It Sucks Getting Old

[Brad]

1 hour ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I used to get a back issue every time I shoveled snow. During one of my chiropractor visits to treat the problem, he recommended a back brace/belt - which he just happened to sell. I tried it and it does minimize the issue quite a bit. The other way to minimize back issues while shoveling is to avoid twisting. Pushing straight ahead is best.

This is the type of back brace I've used for over a decade: https://www.coreproducts.com/products/corfit-back-support-belt

 

Make sure to get one with the stiff support ribs in the back.

BTW - regarding chiropractors - I have recommended my chiropractor to a lot of friends and coworkers. Two coworkers with serious back and hip issues were very skeptical. I told them to just try him for 3 visits. Both of them finally took my advice and gave him a try. After those 3 sessions, they were both back to normal. They thanked me over and over again for the recommendation and I'm sure they are still patients of Dr. Stephen Shields at Hampstead Chiropractic in NH.

The important thing about Dr Shields is that he takes X-rays before doing anything, which is important. If your back issues are disc-related, like a herniated disc, and someone starts adjusting your spine, they could do some serious damage. I knew a guy who almost got crippled from that.

Thanks for the suggestion. Normally, I never shovel but because we were supposed to get 20 inches or so and I was concerned tge snow guy woukd need a backhoe, I did some shoveling while the snow was falling. Felt fine until a day later. 

[BFrank]

5 hours ago, Brad said:

Have never felt old in my head. Unfortunately, my back ain’t cooperating right now so until I get moving in the morning, that drags me down. 

Also been dealing with back problems for years. Had surgery for a herniated disk in 2000. I have things relatively under control now. Tylenol helps, and Gabapentin for some related neurological symptoms.

My father always complained about having a "bad back", but I never knew exactly what he meant by that.

Edited April 11 by BFrank

[Gheorghe]

I´ll  be 67 in december but feel younger than I felt with 47, more feel like 37. 

Had many mental issues, but they did not affect my rejuvenating. 

Had to change EVERYTHING I ever did, EVERYTHING. Got rid of my image coudn´t stand it any more. 

Started to eat only vegan food some years ago. 

Anyway, alcohol is something I never even taste, I can´t even smell it ! 

Threw away all my wardrobe, it looked to "straight". 

I was never fat, but now I am slim like a nail, have long curly hair, had some little estetical chirurgical intervention to make my face more beautiful. 

Wear only black stuff, usually goth, dark punk style and love young people. 

Years ago, when I rode the subway, sometimes, polite younger persons let me sit down and I happily accepted. 

Now, nobody would offer me a seat, and if I seat it can happen that people who sure are years younger than me might snarl at me to stand up. I love that. 

Nobody says "Sir" to me, nobody uses anymore the romanian politeness form of "you" (nobody says "dumneavoastră” all say „tu” what you say to youngsters. 

Life became really exiting, I do a lotta partying (can stand up all night while youngsters, maybe because they drink some beer fall asleep), and my blood parametre is of a guy of 30 years. Not bad. 

Life is beautiful, gals  that could be my grandchillun ask me where I buy my outfit, you easily get in conversation. 

I am a bit crazy, dont pretend I wouldn´t be, but it feels better than too normal. 

And the °fruits° of my complet changing (I even changed my name completly, only keep the old name as artists name), soon happened: 

Last year in June playing a gig I met the most beautiful girl I ever saw in my whole life. Since then, we together. I don´t need my old life back.....

[clifford_thornton]

Don't know about old, but 49 here and things aren't what they used to be. 

I got seriously back into exercising during the pandemic, first running and then cycling (my obsessive passion as a teen and twentysomething -- was a racer then). Initially it was to lose some weight I'd gained moving to NY and eating/drinking too many meals out.  Now it's kind of its own other thing. Soreness feels different now and recovery has taken more primacy.

Needless to say I go to the gym and lift weights, where a lot of teens and twentysomethings work out. They're often calling me "sir" and holding the door -- guess I look old to them!

On 4/8/2026 at 9:41 PM, Rooster_Ties said:

Fortunately my wife and I have been “old fogies, in-training” for about the last 25+ years (something we’ve literally been saying almost that long).

fogies-in-training, love it! 😂

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I started working out regularly when I retired. I hate running, especially in the winter, as it just wrecks my knees and feet, so after trying a few out, I bought a Matrix A30 elliptical machine. I love it. I get on it 45-60 minutes a day. No knee or foot pain, which is great. If you want a low-impact workout, I'd recommend an elliptical.

[mikeweil]

I have a vibration pad to stand on which trains leg muscles without stressing joints in the knees or hip or back. It is reported to have the same effect as jogging on muscle training.

No idea which brands may be available in the US.

[Eric]

14 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I started working out regularly when I retired. I hate running, especially in the winter, as it just wrecks my knees and feet, so after trying a few out, I bought a Matrix A30 elliptical machine. I love it. I get on it 45-60 minutes a day. No knee or foot pain, which is great. If you want a low-impact workout, I'd recommend an elliptical.

I do a stair climber at the gym every day and there is a row of these in front of me.  As things continue to deteriorate, the elliptical is next!

[Rooster_Ties]

I walk about 5 miles a day, sometimes 6-7. Every day. Every single day.

10,000 steps a day keeps the cardiologist away!! (And that’s about 4.5 miles).

As of today, I’m now up to 285 days in a row — NO SKIPS — of 10k steps-per-day minimum.

Aiming for 365-in-a-row, if I can manage it.

And honestly, I really need to up my daily goal to 12k/day (and try and hit THAT every single day, no skips).

All that said, I haven’t done any strength training or even light weights in several years (not since the Covid shut down) — but I really probably should.

I’m just a hair less than 220 lbs (way down from my worst weight years ago of 254) — but my BMI is 33.5, and I really need to loose 20 more lbs.

I’m making progress, but NOT trying to loose it all in 6 months.

[BFrank]

53 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

I walk about 5 miles a day, sometimes 6-7. Every day. Every single day.

10,000 steps a day keeps the cardiologist away!! (And that’s about 4.5 miles).

As of today, I’m now up to 285 days in a row — NO SKIPS — of 10k steps-per-day minimum.

Aiming for 365-in-a-row, if I can manage it.

And honestly, I really need to up my daily goal to 12k/day (and try and hit THAT every single day, no skips).

All that said, I haven’t done any strength training or even light weights in several years (not since the Covid shut down) — but I really probably should.

I’m just a hair less than 220 lbs (way down from my worst weight years ago of 254) — but my BMI is 33.5, and I really need to loose 20 more lbs.

I’m making progress, but NOT trying to loose it all in 6 months.

THAT'S impressive! Especially the 285 days in a row!

[mikeweil]

6 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

As of today, I’m now up to 285 days in a row — NO SKIPS — .....

I admire your discipline!

[Gheorghe]

Well, most associate good form with physical exercises or sports.

I must admit I never did any of that, and never had any interest in any forms of sport.

I´m slim like a nail, but feel strong and being in love with a very young girl, who also says the love is here to stay, I feel more importance in good sexual performance and hip threads and shades than in any other physical effort besides playing the piano 😄

Even when I was a kid or a teenie my only non musical interest was gals, and I never felt well in surroundings of men only. Stuff like football or any other kind of that would have been horror for me, wash- and showerrooms with other guys in it, oh no, smellin other men´s sweat, absolutly horror vision....

Music talk with fella musicians yeah, anytime, but I can´t say nothin about sports, about cars (I drive but am not interested in the car itself).

When folks scream over some worldcup or championship or somethin, it leaves me absolutly cold. Don´t even know what happens around in non musical and non fashion-beauty settings....😄

But in my generation of the freaks of the 70´s in the intellectual but weard and neurotic settings of Big Cities and there nightlife, such attitudines like mine where not completly unusual. We were the untypical kids, who might not go to sports after school or on weekend. like maybe others more in the usual way brought up kids. 

 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

9 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

I walk about 5 miles a day, sometimes 6-7. Every day. Every single day.

10,000 steps a day keeps the cardiologist away!! (And that’s about 4.5 miles).

As of today, I’m now up to 285 days in a row — NO SKIPS — of 10k steps-per-day minimum.

Aiming for 365-in-a-row, if I can manage it.

And honestly, I really need to up my daily goal to 12k/day (and try and hit THAT every single day, no skips).

All that said, I haven’t done any strength training or even light weights in several years (not since the Covid shut down) — but I really probably should.

I’m just a hair less than 220 lbs (way down from my worst weight years ago of 254) — but my BMI is 33.5, and I really need to loose 20 more lbs.

I’m making progress, but NOT trying to loose it all in 6 months.

 

I am in pretty good shape. Exercise alone will not keep the cardiologist away.  It will help, but it is not the only thing you have to worry about

If you want to check your cardiac health, ask your PCP to have your cardiac calcium score measured. Even if your health insurance won't cover it, it is not very expensive. I think it's around $140. It's a CT of your heart. A score of zero means you have no blockages in your heart. My score was far from 0.

I'd recommend any guy over the age of 55 reading this to get this done, if only to establish a baseline. It's a cheap and easy thing to do but it can identify a serious problem.

Another it sucks getting old story...

We have a bird trying to build a nest above our back awning. We bought some plastic spike strips to mount up there. I get out the ladder and attach the spike strips. Now, I don't use a ladder much, so it involved muscles that I don't use often. The next day (yesterday), my stomach feels like someone kicked me.   

[rostasi]

I completely agree with the above comment on getting your Agatston score from a coronary calcium scan. I mentioned it here years ago, but <crickets>... I've noticed that there's usually reservations about getting something like this done just because it could bring bad news, but bad news can be life-saving news.

It only cost me $60, but maybe the price has more than doubled due to more people getting it done - or just plain greed? I have a newer, young(ish) doctor who seems doubtful that I really scored "0" and keeps hinting that I should get it done again, but it's really an expense that needs to be done again only after 10 years minimum. Very strange that she thinks this way when I have absolutely no other problems: no physical ailments, no high cholesterol, take no medications, senses working properly ...

Anyway, it's a really good indicator of heart health - even more accurate than cholesterol numbers.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

My late uncle had two bypass operations before he turned 45. His son decided it would be a good idea to get a calcium scan. His score was 750. They then followed up with a cardiac catheterization and they found several severe blockages. Within two weeks of getting his cardiac calcium score, he had a quadruple bypass. It was his story that got me to finally get one. Good thing I did. My results were pretty bad but not bad enough (yet) to require bypass surgery.

Strangely enough, my older brother got a score of 0, which blows my mind.

I think a lot of it has to do with high cholesterol. My cholesterol has been high for much of my adult life, even while taking statins.

[Dub Modal]

8 hours ago, rostasi said:

I completely agree with the above comment on getting your Agatston score from a coronary calcium scan. I mentioned it here years ago, but <crickets>... I've noticed that there's usually reservations about getting something like this done just because it could bring bad news, but bad news can be life-saving news.

It only cost me $60, but maybe the price has more than doubled due to more people getting it done - or just plain greed? I have a newer, young(ish) doctor who seems doubtful that I really scored "0" and keeps hinting that I should get it done again, but it's really an expense that needs to be done again only after 10 years minimum. Very strange that she thinks this way when I have absolutely no other problems: no physical ailments, no high cholesterol, take no medications, senses working properly ...

Anyway, it's a really good indicator of heart health - even more accurate than cholesterol numbers.

Unfortunately, there's probably a decent insurance payout for that test and she could be - again, unfortunately - looking to drive revenue. 

I had the triple diagnostic on my heart last year: CT with contrast, EKG and ultrasound. Came out great with no blockages so I immediately went and made sure to eat pork belly, chitlins and fried gizzards later that week. Clean bill = eat my fill. 

[rostasi]

Think of the relationship of cholesterol to your calcium score as like the weather to climate. Your calcium score is your accumulated history.

Also, not all plaque is calcified, so it won't necessarily show up on the scan and it can still be risky by being more rupture-prone.

The important thing is that no matter what your calcium score is, plaque is the thing you have to go after with statins (among other things too, like exercise). Non-calcified plaque is what shrinks - calcified plaque basically stays the same - like scar tissue. Paradoxically, statins can actually lead to more calcification by converting the unstable plaque to a stable calcified form, but this is a good thing in the end because it's stabilized. Think of it - using the climate analogy again - as changing the atmosphere to make it less volatile - less storm activity - but the climate doesn't immediately reverse.

I agree about the insurance payout racket as a possibility - a strong one actually in light of what I've seen her request of me (like another, earlier than needed, colonoscopy).

Edited April 15 by rostasi

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Another thing - the flu hits so much harder the older you get. I've been very sick for almost 5 days now. I used to be one of those people who got really sick for one day and then I was back at it. Used to drive my wife crazy that I got over colds/flu so quickly.

Of course, maybe I should give the current strain of Influenza A some credit here?

[Dan Gould]

Well then I guess at some point I'll get sick.

Fact is that I haven't been ill since just before Covid officially became a thing.  And that includes one if not two bouts with it for my wife.

My contribution of things that suck about getting old:  Normal every day motions that cause pain, sometimes of the enduring kind.  I stepped out of the car and walked into the grocery story feeling like something was "off". A quick stretch before walking inside confirmed some minor back spasm.  A little bit of pain for a couple of days, ceased exercise for a week out of an abundance of caution.

Three weeks later I was trying to get two large bags of frozen chicken into the same shelf in the freezer, sort of bent over, knees bent, shaking them and shoving them and the worst back spasm of my life.  Obviously damaged three weeks before and not fully healed.  Continued to spasm several times a day for two days after that. Muscle relaxants did nothing, same for the pain pills.  The day after I could not get out of bed on the first try, barely rose to a standing position with the firmness of the corner of the bed and iron bed frame for support, and two hours after I tried muscle relaxants a friend had.

 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

Well then I guess at some point I'll get sick.

Fact is that I haven't been ill since just before Covid officially became a thing.  And that includes one if not two bouts with it for my wife.

My contribution of things that suck about getting old:  Normal every day motions that cause pain, sometimes of the enduring kind.  I stepped out of the car and walked into the grocery story feeling like something was "off". A quick stretch before walking inside confirmed some minor back spasm.  A little bit of pain for a couple of days, ceased exercise for a week out of an abundance of caution.

Three weeks later I was trying to get two large bags of frozen chicken into the same shelf in the freezer, sort of bent over, knees bent, shaking them and shoving them and the worst back spasm of my life.  Obviously damaged three weeks before and not fully healed.  Continued to spasm several times a day for two days after that. Muscle relaxants did nothing, same for the pain pills.  The day after I could not get out of bed on the first try, barely rose to a standing position with the firmness of the corner of the bed and iron bed frame for support, and two hours after I tried muscle relaxants a friend had.

 

Muscle relaxers don't typically work for facet joint/nerve pinches. Be very careful here. I had a coworker who woke up like you and he pushed through for a day. The next day, he had to call an ambulance and be rushed to the hospital for immediate back surgery. He had ruptured a disc and came close to doing some permanent damage doing it the way he did.