What a common misconception I must dispel almost daily. I don’t know where the correlation was drawn to conclude growing old = pain.
For those aging adults who continue to be active, there is no doubt they have felt some sort of pain or discomfort during their active life. It is almost inevitable.
Adults do not blame these pains on the fact they decided to play the 4th round of golf in a week when they were only typically playing 1-2 rounds. Or that they had to finish some major work projects that required 10+ hours of computer time. They don’t even blame it on the fact that they sat in the hard bleachers to watch their kid play in a weekend-long tournament.
In fact, when they come in, they typically say things like “I’m getting too old to play more than 1-2 rounds of golf” or “father time is catching up with me.”
Age is just being used as a scapegoat.
Imagine if they did not have a birth certificate. What if they did not know how many candles were on their birthday cake this year? Would they feel the same way? Would they give the same excuses for their pain?
It is almost like we are subjecting ourselves to ageism. We have an assumption and discriminate ourselves to the “fact” that because you are getting older means you must have more pain.
Contrary to what generations before you might have said, this is not a fact.
The sun rising in the East and setting in the West is a fact.
There are 60 minutes in 1 hour is a fact.
The more days on Earth you have the older you become is a fact.
The older you get the more pain you will be in is not a fact.
I don’t know where that thinking came from, but it needs to stop. We are seeing it repeatedly that degenerative changes on imaging are mattering less and less.
In fact, there have been signs showing more back pain occurs in the age bracket of the 30s-50s than 55+.
So when and why did people start believing that because you get older then you should be in more pain?
I’m not sure.
If I had to guess, one possible reason could have been the use of radiographic imaging. Because it has become so readily available and easily prescribed, more people have gone to get “unnecessary” imaging.
Conclusion:
If you are an adult and went to get imaging done on your back, you will likely be told you have degenerative changes. There is no question about that. The question then becomes is that imaging showing/telling me what is painful in my back?
That is where I would draw caution for any invasive interventions, especially in active adults. There is a high likelihood that whatever is shown on the imaging has been occurring over time and may not be the whole story behind your pain.
No matter how much degeneration is said to be in there.
The key takeaway: just because you are getting older, does not mean you should be dealing with pain. Be cautious of imaging that “pinpoints” your pain. Continue to move because movement is medicine. Your body is great at adapting, even if you are starting to “get up there in age.”
Having trouble with these “aches and pains” as you age? Feel free to reach out and apply for a free discovery visit to discover what your next best step could be to keeping you active and avoiding those “aging pains.”
