Entering The Age Of Aches And Groans

OPINION PIECE

As you get older, everything starts to hurt, I don’t know why, but everything hurts.

Even the simplest of injuries or soreness can lead to another bit of you being sore, and before you know it there’s a chiro leaning over you twisting your body back to where it should be.

It’s a discussion I was having with my near teenage son a few weeks ago, why does everything go wrong with you Dad? My only answer was that when you’re younger like he is, everything in your body is “rubbery”, things go back into place much easier. When you’re a kid you can fall over and you just jump back up and continue on. When you’re over 45, you can sneeze and then your neck’s stuffed for a fortnight.

You also start groaning even just bending over to pick something up, that’s the first sign of the pending age of pain and hurt.

I’ve even thought maybe I should do yoga or something like that to help with flexibility and stretching, but I’m worried I’ll get down for an exercise and not be able to get back up. That’s what happened the other day when my daughter asked me to play a new card game Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza … two rounds in I was in agony needing help to get off the carpet. How embarrassing to “get injured” playing a card game.

Back pain is the worst of it though, lower back pain. It hurts to stand for a long period of time, so you sit, but you have to find the perfect angle so it doesn’t hurt. Then you sit for 10-15 minutes and need to get back up, it hurts to get back up and you walk hunched over for a bit. After a minute or two it feels really good. Five minutes after that you need to sit down again, and the cycle just continues.

In Australia, as you get older, we hear more about breast screening, prostate checks, bowel cancer screening kits sent. Each of those pamphlets sent out or packages for tests should be accompanied by a wheat pack.

Scotty

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