[Closed] Getting old-how you coping with the aches, pains & injurys?

i am 49, but after 5 years on heart meds and heart surgery last august, i feel old enough to comment.
i just seem to take over getting over stuff now. picked up a sore throat last weekend, turned into tonsillitis. take until today to clear up.
last december i ended up with pneumonia, laid me low for a month.
and i seem to feel pain more and am able to manage it less.

ordered a homeopathy book this week..... 😳

Is it full of blank pages that have the memory of words?

55, currently with a neck injury and 8 months into trying to fix a frozen shoulder here 🙂

Oh, and my knees have gone too

Im 45. Is it really going to get worse?! 😯

Just bought a road bike. I know that it will be my future...

Turned 50 las March.
Until that day I played league hockey, volleyball, cycled and seemingly was indestructible.
Since then I have had an achillese tear, 2 lots of abdomnal surgery, developed back ache, started to need specs, and slowed down by 40%.
I now only ride and am supported in this by industrial quantities of brufen.

I can truthfully say 'I'm 60 next year' & it doesn't get any better for me, I had flu (like proper flu) at new year & I've now got a right good snotty head cold. My teeth are fubared, my eyes don't work properly, my knees are knackered, I've got tinnitus, my MOJO's emigrated so I haven't ridden a bike for about 3 months & I have the shape of Mr Blobby only I've got more facial spots. (WTF is that all about?) If I lived on my own & didn't have 2 sons to think about I'd consider self euthanasia.
Plus, after 2 weeks in Goa we come home to find the dog has died & I'm back at bastid work on Monday afternoon.

49... Sciatic pain in my right leg, bursitis in my left hip, lower spine hasn't bent for years, right shoulder is always on the edge of tendon pain, left upper arm has never really recovered from decompression illness years ago, and my right hand won't form a fist because of soft tissue damage after a bike crash in Dec 2011... And you're telling me it gets worse next year?

In a word .. badly

53 this year.
I don't run now, which I miss, but cycling is ok. I think you just have to slow down a bit, and accept you'll feel more tried. if I cycle to work every day (20 mile round trip) I fall asleep on the sofa.
Only other thing is the skin on my hands is peeling off, started this week. What's that about?

53....cocodamol is your friend.

Cocodamol is your friend.

Especially with a Tramadol chaser at bedtime

Stop! FFS! You're supposed to be cheering me up, telling me if you do this it'll do that..

Keep using it or you'll lose it, try this remedy, stuff like that.

Yes it gets worse, but there are (I'm told) work arounds, the pains come and go, someone is trying to get me to do pilates, can't bring myself to last time I went with a mate, we letched the younger women as you do, got the giggles and had to leave.

I ride a bike to save the knees, i can no longer pound the pavements as I once did, I stick to offroad as it's lower impact imv than road, (my road bike I've used twice a stupidly expensive carbon thing I swapped for some kites).

The Frozen shoulder I've persevered with the Bowen thing and it is working a bit, got a bit more movement in the bad side, but it has migrated as someone on here said it might to a kind of golfing elbow thing, I've taken to sleeping with deep heat at night and the smell which i hate also clears my head from the man cold that seems to have returned since xmas when I thought it had gone away.

Edit: EselG sorry to hear about the dog, it's horrible when you lose them.

49, and im a catalogue of physical problems that tend to keep me off the bike for at least half of the year, we plod on but I Love to moan and tell everyone who'll listen how im a martyr to all my many aches and pains 😆

Never mind the physical aches and pains, what about the altered interpersonal interactions?

That moment when you catch the eye of a younger women, only to see pity there (with a hint of disgust)... And you realise that you have become the very wrinkly old git chasing his lost youth that, as a young man, you so dispised...

With regard to diminishing physical abilities, I find the 'anything is better than nothing' approach helps. Oh, and above all else, never give up!

A mere youngster at mid 40s, but I now see a physio for massage whenever I pull anything. I never used to bother, but it does really seem to make a difference in speeding up recovery / reducing pain.

25 miles on road commuting 4 times a week and it would appear Rule 5 is aimed at us 50 plus blokes. Lower back pain after a longer day is my constant friend. Nothing as bad as the sciatica I had in my 40's so I ignore it. Occasional use of anti inflammatory drugs or off the cycling for a short break if necessary. Stretches are your friend.

but I now see a physio for massage whenever I pull anything

Don't get me started on my feet...

I see a "physio" for massage...normally when I don't pull anything.

You probably pay extra for that.

Physios do massage? Pfft - nae luck to those physios.

🙂

Nearer 60 than 50 here. The current pain in my left heel, right ankle, right middle finger and right shoulder mean I'm not feeling the pain in my left knee so much! After cycling about 8 miles this morning then a walk of only just over 3 miles, I now can hardly even get out of my chair 🙁 Getting old sucks!

Steelfreak - Member
Never mind the physical aches and pains, what about the altered interpersonal interactions?

That moment when you catch the eye of a younger women, only to see pity there (with a hint of disgust)... And you realise that you have become the very wrinkly old git chasing his lost youth that, as a young man, you so dispised...

With regard to diminishing physical abilities, I find the 'anything is better than nothing' approach helps. Oh, and above all else, never give up!

This is me. My morning ride.. she comes bounding down the road, vaults the style, lythe, gorgeous married to one of the officers, but would that have ever worried me, she's nice enough, but there's no coyness, just friendly to an old man on his bike and his peculiar dog...

51, and just when I was getting to the fittest I'd been in years, was playing tennis in the summer and got the old plantar fasciitis. Refused to stop rugby/football/tennis and now I can't do any of them as the pain in my foot won't go away. Luckily, I can still cycle without issue, but it feels like I'm done with the rest of it forever. It's miserable. Really miserable.

I suppose the thing to remember is - if you do feel an injury coming on, stop, don't stress it and give it a chance to recover.

58 in May, I've been on blood pressure tablets for quite a few years and had 7 weeks of radiotherapy and a bit of chemotherapy for cancer in my throat a couple of years ago. I managed to do 20000 meters of climbing in last months Strava climbing challenge, it's surprising what you can do if you MTFU. 😉

Jeez,what a bunch of creaky gates!
I'm 53 & until I read all this I was feeling alright.
I got back into cycling in my mid thirties after damaging my knee circuit training,it just aches a bit these days but,touch wood nothing bad.
I had proper flu from late November until mid January & anything that I had damaged in the past started aching.Kept off the bike for 5 or 6 weeks,had a couple of good days around Rivi today & last Sunday & the only ache I have is my dodgy knee,here's hoping it stays that way!

37 too young for this thread? 😆

61 this year - am I winning?
I have a few issues - often think of the sketches Les Dawson used to do as 2 old ladies exchanging their medical conditions - but they don't stop me from being fit & active.

I play hard games of Squash about 3 times a week - often against those 1/3 of my age - & get out on the bike about twice. Once today on the road bike for about an hour and a regular Sunday morning off road for about 2-3 hours in the mud fest we call Hertfordshire.

I've managed to keep reasonably slim & still have my hair - so not all bad........

seosamh77 - Member
37 too young for this thread?

You're an embryo bugger off.. come back in 30 years 😉

On a serious note...when your body says enough's enough to the strenuous stuff you can always learn a new skill based activity.

John hair on the head top counts. Unruly eyebrows, ear and nostril hair doesn't 😀

68 in April. Injured back 28yrs ago with ups and downs ever since. Regular physio visits during last 5 yrs to keep supple. Both knees operated on for cartilege tears. Slight arthritis pain now 🙁

Almost 50yrs walking/climbing/biking in the mountains so not too bad (and I have my hair too!)

Cheer up it's not that bad . In 2007/8 I found out I had 2 crushed vertebrae and was diagnosed with Osteoporosis , specialist told me to NEVER ride off road again . Too much jarring for my back ( ironically suggested taking up running especially on hard surfaces to load my bones ???? ) Got a 2nd opinion from my GP who also MTBs , carry on as I was just be aware of limitations . Since then I've took the money and run from Royal Mail , did a season in Whistler,rode Moab,Sedona,Crested Butte and Slovenia to name a few . Follow up bone density scan revealed a 10% improvement overall in density and a 27% improvement in my spine ???? They consider 4% improvement significant apparently ! I'm 60 in November and am due another scan , be interesting to see the results . Still riding on average 100 miles a week a mix of off and on road , not bad ?

That moment when you catch the eye of a younger women,but..

I'm 61 and was starting to whinge about aches and pains but having read the above I'm feeling quite chipper now.

My knees hurt at the moment and I think it's because last year I virtually stopped all hill walking in favour of mountain biking which is comparatively low impact and over the winter I've started walking again and done very little biking. I damaged ligaments in both knees years ago skiing, recovered by building up muscle to compensate for dodgy ligaments, but muscle is probably in decline at my age so knees are getting wobbly again.

Also persistent pain in my elbow as though I've bashed it. Which I haven't.

So, a bit slower and creakier than I was 10 years ago but not bad for an old un.

I'm only 40 but I was a hardcore substance abuser in a former life so I have the body of a 70 year old (feels like)

I had a frozen shoulder this time last year which took a whole summer of hot sun to thaw it out, it got better about october last year but as soon as it got cold just after chrimbo, I did some throwing sticks for the pooch and the shoulder misery was back with a vengeance..

a month later and now seriously lacking sleep and unable to turn my head i hit the ibuprofen and paracetamol combo hard to no avail, got some expert massages from a beautiful woman.. nothing..
I could not shift it..

As a last resort I sauntered casually down to visit a local backstreet witchdoctor who gave me a bag of valium... hey presto! Am cured

just now have a niggling fear that those valium may prove a little too moreish for my willpower

I'm 59 today 😀 Mrs Fruitbat was 57 in January. We both cycle off-road at least once a week. I play badminton twice a week. Mrs Fruitbat does a Pilates class once a week.
We both feel younger than our friends who are in their forties! 😀

Some of that is more encouraging.. valium? For a frozen shoulder? How does that figure, what does valium do, I thought it was a mental thing, so is stress part of this? Someone else suggested it might be a contributory factor, I've had a fair amount of it the last couple of years. It's pretty damned debilitating, buttering some of the other stuff up there I guess I've been pretty lucky.

I've had a good run of it, other than a nasty prang kitesurfing a few years back which knocked out my heelside perception snowboarding, presumably as a result of concussion or the six or seven minutes oxygen starvation as I was out of it having swallowed my tongue and it took a while to get my act back together, but since then I'd been ok until the dreaded cricket match.

I'm 67 so sport wise I am a bit on borrowed time, but have always been a firm believer in use it or lose it which has worked so far and biking offroad is low impact, well unless you have a silly shunt, which touch wood I've escaped to date.

This has been bloody interesting to read, sometimes it's a bit of a lonely world facing age on your jack jones doing this stuff often having to be in the company of much younger guys n girls, so thanks all for posting, I'm off to google valium...

+1 For the use it or lose it attitude.I also think,& my friends of a similar age agree that we have gone from taking risks,having crashes etc to riding more within our limits & trying to preserve what we've still got.
One thing which has surprised me is that in my forties I thought that by the time I got to my early fifties I would be to old for MTB'ing but thank god I got that wrong! We also know someone in his seventies who regularly mountainbikes,although at the moment he's out in the alps (again) for 3 months living out of his van & skiing!Legend & inspiration!

52 this year and had Psoratic Arthritis for last 4 years so on loads of meds (sulfalazine/methotrexate/nefopam for pain) took about 18 months for the docs to get the meds right and as a result had to retire due to ill health. But now working again in a new role and commute daily on my bike and do lightweight rides as off road beats me up. Play golf every weekend even though it kills the hips to do it.

For me life is on the up only downside is meds will finish me off most probably but nowt to moan about.

And do yourselves a favour avoid Tramadol its evil took me 6 months to get off the crap ended up cold turkey locked in the spare room. (think french connection 2) 😉

49th birthday yesterday. Was fit as a fiddle and riding loads. Asked doc an off the cuff question and ended up diagnosed with prostate cancer, surgery 10 weeks ago today - radical prostatectomy (removal). Been out on cx bike for a few 25 mile road rides last 2 weeks and back to a 3k sat am swim, so getting there ....

Well, this is all very encouraging. Iainc - what kind of " off the cuff question"?

Finally a thread I can contribute to!
Will be 53 in March. All the usual issues mentioned above as my body starts to run down - need glasses for just about anything now whereas I was always the one with exceptional eyesight, can't hear what people are saying if there's the slightest background noise, have to get up and pee three times a night, tiredness overwhelms me most afternoons and I need a nap, taking months to recover fully from colds - just colds, not anything really serious for pete's sake! Worst was a slipped disc 18 months ago that had me limping around and bent over like a proper comedy old man stereotype for about six months - that [u]really[/u] made me feel old.
But on a more positive side, here's my recipie for beating the slow and inevitable decline of age:-
1. Physically 'use it or lose it' really is the mantra, but be realistic, you need to slow down a bit as injuries will take a lot longer to recover from, and you may never get back the pre-injury level of fitness.
2. Slow down a bit career wise. We can't all retire early (and I'm not sure I'd want to) but if you haven't made it to the rarefied ranks of top management by now, sorry to tell you this but you're unlikely to ever. So, take it easy, laugh off the office politics, try and go part time or move to a less stressful job, and spend more time on the things you enjoy.
3. Surround yourself with people younger than you - no, not cynical 40 year olds, but really young and enthusiastic people. I have a ten y/o daughter, and her energy and enthusiasm for everything is just infectious. I also went back to Uni five years ago and made a lot of 20 somethings friends, and their passion (and yes naivety) about everything couldn't help but rub off on me.
4. Learn something new - keep challenging the brain - rediscover that delight in gaining knowledge. As above, I enrolled back at Uni at the age of 45 on a totally new (to me) subject and got an MSc. But more important, unencumbered with the need to drink myself to oblivion and/or shag everything that moved like when I first went there in my twenties, the experience was really fulfilling.
5. If all the above sounds like too much trouble - then just start taking Testosterone supplements! I'm only half joking - why should hormone replacement therapy only be for menopausal women? There's growing evidence that the sharp decline in Testosterone levels in the late forties and fifties has a lot to do with the overall decline of the body and mind - not just sex. Most doctors will dismiss this as 'natural', but when we chemically/surgically enhance so many other areas of our life these days, why shouldn't we get a bit of help hanging onto our youthful energy?