Sudden stiffness, intense pain, inability to raise the arm: behind these debilitating symptoms often lies a still poorly understood condition known as "frozen shoulder" or adhesive capsulitis. Several recent studies highlight a direct link with menopause—a factor that medicine has long been unwilling to take seriously.
What is frozen shoulder?
Frozen shoulder, also known medically as adhesive capsulitis, refers to a chronic inflammation of the shoulder joint capsule, which progressively thickens and loses all flexibility. The term "frozen shoulder" was coined in 1934 by an American physician, but more than ninety years later, the condition remains one of the least understood in musculoskeletal medicine. Although it can affect anyone, frozen shoulder particularly affects women between the ages of 40 and 60 —that is, precisely, the period of perimenopause and menopause.
Three phases that can last several years
The progression of the pathology classically unfolds in three stages. The first, known as "painful freezing," is accompanied by increasing pain and a progressive loss of mobility; the second, "stiff freezing," sees the pain decrease but the stiffness become permanent; finally, the third phase, known as "thawing," corresponds to a slow and incomplete recovery of mobility.
The entire cycle can last between one and three years, with significant consequences on the quality of daily life: difficulty dressing, driving, reaching for objects at height, or even sleeping comfortably.
The link with menopause explained by science
The reason this condition affects so many women in midlife is largely due to the protective role estrogen plays in joint health. This hormone stimulates bone growth, has anti-inflammatory properties, supports collagen integrity, and keeps connective tissues supple.
However, when estrogen levels drop during and around menopause, these protective mechanisms weaken. Fibroblasts—cells that produce fibrous tissue—proliferate, making the shoulder capsule increasingly thick and rigid. A study published in 2025 in the Journal of Clinical Medicine confirmed this hypothesis, showing that the drop in estrogen is one of the major risk factors.
A recent study on the protective effect of HRT
Several recent studies have also begun to examine whether menopausal hormone therapy (HRT) could reduce the risk. An observational study conducted by researcher Jocelyn Wittstein at Duke University, involving nearly 2,000 women aged 45 to 60, showed that only 3.95% of patients on HRT had developed frozen shoulder, compared to 7.65% in those not receiving it—about half the rate.
Although these results still need to be confirmed by larger, randomized studies (a clinical trial is currently underway), they strongly suggest that hormonal management of menopause could have an unrecognized protective effect.
A women's disease long minimized by medicine
But the story of frozen shoulder also subtly illustrates long-overlooked medical biases. In the 1970s, for example, a British study attributed the condition to "hysterical personality traits" in women—proof that medical sexism long preferred to pathologize patients rather than seriously investigate their symptoms. Even today, despite advances in research, approximately 50% of menopausal women experience joint pain whose hormonal cause remains understudied.
What should I do if I experience symptoms?
If you are a woman between 40 and 60 years old and experience increasing pain or stiffness in your shoulder, it is essential to consult a doctor promptly. The earlier the diagnosis, the more effective the treatment can be: physiotherapy, anti-inflammatories, joint injections, or even, in the most serious cases, arthroscopic surgery.
Frozen shoulder is not inevitable—but it remains, even today, a largely underdiagnosed condition. For millions of women going through menopause, it can turn daily life into an ordeal. Better information, better diagnosis, better treatment: three major challenges for the years to come, as research finally continues to focus on this long-neglected aspect of women's health.
