Average Menopause Age

One thing women want to know more than anything is how old they will be when they start to go through menopause. Of course, what that actually means is that they want to know what age they will be when they start pre menopause. That is the stage leading up to menopause itself, when only occurs when you have gone twelve months without a single period. There is some bad news. No one can ever really know when they will start going through the change. Basically, however old you are when you start seeing symptoms, that is your menopause age. There are, however, some contributing factors. They certainly deserve some in depth discussion.

The fact is, there are many different kinds of menopause, to an extent. That is, there are many different stages. The average woman only goes through three – or four. It depends on whether your doctor considers pre menopause and perimenopause the same stage, or a separate one. There is natural menopause, through which most women go. There is early menopause. There is premature menopause. The kind you go through has a profound effect on how old you are when you experience menopause.

So, then, let us begin our discussion with natural menopause. On the average, most women will start going through menopause in their late forties. The truly average age is about 51, with a leeway of several years either way. So, anywhere between the age of, say 47 and approximately 52 or 53. That being said, however, some women will not start experiencing menopause until they are in their sixties. Conversely, some women may start when they are still in their thirties. There is really no way to know what will make a woman go through menopause as late in life as her sixties, except perhaps for heredity. However, there are some explanations for women who go through it at much younger ages.

First, however, let us continue our discussion with the subject of early menopause. Early menopause is a stage that precludes pre menopause, so to speak. If you are younger than the age of 45 and notice that your periods are becoming irregular, your moods are topsy turvy, you have hot flashes, et cetera, then you are going through early menopause. This can be caused by genetics as well, or you may just be the first woman in your family experiencing it. However, it can also be cause by such things as chemotherapy, a hysterectomy, and other outside forces.

However, that is far more like to be the cause of premature menopause. If you are under the age 40 and experiencing menopausal symptoms, then you are in premature menopause. This is generally caused by health problems and similar outside forces.

Otherwise, the best way to tell how old you will be when you start menopause is to take a look at your family tree. It is a good bed that you will follow the age patterns set by your mother, sisters, and grandmothers, et cetera.