Long-term hamstring pain around menopause
Dr Nicola Tik
It might be the deep ache in your sitting bone after a long meeting, or the pull at the back of your thigh when you bend to load the dishwasher. When hamstring pain has been around for months, it can start to shape how you sit, walk and exercise. Gradual strengthening is one of the most helpful ways to get it moving in the right direction.
Persistent pain at the top of the hamstring often involves the tendon that attaches your hamstring muscles to your sitting bone. This tendon does a lot of work when you bend forward, climb stairs or walk briskly. When it becomes sensitive, sitting on it, especially on hard chairs, can bring the pain on too.
Around menopause, falling oestrogen can make tendons less able to cope with load and slower to adapt. Research reviews describe a clear shift. Before menopause, women are less likely than men to develop tendon problems, but after menopause the rates become similar. That may be part of why this pain has appeared, or lingered, at this stage of life.
When a tendon is sore, resting it can feel like the right thing to do. But tendons get stronger when they are loaded gradually, and they lose some of their ability to cope when rested. That is why the pain often returns as soon as you do more.
The aim is to ease the movements that keep irritating the tendon, while steadily building its strength.
The tendon at the top of your hamstring is sensitive to being squashed against the sitting bone. Positions that do this include sitting for long spells, deep forward bends and hamstring stretches. Some things to try:
A good tendon programme starts gently and builds over weeks. Something to try three or four times a week:
If you would like to follow along, VIDA has short videos of bridges you can use at your own pace. Later on, standing exercises like gentle hip hinges, bending forward from your hips with a soft knee and a straight back, can be added in.
Tendons adapt slowly, so steady weeks work better than big jumps. Check how your hamstring feels later that day and the following morning. A mild ache that settles by the next day is usually fine. If it is sorer the next morning, ease back a little rather than stopping.
Once an exercise feels easy, you could add a few repetitions, hold a little longer or move your feet further away. Changing one thing at a time, every week or two, gives the tendon time to adapt. Around menopause, building up a little more slowly than you expect often works best.
Walking on flat ground is usually comfortable and keeps you moving while you strengthen. Shorter strides and gentler hills can ease the load on the tendon. Swimming and cycling, with the saddle set a little higher, are good options too.
If you enjoy running or classes, you could return gradually, leaving out sprints, hills and deep forward folds until your hamstring feels strong.
Broken sleep around menopause can make pain feel louder, so a cool bedroom and a regular wake-up time can help. Your VIDA pain check-in is a good way to notice small wins over time, like sitting through a meeting or a film more comfortably.