# Physical changes you notice as you age **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-changes-you-notice-as-you-age/582001 "2011-05-15T16:15:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-changes-you-notice-as-you-age/582001/61 "2011-05-16T18:50:37Z")
> [@papergirl](#): > > I’m 45. How did that happen? > I just got bifocals…although my distance vision improved, my near-up vision went downhill. Just as my doctor predicted, it started at 35, but I was able to manage until this past spring. > My hip aches constantly, and one shoulder kicks up a lot too. (I think they’re related.) > My hands are starting to look like my mom’s…a little wrinkly, a little veinier than they used to be. I kind of like that, though. > I bruised more easily than ever, which is saying a lot. > I feel great overall, so I’m not complaining. I’m happier now than ever in my life. > Even if my breasts are not quite what they used to be. 🙂 I’m 45.5. Welcome to Our World. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-changes-you-notice-as-you-age/582001/62 "2011-05-16T19:40:30Z")
If I could make just a couple of recommendations to all of you who are in your 40s or early 50s, it would be these: 1. NOW is the time to put aside childish things, such as smoking, heavy drinking, and gorging on destructive foods. The cumulative effect in 10-15 years can be devastating. 2. NOW is the time to commit yourselves to a program like yoga or tai chi or some other combined low-impact/meditative endeavor. It will pay off HUGE benefits later on in flexibility, self discipline, and reduced physical issues, particularly if strenuous exercise becomes a problem for you. Seriously, if I was to eliminate one of the two things above, it would be the first one, but both are important. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-changes-you-notice-as-you-age/582001/63 "2011-05-16T20:23:12Z")
Crepe-y skin on the arms (yeesh!) Knees hurting at random (I mean, I know it’s because I’m overweight but the pain comes and goes for no evident reason) Eyes: I’m glad I still have correctable vision, but dammit, there is NO ONE PAIR OF GLASSES that WORKS for me… Progressives are insta-headache if they cover all my field of vision (reading through distance). I’ve had to settle for a combination of pairs, all of which taken together add up to a highly imperfect compromise. Sleeping. Oh,I sleep all right… eventually… it just doesn’t do any GOOD. I’ve got two full-on sleep problems diagnosed (and treated) and a wakefulness problem. Anyone remember what it’s like to fell well rested? Not me! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-changes-you-notice-as-you-age/582001/64 "2011-05-16T21:28:30Z")
I don’t have a sleep problem, unless you count getting up to pee two or three times a night. It might be correctable. I read a flyer in the ladies’ restroom at the hospital about “incomplete voiding”, so maybe there’s a pill or exercise to correct it. I’m just glad that I wake up. If I live long enough, there’ll probably be a time when I won’t. ☹ or 🙂 – not sure which is appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-changes-you-notice-as-you-age/582001/65 "2011-05-16T22:12:57Z")
- Shocked - Shocked! - to see I am developing ‘bat wings’ and just a few short years ago I was told I had ‘guns like Madonna’!!! - Picture on cereal box changed from cartoon animal to two middle-aged ladies riding bikes. The word ‘fiber’ suddenly becomes a lot more interesting. What is that ‘old folks’ poem that Ann Landers used to run in her column every so often, ‘I got gold in my teeth, lead in my pants, something something gas something’:p. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-changes-you-notice-as-you-age/582001/66 "2011-05-17T00:42:38Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I don’t have a sleep problem, unless you count getting up to pee two or three times a night. > > It might be correctable. I read a flyer in the ladies’ restroom at the hospital about “incomplete voiding”, so maybe there’s a pill or exercise to correct it. I’m just glad that I wake up. If I live long enough, there’ll probably be a time when I won’t. ☹ or 🙂 – not sure which is appropriate. Well, it’ll be warm, until it isn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-changes-you-notice-as-you-age/582001.md?page=3)