Health & Family Symptoms of Getting Older

On a purely selfish note ... if covid had to hit, I'm glad it chose 2020

Since earlier this year old age had caught up with me and I've been battling a series of hip issues, that means sitting for more than 10 minutes gets very uncomfortable/painful, so I'm glad traveling is off the cards ... the thought of 3 hours to NZ in a cramped domestic seat currently horrifies me. Even 20 minutes on the car has me contorted into all sorts of ineffective stretching poses.

It all started with the foot arches (I have very high arches ... a sign of nobility apparently ) beginning to collapse, which thru the knees out of alignment, which mucked up the hips.

Got the arch supports, which work great ... lost 10kg which is always good (aiming for another 5) ... eliminated all inflammatory foods (including Nurofen) ... got the hip bursitis needle'd with cortisone, which worked great ... but has set off sciatica

The sciatica is not so much painful but causes uncomfortable muscles spasms, cramping and tingling in the legs ... worst is probably the constant low grade calf cramping making sleep difficult and no amount of stretching or massage will help ... getting out of bed is even more difficult psychologically, as I know I'm in for a world of cramping pain until I've walked a good 40 minutes with my arch supports in and a lengthy round of stretching, so usually lay in bed, doing online work, until late morning

On a positive. Hope to have them all fixed and raring to travel by the time the bans are lifted

 

@Lizzie getting old is a *****. Full hip replacement here, and I've lost the flexibility that I once had. On bad days I find it hard to reach the floor to clean up after the cats, or to even put my socks on. But I can walk, which is a blessing, having been on the other side where I had to use crutches just to move around. That's really the only ailments I've got, but Hubby is another story. I swear he's got around 12 different boxes of pills for all his ailments. All age related stuff! It's just one thing after another. He's fit as a fiddle one day, the next he's totally stuffed. He's only 55! The current reno has been ongoing since March, because he's been sick so often. He's got another surgery booked for 3 weeks time, so there's another month after that in recovery, so I'm hoping we can push to get it finished before then.

 

I'm hearing ya! And it's so frustrating when getting one thing fixed snowballs onto the next thing that was hiding underneath ...

At 55 he's a bit young to be stuffed yet - although he might last longer that way

 

Nope ... take a mega dose every second day, and Berocca every other day ... no effect but I remain hopeful.

Physio this week

 

Just the basic Blackmore's Super Magnesium+. I'll see what the physio says on Thursday (could've gone earlier but car sharing with junior atm) as suspect it's related to the sciatic nerve. The cramped calf side is the same as the worst hip side

 

BTW, careful with that sciatica. That's what I was diagnosed before they decided it was osteoarthritis & needed a hip replacement. Pain was never in the hip, always near the sciatic nerve or down the leg.

 

Hmm, maybe the thread title should have been Age Old Problems to run parallel with the First World Problem thread.

 

Old age IS a first world problem.

When you consider many countries have life expectancies in the 50's & 60's, the problems of old age aren't apparent (eg dementia/alzheimers, osteoporosis etc). Affluence brings it's own diseases (diabetes, heart disease, blood pressure, cholesterol, gout etc) which are all treatable in the First World.

 

Yep. That though came to mind when I was at a presentation by the Magellan Group earlier this year. The talk was about the rising middle class in China and Maccas and Starbucks establishing a presence.

Given the consequential obesity and diabetic tsunami as a result, I was wondering why the group wasn't increasing its exposure to health care sector and/or weight loss programs.

 

Time to take up that WW master franchise in China?

 

Having this hip problem - I feel so much sympathy for those who suffer from chronic pain. Fortunately mine is treatable but I can imagine, if it wasn't, why those with incurable pain dive into deep depression and worse.

It consumes your every waking moment of how to move (and the reluctance to do so) and anticipation of every movement being in uncontrollable agony

 

The reality of this hit home just a few days ago. A friend's hubby is going in for a triple by-pass. He's only 50, and I thought, Wow, both him & hubby would have died should they have been born into a less fortunate country, or even this one, many years age.

 

100 years ago I'd have been dead twice by the time I was 35 ... once from burst appendix and the second in childbirth

We are very fortunate to be in this day and age

 

Apart from the sore neck and back, my right foot suffers from Plantar fasciitis - so my heel is often quite sore after a round of golf.
But yeah, 100 years ago we would have been in more trouble!

I too have started taking Magnesium powder, and that does help relax me. It was advised to me by my "Bowen technique" therapist - which I have started to do in conjunction with chiro visits.

 

Let's face it, growing old sux!
Injuries that took a few days / weeks to heal in your twenties, now take months to recover from.
Remaining relatively active and choosing to eat well help, but unfortunately we can't wind back the clock. Getting plenty of fresh air and being around the ocean keeps me going! I couldn't stand to be cooped up for any length of time.

 

Me too, came after a night of standing on my feet with less than supportive soles/shoes. That was more than a year ago.