Why Does Everything Hurt More as We Get Older?

Understanding Aches, Stiffness, Recovery—and Why Getting Older Doesn’t Mean You Have to Stop Moving

There comes a point when many of us start asking the same question:

Why does everything hurt more than it used to?

You spend an afternoon working in the yard and feel it for two days.

You sit through a long car ride and your back doesn’t want to straighten up when you get out.

You sleep in the wrong position and somehow wake up with an injury.

And then there’s the classic: you hurt yourself doing absolutely nothing you can remember.

When we were 25, we could work all day, stay up half the night, sleep for five hours, and somehow get up the next morning ready to do it again.

At 55, 65, or 75?

The body occasionally sends us a reminder that things have changed.

Some of that is simply part of getting older.

But here’s the important part:

Pain and disability are not inevitable consequences of aging.

Your body changes as you get older, but there is an enormous difference between adapting to those changes and surrendering to them.

Understanding what’s happening is the first step.

Our Bodies Really Do Change

We’re not imagining it.

Starting surprisingly early in adulthood, our bodies gradually begin changing.

We lose some muscle mass. Tendons and ligaments become less elastic. Spinal discs change. Joints accumulate decades of wear. Balance and flexibility can decline.

None of this means something has gone terribly wrong.

It’s aging.

The problem is that many of these changes happen so gradually that we don’t notice them until we ask our body to do something it hasn’t done in a while.

That’s when we hear:

“I used to be able to do this all day.”

You probably did.

But your body today isn’t exactly the same body you had 30 years ago.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do things.

It means you may need to do them differently.

We Lose Muscle If We Don’t Use It

One of the biggest changes associated with aging is the gradual loss of muscle mass and strength.

And muscle matters tremendously.

Strong muscles support our joints.

They stabilize our spine.

They help us climb stairs, carry groceries, maintain our balance, get out of a chair—and yes, pick up the grandchildren.

As we lose strength, everyday activities require a larger percentage of what our muscles are capable of doing.

Carrying a 30-pound bag of mulch at 35 may have represented a relatively small effort.

At 70, particularly if you’ve become less active, that same bag may require much more of your available strength.

That’s one reason staying active becomes more important as we age, not less.

You don’t need to become a bodybuilder.

Walk.

Swim.

Garden.

Use some light weights or resistance bands.

Take the stairs when you can.

Keep asking your muscles to work.

The body is remarkably good at adapting to what we ask of it.

Unfortunately, it also adapts to what we don’t ask of it.

Our Joints Change Too

Over decades of movement, joints naturally change.

Cartilage can thin. Arthritis can develop. Previous injuries can leave their mark.

The spinal discs between our vertebrae also change with age. They tend to lose some water content and flexibility, which can contribute to stiffness and degenerative changes.

That’s why you may notice that getting out of bed takes a few extra movements before everything feels ready to go.

But an X-ray showing arthritis doesn’t automatically explain every ache and pain you have.

This is important.

I’ve seen plenty of people with significant arthritis on an X-ray who function extremely well.

I’ve also seen people with relatively minor changes who experience considerable discomfort.

We treat people—not pictures.

What matters is how you’re moving, how you’re functioning, what you’re able to do, and what is actually producing your symptoms.

We Tend to Move Less as We Get Older

This can become a vicious cycle.

Something hurts, so we stop doing it.

Then we become weaker.

Because we’re weaker, the activity becomes harder.

Because it’s harder, we avoid it even more.

Before long, we’ve unintentionally trained ourselves to become less capable.

Rest is absolutely appropriate when you’re injured.

But permanent rest isn’t usually the answer.

The human body was designed to move.

Joints benefit from movement. Muscles require movement. Balance requires practice. Even our confidence in our own bodies depends partly on continuing to use them.

You don’t have to move like you did at 25.

But keep moving.

Recovery Takes a Little Longer

This may be the most frustrating part.

You can still do many of the things you’ve always enjoyed.

You just may not recover from them as quickly.

That’s why I frequently tell older patients to pace themselves.

If you’re working in the yard, take a break before your body demands one.

If you’re exercising, gradually increase the workload.

If you haven’t played golf since October, hitting 200 balls at the driving range your first day back probably isn’t necessary.

And if there are 20 bags of mulch sitting in the driveway, they don’t all have to be moved before lunch.

There is no trophy.

Do ten today.

Do ten tomorrow.

Then go enjoy your afternoon.

Aging well isn’t about proving you can still punish your body.

It’s about learning how to use it intelligently.

Old Injuries Can Sometimes Come Back to Say Hello

That ankle you sprained playing basketball 30 years ago?

Your body remembers.

So does the shoulder you injured painting the house.

Or the back you hurt moving a refrigerator.

Injuries can change how we move. Sometimes we compensate so effectively that we don’t notice the change for years.

One joint becomes stiff and another moves more.

One muscle becomes weak and another works harder.

Your body is incredibly good at finding ways to keep you functioning.

But compensation has limits.

Eventually, the area doing the extra work may start complaining.

That’s why sometimes where you hurt isn’t necessarily where the problem began.

Sleep, Stress and Hydration Matter

Not everything that hurts is mechanical.

Poor sleep affects how we perceive pain and how well our bodies recover.

Stress causes muscles to remain tense and can make existing pain feel considerably worse.

Hydration matters for normal muscle and joint function.

Nutrition matters.

Body weight matters.

Activity matters.

There usually isn’t one magic solution.

Healthy aging is the cumulative result of dozens of relatively boring things done consistently.

Drink your water.

Eat reasonably well.

Sleep.

Move.

Maintain relationships.

Manage stress.

Stay engaged with life.

None of those things makes a very exciting television commercial.

But they work.

Don’t Blame Everything on Your Age

This is something I hear all the time.

“Doc, I’m just getting old.”

Maybe.

But let’s not give age credit for everything.

New or persistent pain deserves an explanation.

Back pain may be muscular, but it could also involve a spinal joint, disc, arthritis, spinal stenosis, or an irritated nerve.

Leg pain may be coming from the leg—or from the lower back.

Shoulder pain may actually be coming from the neck.

There are many possibilities.

If something continues hurting, interferes with your activities, or keeps getting worse, have it evaluated.

Sometimes the answer is simply that you overdid it.

Sometimes there is something we can actually correct.

Don’t accept losing function simply because another birthday went by.

Where Chiropractic Care Fits

Chiropractic isn’t about turning a 70-year-old spine into a 20-year-old spine.

And it shouldn’t be.

The goal is to help the body you have move and function as well as it reasonably can.

At O’Hara Family Chiropractic in Arlington Heights, we see many patients in their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond who simply want to remain active.

They want to golf.

Garden.

Travel.

Walk.

Exercise.

Work.

Play with their grandchildren.

When pain or restricted joint movement gets in the way, our job is to determine why.

Sometimes gentle chiropractic adjustments can help restore movement.

Sometimes Cox® Technic flexion-distraction or spinal decompression may be appropriate for conditions involving discs, spinal stenosis, or irritated nerves.

Sometimes exercises are needed.

And sometimes the problem isn’t chiropractic at all and the patient needs to be referred somewhere else.

The important thing is figuring out what’s wrong before deciding how to treat it.

That’s always been our philosophy:

Find it. Fix it. Leave it alone.

Give Yourself a Little Grace

There’s another side of aging that doesn’t get discussed enough.

Sometimes we’re simply too hard on ourselves.

We expect our bodies to perform exactly as they did decades ago.

Then we become frustrated when they don’t.

Slow down a little.

Warm up.

Take breaks.

Give yourself an extra day to recover.

Ask for help carrying something ridiculously heavy.

None of that means you’re giving up.

It means you’ve learned something.

Hopefully that’s one of the advantages of getting older.

Getting Older Is Mandatory. Feeling Old Isn’t.

You can’t stop the calendar.

And yes, your body will change.

But there is still an enormous amount you can control.

Maintain your strength.

Protect your mobility.

Keep your balance.

Eat well.

Stay hydrated.

Get enough sleep.

Take care of injuries instead of ignoring them.

Most importantly:

Keep doing things.

Walk the neighborhood.

Work in your garden.

Take the trip.

Play golf.

Go swimming.

Get down on the floor.

Pick up the grandchildren.

Maybe you do things a little differently than you did at 30.

That’s okay.

The objective isn’t to stay young forever.

The objective is to stay capable for as long as possible.

Your body was built to move.

And that’s still true at 40, 60, 70, 80 and beyond.