--- title: Does PMS affect balance and body awareness during the menstrual cycle? description: Yes. Women with PMS had significantly worse balance and less ability to feel their knee joints moving compared to women without PMS. url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/the-influence-of-premenstrual-symptoms-on-postural-balance-and-kinesthesia-2003/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does PMS affect balance and body awareness during the menstrual cycle? Case-control study, 2003 # Does PMS affect balance and body awareness during the menstrual cycle? Yes. Women with PMS had significantly worse balance and less ability to feel their knee joints moving compared to women without PMS. Early or limited evidence 13 women with regular menstrual cycles, 8 with PMS and 5 without ## What they did Researchers studied 13 women with regular menstrual cycles. They measured body sway when standing still and ability to feel passive knee movement at different cycle phases using hormone and urine tests to confirm cycle timing. PMS was diagnosed using validated daily symptom ratings. ## What they found Eight of the 13 women had PMS. These women had significantly greater postural sway (p=0.002) and higher threshold for detecting passive knee motion (p=0.05) than women without PMS. There was a trend toward greater postural sway in the mid-luteal phase in women with PMS (p=0.06). ## What it means for you PMS may affect balance and coordination, which could explain why female athletes experience more injuries during the second half of the cycle. The study is small (only 13 women) and needs confirmation in larger groups. 13 Women studied 8 Women with PMS 0.002 P-value for postural sway difference ## About the study Original title The influence of premenstrual symptoms on postural balance and kinesthesia during the menstrual cycle Authors Fridén C, Hirschberg AL, Saartok T et al. Journal Gynecological endocrinology : the official journal of the International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology Year 2003 Study design Case-control study Participants 13 What was tested None (observational study) Read the paper [doi.org/10.1080/09513590312331290358](https://doi.org/10.1080/09513590312331290358) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Athletes and sport](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-athletes/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Systematic review, 2025 Are PMS and PMDD more common in highly trained female athletes than in women who don't train intensively? Systematic review, 2025 Do different types of exercise help with PMS? Systematic review, 2023 How common are menstrual cycle problems and PMS or PMDD in female athletes? Survey study, 2026 Does stress affect premenstrual symptoms in female athletes, and can coping strategies help? Cohort study, 2026 Does the menstrual cycle phase affect how much physical activity women do? Survey study, 2025 How common is PMS in adolescent female athletes? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗