Lifestyle

'SO PAINFUL'

A-List Star, 52, Reveals the Sign of Aging That Shocked Her

“I knew about hot flashes and night sweats, but not this.”

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedJul 7, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT

UpdatedJul 7, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT

Updated Jul 7, 2026, 3:00 PM EDTPublished Jul 7, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT

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Two A-list actresses sparked conversation after they discussed a widely unknown perimenopause symptom.

The Invite co-stars Penélope Cruz, 52, and Olivia Wilde, 42, discussed perimenopause in a video interview with Allure.

“I remember when I was 41, and my doctor told me, ‘Your hormones are going to be doing this crazy dance for the next 10 or 12 years,’” Cruz said. “I thought it was a really bad joke, and I thought it was not possible to handle that.”

She detailed developing cysts almost monthly for the past decade, and subsequently experiencing “crazy” hormonal fluctuations. “You can go from a number 30 of estrogen to a number 500,” Cruz said.

Cruz said perimenopause symptoms should be discussed openly so people can prepare themselves, and added, “God bless bioidentical hormones.”

Bioidentical hormones are used in hormone replacement therapy to treat perimenopause and menopause symptoms such as hot flashes.

Wilde noted that Cruz taught her about a perimenopause symptom she had not heard of before: frozen shoulder.

Also known as adhesive capsulitis, frozen shoulder is typically a multi-year condition in which movement of one shoulder is limited and painful, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Although not an officially recognized symptom of menopause, the condition is most common in women over 40.

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Studies suggest that hormone replacement therapy can lower the risk of frozen shoulder in post-menopausal women.

Cruz revealed that she learned about frozen shoulder when researching perimenopause symptoms while preparing for her role as Pína in The Invite.

“Now I just think about frozen shoulder all the time,” Wilde revealed. “I’m just waiting for my shoulder to freeze.”

The top comments in the video praised the two for their openness, but one comment sparked conversation.

“The frozen shoulder is the worst,” a person wrote, gaining over 140 likes. “Yes, pure hell,” another person replied, while a third added, “so painful.”

On Reddit, multiple commenters detailed their personal experiences with frozen shoulder after watching the interview.

“[I] had my first frozen shoulder at 39. Nobody mentioned that perimenopause was a possibility at the time, even though there was no certain injury that would have set it off,” one person wrote.

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Adding, “Had my second one at 47 and, even then, the orthopedist and physical therapist just mentioned that it was more common in middle-aged women.”

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Multiple people wrote that the conversation between Wilde and Cruz led them to discover the possible connection between perimenopause and shoulder stiffness for the first time.

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“[Today I learned] that my frozen shoulder (that I’ve had for eight months) is likely due to perimenopause. Not Penélope Cruz being better educated in the menopause than the myriad of male doctors I’ve seen over the past five years,” one person commented.

Another one replied, “I’m nine months into mine and had no idea until now as well. The doctor and I even discussed how our elderly mothers have experienced this. I knew about hot flashes and night sweats, but not this. It has been agonizing at times.”

Multiple commenters shared that their mothers had considered surgery for their shoulder issues unknowing their agony could be menopause related.

One person wrote, “The frozen shoulder thing stunned me because my mom got frozen shoulder in her early 40s, and not one doctor said it was related to perimenopause.”

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Roosa Rahkonen

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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