Perimenopause for Cleaners and Domestic Workers: Managing a Physical Job During the Transition

Your Work Is Hard. Your Body Deserves Respect.

Cleaning and domestic work is physically demanding in ways that rarely get the recognition they deserve. You're on your feet for hours, bending, reaching, lifting, scrubbing, and moving constantly. When perimenopause adds hot flashes, joint pain, fatigue, and mood changes into that equation, the toll is real.

If you're navigating perimenopause while doing physically intensive work, this guide is specifically for you. The challenges are different from what an office worker faces. You deserve advice that actually fits your life.

What Perimenopause Does to a Body Doing Physical Work

During perimenopause, estrogen levels begin to fluctuate and eventually decline. Estrogen has an anti-inflammatory effect on joints and connective tissue. As it drops, joint pain, stiffness, and inflammation often increase. For someone doing physically intensive work, this means the aches you might have shrugged off at 35 become harder to ignore at 45 or 50.

Fatigue is another significant challenge. Night sweats and broken sleep mean many women start their working day already exhausted. Physical work with a sleep deficit is not just uncomfortable; it increases injury risk. Your body's reaction times slow, your strength diminishes, and your pain tolerance drops when you're chronically undertired.

Hot flashes during physical exertion can feel more intense than at rest. The combination of exertion heat and a hot flash is particularly draining. Staying hydrated and taking short recovery pauses where possible are both genuinely helpful.

Protecting Your Joints and Back

Back pain, knee pain, and hip pain are among the most common complaints for cleaners and domestic workers at any age. During perimenopause, these can worsen significantly if you don't take active steps to protect yourself.

Posture and technique matter more now than they did ten years ago. Keeping your back as neutral as possible when lifting, bending at the knees, and avoiding prolonged repetitive strain on one joint or muscle group all help reduce the cumulative load on your body over a working day.

If your employer provides equipment, ask about options that reduce manual strain. Long-handled tools reduce the need to bend and crouch repeatedly. Trolleys and carts reduce the load of carrying supplies. You are not being weak by asking for these accommodations. You are being sensible about protecting your ability to keep working.

Supporting shoes with proper cushioning and arch support make a real difference when you're on hard floors for hours. If you've been making do with whatever you have, this is worth investing in.

Heat, Hydration, and Managing Hot Flashes

Hot flashes can come on suddenly and feel overwhelming when you're already warm from physical effort. In poorly ventilated environments, like commercial kitchens, bathrooms, or laundry rooms, the ambient heat makes them more intense.

Hydration is your most accessible tool. Aim to drink water consistently throughout your working hours, not just in breaks. Dehydration worsens both the frequency and intensity of hot flashes, and it also increases fatigue and muscle cramping.

Wearing moisture-wicking fabrics close to your skin can help heat dissipate faster. If you have any say over your uniform or work clothes, breathable layers are worth prioritizing. Loose, layered clothing that you can add or remove as needed is practical.

Some women find keeping a small cooling cloth or cold water spray in their bag helps during particularly intense flashes. These are inexpensive and discreet.

Emotional Health in Isolated or Invisible Work

Domestic and cleaning work can be isolating. You're often working alone, or in environments where you're treated as background. That invisibility can be hard on your mental health even before perimenopause. During the transition, mood changes, anxiety, and low mood become more common because shifting estrogen levels directly affect brain chemistry.

If you notice that you're feeling more tearful, more irritable, or more anxious than usual, take that seriously. These are not signs of weakness. They are documented symptoms of hormonal fluctuation, and they are treatable.

Having people you can talk to matters. Whether that's a friend, a family member, or a peer worker from your employment context, connection helps regulate mood. If isolation is a persistent problem, it's worth mentioning to your GP as part of the wider picture of how you're doing.

Employment Rights and Speaking Up

Cleaners and domestic workers are often in employment situations that feel precarious. You may be on a zero-hours contract, self-employed, or working for an agency. You may not feel secure enough to raise health concerns with an employer.

In most countries, you still have basic rights as a worker. You have the right to a safe working environment, which includes the right to raise health concerns. If your symptoms are affecting your ability to work safely, that is a legitimate workplace issue, not a personal failing.

You do not have to name perimenopause specifically. You can simply say you've been having some health issues affecting your energy and physical comfort, and ask whether any changes to your duties or schedule are possible. A good employer will take that seriously. If they don't, your occupational health or GP may be able to support a formal request for reasonable adjustments.

Tracking your symptoms with an app like PeriPlan so you have a log to refer to can make these conversations more concrete and productive.

Looking After Yourself Alongside a Demanding Job

People in physical jobs often feel that they get enough movement and don't need to worry about exercise. But the type of movement matters as much as the amount. Repetitive occupational movement doesn't build the bone density, muscle mass, or cardiovascular resilience that deliberate strength and aerobic exercise does.

During perimenopause, muscle mass and bone density both become more important to protect. Short sessions of strength work, even two or three times a week, make a meaningful difference to how your body handles physical work and how you feel day to day. Walking on rest days also supports mood and cardiovascular health.

Eating enough protein is easy to underestimate when you're busy and tired. Protein supports muscle maintenance, which is particularly important when your estrogen is no longer providing the same protective effect on lean mass.

You Work Hard. You Deserve Good Care.

Perimenopause does not care about your job title or how physically demanding your work is. But the strategies that work for navigating it are more accessible than many people in physically intensive jobs realize. Small changes to how you move, what you eat, how you hydrate, and how much rest you protect can significantly change how you feel.

If your symptoms are severe or affecting your ability to work, please see your healthcare provider. Evidence-based treatments are available and can make a real difference. You deserve the same quality of care as anyone else.

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