Menopause Awareness Month October 2026 Theme: Chronic Pain at Midlife
October marks the start of Menopause Awareness Month, created because millions of women spend years navigating symptoms that are misunderstood, minimised, or dismissed, especially in the workplace. Awareness months exist because silence has consequences. When we don’t talk about menopause, people suffer in isolation, organisations miss what’s really happening, and preventable harm continues. This year’s theme is Chronic Pain at Midlife, and it couldn’t be more important.
Why This Matters for Businesses (Especially at Senior Levels):
Across the UK, many organisations have a large proportion of their senior, specialist, and leadership level employees in the age bracket for perimenopause and menopause. These women often hold decades of experience, deep organisational knowledge, and critical responsibilities. Losing them, not because of capability, but because of unmanaged symptoms, chronic pain, or a lack of workplace understanding, is a risk no business can afford.
It’s also vital that workplaces never dismiss how someone is feeling. Menopause symptoms vary hugely from person to person, and chronic pain can be invisible. When someone says they’re struggling, they need to be listened to, believed, and supported, not minimised or brushed aside. This is how organisations retain talent, protect wellbeing, and ensure women can continue performing at their best.
Why Chronic Pain Is a Menopause Issue:
Menopause isn’t just hot flushes and mood changes. Hormonal shifts can trigger or worsen chronic pain because falling oestrogen affects:
Joint health — stiffness, swelling, inflammation
Muscle recovery — slower healing, increased soreness
Nerve sensitivity — heightened pain responses
Existing conditions — migraines, arthritis, pelvic pain, back pain, fibromyalgia
For many women, pain becomes daily, unpredictable, and debilitating. And because symptoms vary so widely, it’s easy for others to misinterpret what they’re seeing.
How Chronic Pain Impacts Women in the Workplace:
Chronic pain doesn’t stay at home, it comes to work with us. It can affect:
Concentration and memory (especially when pain combines with brain fog)
Mobility and comfort (sitting, standing, PPE, driving, manual tasks)
Confidence and communication
Attendance and energy levels
Emotional wellbeing and resilience
And when colleagues or managers don’t understand menopause symptoms, it can lead to:
Jokes or comments that unintentionally hurt
Assumptions about performance or attitude
Misinterpretation of behaviour
Women feeling embarrassed or afraid to speak up
People pushing through pain until they burn out
Menopause can be life altering, and chronic pain is one of the symptoms most likely to be overlooked, yet most likely to impact work.
Menopause Doesn’t Only Happen at Midlife:
Although most people associate menopause with midlife, that’s not the full picture. Menopause can happen:
Because of health conditions
Due to medical treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy
After surgeries like hysterectomy
Earlier than expected due to premature ovarian insufficiency
Twice or more, for those who experience medically induced menopause and then natural menopause later, or multiple surgeries in that area.
For these women, chronic pain may already be part of their daily life, and menopause can intensify it. So while the theme focuses on midlife (because that’s where the majority of cases sit), it’s vital to remember that anyone experiencing menopause deserves understanding, support, and compassion, no matter their age or medical history.
Menopause and the LGBTQIA+ Community:
It’s also important to recognise that menopause isn’t only experienced by cisgender women. People in the LGBTQIA+ community may go through menopause too. For example, trans men and non‑binary people who were born with female reproductive organs may experience menopause naturally, or may enter menopause after surgeries such as hysterectomy or oophorectomy, or through certain medical treatments. Their symptoms, including chronic pain, are just as real, just as valid, and often come with additional layers of stigma or misunderstanding. Inclusive menopause support means acknowledging every pathway, every identity, and every person who may be affected.
Why Awareness Matters:
Awareness months exist to shine a light on what’s been hidden. Talking openly about menopause and chronic pain:
Reduces stigma
Helps managers understand what they’re seeing
Protects employees from being judged or singled out
Encourages earlier support and adjustments
Builds safer, kinder, more inclusive workplaces
No one should feel embarrassed about symptoms they didn’t choose. No one should suffer in silence because their workplace doesn’t understand menopause.
Bullying and Minimisation, A Hidden Workplace Issue:
Bullying around menopause is a serious and often overlooked problem. Sometimes it comes from misunderstanding, sometimes from stigma, and sometimes from situations where people who have gone through natural menopause unintentionally minimise or dismiss those experiencing it earlier due to medical reasons, surgeries, or health conditions. LGBTQIA+ employees can also face additional minimisation or bullying, especially when their menopause experience doesn’t fit the “typical” narrative like mentioned above. Their symptoms are just as valid, and forgetting this can create further harm.
In some workplaces, senior or long serving employees may be listened to more closely simply because of their age or position. When someone at a higher level dismisses a younger colleague’s symptoms, others can follow their lead without realising the impact. This creates an environment where the younger person feels pushed out, disbelieved, or treated as though their experience is “less important”. Just because someone is older does not mean their experience is more valid. Menopause affects everyone differently, and early or medically induced menopause is just as real, just as challenging, and often even more complex.
This kind of minimisation can make employees feel:
Undermined or talked over
“Stupid” or less knowledgeable
As though their symptoms don’t matter
Excluded from conversations
Afraid to speak up or ask for support
When these behaviours go unchecked, they can unintentionally turn into bullying, damaging morale, psychological safety, and retention. Addressing this openly is essential for creating workplaces where every woman, and every person experiencing menopause, regardless of age, identity, or medical pathway, feels respected and supported. Every situation is just as valid as the other.
Bullying in any form damages morale, retention, and psychological safety. Addressing it is essential for creating workplaces where people feel respected, protected, and able to thrive.
How Starlit People Supports You (Including 2027 Legal Compliance):
From 2027, UK businesses with 250 or more employees will be legally required to have a Menopause Action Plan. But the reality is simple, every organisation should be preparing now, regardless of size.
Menopause support is becoming a core part of workplace wellbeing, safety, and compliance, and getting ahead of the legislation protects both your people and your business. I help organisations become menopause ready through structured, practical, and compassionate support:
Policy creation and amendments
Risk assessements and amendments to current documents
Clear, compliant menopause policies that meet upcoming legal standards and reflect real workplace needs.
Manager and team training
Confidence‑building sessions so managers understand symptoms, avoid accidental discrimination, and know how to support employees experiencing chronic pain or other menopause‑related challenges.
Menopause Champion support: I can act as your external Menopause Champion or help you establish and train an internal one, giving your organisation a trusted, knowledgeable point of contact.
Menopause handbooks: Tailored handbooks for employees, families, and managers, explaining symptoms, chronic pain, workplace impact, and practical support pathways.
Workplace adjustments guidance: Realistic, meaningful adjustments that help employees stay comfortable, safe, and able to work well.
And alongside all of this, every Starlit People client receives free clinical support through my partnership with The Online Menopause Centre.
Free Clinical Support for Your Employees
All clients can offer their employees, and their family members, a free 15‑minute call with a specialist clinician at The Online Menopause Centre. This is due to my Menopause Champion training being through them. This gives people confidential, expert guidance on symptoms, treatment options, and wellbeing, without any cost barrier.
I provide full details of this service to every client I work with.
Menopause support shouldn’t wait until someone is struggling. With the right policies, training, and clinical pathways, organisations can meet legal requirements and create workplaces where women feel understood, supported, and valued.
I will be talking about Menopause Awareness topics many times over the next month. So please do keep an eye out. And please do get in touch if you think I can help you and your business become a safer place for those going through, or who will go through the menopause.
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