass, loss of bone density, and a decrease in the firmness of cartilage. 

“Eighty percent of us will have one or more of the symptoms that go into this syndrome,” she says. “Eighty percent! Twenty-five percent of us will be devastated by them, meaning you can't even go to work because your body hurts so bad.”

Dr Wright herself suffered terribly from the body pain issue at 47, the height of her perimenopause. Short and long-term, there are ramifications for brain, heart and whole body health.