Skip to main content

Living in Pain an Age Thing?

By November 19th, 2018Health, Lifestyle

Is living with pain an age thing and should we just accept it? The answer to this question in short and simple terms is no! Now that would be a short blog, I’ll expand.

I train a lot of people across a wide age range, with varying ability to perform exercises. One of the most frequent things I hear from those with muscle niggles or joint pain is ‘I’ve come to accept it is my age’. It is not a simple case of it solely being your age. It plays a part don’t get me wrong but there are other factors to consider, like it being a result of previous or current life styles, which are factors that, in a lot of cases can be tweaked to improve your quality of life in terms of reducing pain and discomfort, and improving things such as flexibility.

If you regularly suffer with aches, pains and niggles it’s time to change the way you think about it and take control. There are many things you can do and there are many people/techniques out there that can help. If you have the budget for it, I would highly recommend seeing a practitioner qualified in dealing with your pain. A chiropractor or injury rehabilitator for example.

Now, if you don’t have the budget for treatment with a practitioner there are other things you can do. One thing I love for soft tissue release is foam rolling. To find out more about what this is please read our blog Heard of foam rolling and how great it is? In a nutshell it’s a roll of firm foam that is used to manipulate muscle fibres, releasing tension, by rolling your muscles over the foam roll. This in turn increasing flexibility and improving muscle function.

Others things that can be done:

Joining a Yoga or Pilates class – Great for supporting muscle function and decreasing stress levels.

Move more – If you are sat for long periods due to work for example, get up and move around.

Stretching – As well as foam rolling, stretching can be very beneficial, and can be done daily.

Personal Training/Exercise – Exercise for weight loss, increasing overall strength and improving health to reduce pain is a good way to go for some people. Equally if you suffer from niggles, having direction to your training is important.

Changing your diet – Some pain and discomfort can be caused by inflammation within the body. Some of this can be due to foods we’re eating that don’t agree with us. Identifying these can be key.

Vitamin and Mineral testing – Being vitamin or mineral deficient can have an impact, especially on things such as muscle conditions. Vitamin D and Magnesium are common areas of deficiency and would be a good starting point.

Please Note: Before starting any of the above, you should consult your GP or qualified practitioner.

This blog was written to change your mind set on how you see your pain or discomfort. Please don’t see it as ‘that’s just how it is for me now’. The suggestions above can really help. If you would like more information on how to go about finding a practitioner or more detail on any of the other techniques please feel free to contact me.

Eat Well! Move Well! Live Well!

James

Join the discussion One Comment

  • Jackie Cowie says:

    Too many things are put down to age! I reckon sometimes it’s an excuse not to do the hard work.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.