As you start to get older, you hear people talking about aches and pains, as if they are part and parcel of the aging process. But is it normal to ache as you get older? Or is it something we can prevent?
According to the NHS, joint pain is ‘common’ as we age, and the most common culprits are an injury or arthritis. But, as someone in her early 50s, I don’t want to accept that feeling stiff and aching as I wake up is normal. So, over the past few years, I have been adjusting my lifestyle so keep as healthy – and pain-free as I can.
Here are four things you can do to help you avoid aching as you get older.
1) Keep active
It’s widely known that maintaining an active lifestyle can help to keep your muscles and joints strong and healthy – something that becomes increasingly essential as we age. Did you know, for example, that we apparently lose 3% to 5% of muscle mass every decade after the age of 30?
So what activity is best as we reach middle age and beyond? According to one study, Yoga for Healthy Aging: Science or Hype?, yoga offers a number of important health benefits as we age, including:
- Increased mobility
- Reduced risk for slip and fall
- Protection against cognitive decline
- Increased flexibility, strength, and balance
- Improved sleep and mental well-being
It’s also widely considered to help prevent aches as we get older by increasing flexibility, strength, and balance while reducing inflammation and stress.
I’ve personally practised Iyengar yoga for over a decade, and last year increased the number of classes I attend a week. When I turned 50 I set myself the challenge of mastering handstands, and I continue to push myself into tackling tougher poses to keep my body strong and flexible.
I’ve also sought out aerobic activities as I’ve got older. In my 40s I played netball with a team of mum friends. But found the game too violent… players were regularly attending A&E after matches! And I didn’t enjoy playing outside at night in all weathers during winter.
I’ve now replaced netball with playing two hours of pickleball a week. I play on a ‘friendly’ night with other players who don’t want to compete, but just play for fun. And it turns out this was a good move as pickleball is a low-impact sport that involves consistent movement.
Importantly, pickleball strengthens our muscles and improves our balance, which helps to protect our joints and reduce pain over time. In fact, according to Blue Zones expert Dan Buettner, it’s the number one sport to live longer. If you fancy trying it, just search online for clubs near you.
The key thing for me, is to find an activity you enjoy. This way you are more likely to stick to it, and there’s a higher chance of meeting like-minded people through it. Besides, life is too short to spend time doing something you hate!
2) Eat a healthy diet
Another important, ache-beating lifestyle choice as you age, is to eat a healthy diet. Rachel Lightfoot, Specialist Physiotherapist at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, recommends following a healthy diet, rich in nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. She also stresses the importance of an adequate intake of calcium, vitamin D, magnesium and other essential nutrients in maintaining strong bones and muscles.
As one of the most common causes of aching as we age is arthritis, it makes sense to follow a diet that can help to fight inflammation. And, according to the Arthritis Foundation, the ultimate arthritis diet is the Mediterranean diet.
As well as helping to lower blood pressure and protect against chronic conditions such as cancer and stroke, the Mediterranean diet can help arthritis by curbing inflammation. It can also help you to lose weight, which reduces the pressure on your joints.
So whether you are already experiencing aches or pains, or want to stave them off as you get older, it’s worth examining your diet and giving it an overhaul if needed. I’ve always loved cooking from scratch – I find it relaxing – but as I have got older I have made it a higher priority to eat healthily.
I’ve educated myself by following nutrition experts like Emma Bardwell, and cooks like Claire Thomson. As a result, I’ve upped the amount of protein and fibre I eat, and I have learned to love beans. My diet today is the healthiest it’s ever been – and I feel amazing for it. Long may that continue…
3) Lose weight
We’ve touched on this just now, but it’s such an important point that I am going to give it its own section. According to Portsmouth Regional Hospital, being overweight raises your risk for developing osteoarthritis, which is joint damage due to wear-and-tear.
And it’s not just your weight-bearing joints that feel the pain from excess pounds; fat tissue creates and releases inflammatory chemicals that cause joint pain in other areas of your body too, such as your hands.
Even just a small change can make a big difference. Did you know that losing just one pound of weight can reduce the impact of four pounds of pressure on your knees? In more extreme cases, doctors have seen patients wheel-chair bound with osteoarthritis pain walk again after losing weight.
The good news is that losing weight also makes it easier to take up physical activity, which will further strengthen the muscles that support your joints, boosting the pain-reducing effects.
4) Reduce stress
Research shows that people who are exposed to chronic stress age rapidly, and that includes increasing the number of aches and pains we feel.
Why is this? There are a number of reasons. Firstly, living with stress long-term increases your cortisol levels, which can lead to chronic inflammation throughout your body. And as we already know, inflammation is a major cause of age-related conditions like arthritis and general pain.
When we live with chronic stress, our muscles can remain contracted for long periods of time, leading to stiffness, soreness and headaches. And if that wasn’t bad enough, chronic stress is linked to a more rapid shortening of telomeres (these are the protective caps on the ends of our chromosomes). This can speed up our cellular aging and lead to a decline in our overall health, causing more aches and pains.
And finally, living with stress plays havoc with our lifestyle, disturbing our sleep and increasing the risk of turning to poor diet choices and alcohol. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of poor health, and can lead us to entering a vicious cycle where poor sleep and high stress levels increase our sensitivity to pain, which then disrupts our sleep and creates more stress.
Of course, I understand that simply saying ‘reduce stress’ is all well and good – if it was that easy you’d have done so already! There’s often no quick and easy solution for this in my experience, but rather understanding what is causing you stress, and the things you need for good mental well-being.
Personally, I know there are important pillars that I need in place for good mental health:
- To be physically healthy – be active, eat well and get enough sleep
- To enjoy good relationships with family, friends, work colleagues and acquaintances
- To feel fulfilled in my professional and personal life
- To feel secure financially and emotionally
- To be part of something ‘bigger’ than me – for me this is volunteering as a school governor
When these pillars are all in place, my life feels on an even keel and I am content. When I look back to times in my life when I wasn’t as happy, I can see that some aspects of these pillars were missing. If you haven’t done so yet, you might also find it helpful to identify your pillars of good mental health and look for opportunities to make changes if needed. This won’t always resolve stress overnight, but it can help you get moving in the right direction.
Aches and pains don’t have to be an inevitable part of aging
I hope you have found this article helpful, and it has made you realise that you don’t need to accept aching as a a normal part of aging. Yes, there may be health conditions and old injuries that can cause pain (if you are experiencing aches and pains you can’t explain away, it’s important to seek medical advice), but if you are otherwise healthy, there are potential changes you can make to your lifestyle that can improve your quality of life at any age.
