Menopause Symptoms and Golf

Many women golfers begin playing the sport later in their lives (although that is now changing). No matter what age you begin, it is played primarily throughout one’s life. It’s only natural then that women will, at some point in their lives, be suffering from menopausal symptoms during an otherwise active season of golf. Menopause symptoms don’t have to interfere with the game of golf, especially if a woman is prepared to combat the symptoms as they occur. There are medical treatments available as well that can help maintain a woman’s golf game unchanged as her body undergoes the changes of menopause.

Menopausal Symptoms for Women Golfers

Women golfers have many of the same menopause symptoms as other women. Some of these are excessive sweating, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, dry skin and mood instability. This can make for a hot sweaty golf game if conditions are right and especially if it’s a hot day on the course. Women in menopause need to concern themselves with osteoporosis as well, which is thinning of the bones of the body that worsens dramatically at the time of menopause. Fortunately, exercise is a good preventative against osteoporosis so that the playing of golf is a good prevention against bone loss. These menopause symptoms are due to a loss of estrogen and progestin from the ovaries which begin to fail during menopause and stop releasing these hormones. Menopause symptoms can last as short as a few months or as long as ten years, depending on the individual woman.

Playing Golf in Menopause

Women golfers needn’t stop playing golf because of menopause symptoms. In fact, maintaining exercise is one of the best ways to counteract some of the symptoms of menopause. For most women golfers, this means maintaining their game of golf and continuing to get out on the course as often as possible. Menopause symptoms that get out of hand can be treated with estrogen replacement therapy, which is doctor-prescribed estrogen and progestin replacement in a pill or patch that helps control the symptoms of menopause. For those interested in natural supplements, the use of the herbal supplement black cohosh is recommended by naturalistic physicians to treat the basic symptoms of menopause. It seems to work best on excessive sweating and hot flashes. A few women golfers have told us they have had great success with Herbalife's "Women's Choice" which has nearly eliminately completely their "hot flashes".

Drinking lots of milk and eating dairy products or taking calcium supplements will counteract the possibility of getting osteoporosis as part of menopause. This, along with moderate exercise, keeps the bones as healthy as possible.

Women Golfers Suffering from Symptoms

Even if a woman golfer has active menopause symptoms, she should continue actively playing golf. Some of the different ways to counteract symptoms while playing golf include bringing lots of water along with the golf cart while playing the game. This keeps the woman golfer well hydrated during the game. Sportsline has come out with a great new product called the Sportline Hydracoach-Intelligent Water Bottle.

Continue walking the course if possible to keep the exercise factor going throughout the game. Bring along a sweat band or rag to wipe the face while playing, especially if there is excessive facial sweating. Stop and take a drink of water if a hot flash occurs while playing golf. Menopause symptoms of mood swings are also prevented with regular exercise. So, menopause or not, continue to play the best game of golf possible and the symptoms should pass without incident.