A Chiropractor’s Guide to Joint Health for Active Women: How to Stay Mobile, Strong, and Injury Free
Why Joint Health is a Game-Changer for Active Women
Whether you're lifting at the gym, riding horses, hiking in the Gorge, or floating through pilates, your joints are doing a lot of work behind the scenes.
But if you’ve ever felt:
A nagging ache in your knees after a workout
Tight hips that just won’t stretch out
Instability in your shoulders when you go overhead
…you’re not alone.
Why Women Deserve a Different Kind of Care
Women’s bodies are are biologically and biomechanically different in ways that deeply affect how they move, respond to stress, and heal. Hormonal cycles, connective tissue variability, pelvic structure, and neurological sensitivity all contribute to a body that deserves its own lens in clinical care.
For example, women tend to have greater joint laxity due to estrogen's effect on connective tissue, which can lead to higher rates of instability or injury, especially in the hips, neck, and low back. They are also more prone to conditions like Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, pelvic floor dysfunction, and TMJ pain all of which require nuance and a gentle, informed touch. Add to that the demands of pregnancy, caregiving, and a lifetime of navigating systems not built with female physiology in mind, and it becomes clear: women don’t just need different care they deserve it.
Did You Know? Women’s Joint Health Edition
1. Higher Prevalence of ACL Injuries in Active Women
Female athletes experience 2 to 8 times more ACL tears than their male counterparts in similar sports. This disparity is attributed to a combination of:
Wider pelvic structures, which alter knee alignment (Q-angle)
More elastic ligaments, influenced by hormones like estrogen and relaxin.
Movement patterns, such as inward knee collapse during landing and cutting maneuvers.
2. Menstrual Cycle May Influence ACL Risk
A pioneering study at Kingston University (FIFA-backed) is investigating how hormonal fluctuations across the menstrual cycle particularly estrogen and progesterone levels may impact ligament laxity, neuromuscular control, and ACL injury susceptibility. The goal is to help tailor training strategies based on menstrual phases.
3. Postmenopausal Women & Osteoarthritis Risk
Research from Mass General Brigham (February 2025) uncovered mechanisms contributing to the higher incidence of osteoarthritis in postmenopausal females, tied to loss of estrogen’s joint-protective effects.
Additionally, a separate imaging study found women's bone density declines steadily with age about 1.6 times faster than men challenging previous beliefs that only menopause triggers drastic bone loss.
4. Ligament Laxity Related to Hormones and Pregnancy
Estrogen and relaxin contribute to increased connective tissue elasticity, which can be protective or problematic, depending on the context. Healthy flexibility is beneficial but when overexpressed, it can compromise joint stability, elevating injury risks like ACL tears. During pregnancy, relaxin further loosens ligaments, making joint support especially important.
5. Delayed Diagnosis & Pain Bias Affect Women
Women often face longer waits before receiving accurate diagnoses for joint-related or autoimmune conditions. For instance, women with ankylosing spondylitis commonly wait nine years to be diagnosed compared to about seven years for men.
Gender bias in medical contexts also leads to women's pain being underestimated or dismissed as “emotional,” impacting treatment quality.
6. Why Women Need and Deserve Nuanced, Compassionate Care
These facts show that women’s joint health and athletic needs are not second-tier versions of men’s they're unique and complex. From hormonal cycles affecting connective tissue and injury risk, to faster age-related bone loss, delayed diagnoses, and systemic bias women deserve care that honors their physiology, lifestyle, and lived experiences.
The Chiropractic Perspective on Joint Health
Joint health is about more than just movement it’s about:
Stability: Are the right muscles doing their job to protect the joint?
Mobility: Is the joint moving freely without restriction?
Neuromuscular control: Can your brain and body coordinate motion efficiently?
Tissue balance: Are muscles, fascia, and ligaments working in harmony?
We assess all of that and more in your chiropractic visits.
Who This is For
We specialize in supporting:
Female athletes & movement enthusiasts
Women with joint instability or chronic tension
Patients recovering from sprains or movement-related injuries
People with hypermobility or EDS who still want an active lifestyle
🗓 Let’s Support Your Strength
If your joints have been talking to you, let’s listen. With the right care, your body can feel capable, strong, and pain-free.
