Just like with my shoulder, this pain was very different. Dr. Cichanowski sees this phenomenon almost daily in her clinical practice. "If I see a woman in her 40s or 50s come in (with shoulder pain) and there was no past injury per se, I walk into that room and say, it's frozen shoulder until proven otherwise," she said. There is not enough robust data to say more estrogen is a cure-all for long-term tendinopathies, Dr. Cichanowski cautions. But after my conversations with Dr. Waymire and Dr. Cichanowski, the actual takeaway is clear: If your body is hurting, don't just accept it as part of the aging process.