Perimenopause for Surfers: Cold Water, Changing Bodies, and Staying in the Lineup

The Ocean Is Still Yours

You found the water years ago and it changed you. The lineup is where you go to feel like yourself. The paddle, the pop-up, the ride, the wipeout, all of it is yours in a way that has nothing to do with how old you are or what your hormones are doing. Then perimenopause starts showing up in the water. You get cold faster than you used to. Your shoulders ache during a long paddle. A hot flash in your wetsuit is a specific kind of uncomfortable.

None of this means you are done in the water. It means your body is changing, and surfing, as a practice that already demands adaptability and reading conditions, is something you are well-equipped to adjust.

Cold Water and Perimenopause: A Surprisingly Good Combination

Here is something worth knowing: cold water exposure has a genuinely interesting relationship with perimenopause symptoms, and it is mostly positive.

Cold water immersion activates the vagus nerve and triggers a parasympathetic response. Regular cold water exposure has been associated with lower baseline cortisol, improved mood, and a reduction in the inflammatory markers that perimenopause elevates. Norepinephrine release during cold exposure has mood-stabilizing effects that some research suggests may be relevant for the anxiety and low mood many perimenopausal women experience.

For hot flash management specifically, some women find that regular cold water exposure reduces their frequency and intensity. The mechanism is not fully understood, but the hypothalamus, which regulates both cold responses and the temperature dysregulation behind hot flashes, may become better calibrated with regular thermal challenge. If you surf in cold water regularly, you may be doing something genuinely useful for your symptoms without knowing it.

Why You Are Getting Cold Faster

If you have noticed that you feel cold more quickly in the water than you used to, this is a real change and it has a physiological explanation. Estrogen influences thermoregulation in both directions. The same hormonal dysregulation that causes hot flashes, where your hypothalamus overestimates your core temperature and triggers heat dissipation, can also cause you to feel chilled more quickly in genuinely cold conditions.

Your metabolic rate also shifts during perimenopause, with changes in how efficiently you generate and retain body heat. Muscle mass, which is the primary heat-generating tissue during cold exposure, tends to decline if you are not actively working to maintain it.

Practical responses include going up a wetsuit thickness earlier in the season than you previously needed to. Using a hood, booties, and gloves more consistently. Spending time warming up before paddling out rather than going straight in. Building more strength training into your land routine to maintain the muscle mass that keeps you warmer in the water.

Shoulder, Back, and Joint Considerations

Surfing is hard on the shoulders and lower back in the best of circumstances. Perimenopause adds to this by reducing the anti-inflammatory protection that estrogen provides. Joint pain, increased injury risk, and slower recovery from physical stress are all common experiences during this transition.

The rotator cuff and shoulder complex, already under load from paddling, deserve more deliberate maintenance now. This means not just surfing but building in consistent rotator cuff strengthening, thoracic mobility work, and shoulder stability exercises on land. This is not optional maintenance. It is the investment that keeps you in the water long-term.

Warm-up time before paddling matters more now. Your joints and connective tissue take longer to reach operating temperature. Five to ten minutes of shoulder circles, spinal rotation, and hip mobility before entering the water reduces injury risk significantly. Some experienced surfers in perimenopause do a short yoga or calisthenics routine on the beach before paddling out, and report meaningful reductions in soreness and strain.

The Mental Health of Surfing

Surfers already know this on some level, but the evidence is worth making explicit. Regular surfing is one of the most effective mood-regulating activities available. The combination of aerobic exercise, cold water exposure, nature immersion, focused attention, social community, and the specific neurological effects of successfully riding a wave, produces a neurochemical state that is genuinely protective against the anxiety, low mood, and emotional volatility of perimenopause.

BDNF, the brain protein that supports neural connectivity and is associated with resilience against depression, is elevated by both aerobic exercise and cold water exposure, two things surfing delivers simultaneously. The meditative quality of reading conditions, timing sets, and focusing entirely on the present moment in the water provides the cortisol-reducing effects of mindfulness practice in a form that requires no sitting still.

If you have been surfing less frequently during perimenopause because symptoms have made it feel harder, the research suggests the opposite approach. Getting back in the water more consistently, even on days when you feel below par, is likely to help.

Managing the Wetsuit Hot Flash Problem

A hot flash inside a wetsuit is its own special experience. The neoprene insulation that is excellent for keeping you warm in cold water becomes a problem when your hypothalamus decides, incorrectly, that your core temperature is dangerously high and needs to be reduced immediately.

There is no perfect solution to this, but a few things help. Wearing a lighter wetsuit than the water temperature strictly requires, if you can tolerate it, gives you less insulation to fight against when a flash arrives. Wetsuits with ventilation panels or zip features that allow some airflow are worth seeking out. Coming out of the water briefly during a bad flash, removing your hood and possibly your top layer, and cooling your face and neck with water, lets the flash run its course faster.

Many women in perimenopause find that the flashes become less disruptive in the water over time, partly because the cool water itself provides some counterbalance to the heat, and partly because the distraction of being in the lineup reduces the anxiety response that amplifies flashes.

Your Surf Community Is an Asset

If you have a regular crew in the water, people you know, sessions you count on, that community is worth protecting during perimenopause. The social connection and the commitment to showing up for regular sessions are both factors in managing the transition well.

Many women in surfing communities are navigating perimenopause at the same time as you. The culture around talking about it in surf spaces is not always there yet, but starting the conversation with one or two trusted people in your lineup may surprise you with what comes back.

You do not need to explain everything or make it a big declaration. Saying that you run hot these days and need to take it easy on shore sometimes, or that your joints are grumpier than they used to be and you are being careful, is enough for people who surf with you regularly. They will understand, and they will adjust.

Tracking how your symptoms behave around surf sessions with PeriPlan over time can reveal whether the pattern you sense, that surf days are better days in general, is actually consistent in your data.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about your specific situation.