# Things they don't tell you about getting old: **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 11, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189 "2014-09-11T15:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/141 "2014-10-03T08:47:30Z")
> [@MeanJoe](#): > > [ul] > [li]How long it takes to recover from hangovers now.[/li][li]How long it takes to recover from injuries, or even muscle soreness from exercise.[/li][li]Hell, how long it takes to recover from anything and everything.[/li][li]That without even realizing it, I would become much more risk averse. When did I stop being somewhat “LET’S DO IT WOO!” and became more “Well, if I do that it could really hurt if I fall and I got to work on Monday…”.[/li][li]Rapidly decreasing flexibility. I mean, I was never double-jointed or anything but c’mon now… my feet are right there. Why can’t I reach them anymore![/li][/ul] HGH Human Growth Hormone. Why do athletes take HGH? Because it helps them recover. Fascinating article a couple of years ago by an amature cyclist/journalist who went on the performance-enhancing drugs for year. At the end, he said that some of the drugs he wouldn’t take if you paid him, but the HGH he would take if he could afford it. Not just because he didn’t have to be risk-adverse while on the HGH: he also didn’t have to wear glasses. The same effect that gives you better joints, also give you the softer and better lubricated lense in your eyes. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/142 "2014-10-03T11:46:59Z")
My roomie just got her cataracts dealt with. She went from cokebottle bifocal glasses to needing those cheap reading glasses you get at the drug store for reading. I believe the diopter number on the artificial lenses is 9 [?] So … if one can ‘internally’ improve ones distance vision from blind as a bat to legally able to drive with no glasses with 2 operations spaced a month apart, with a couple weeks of eyedrops and TLC, why the hell do I need to wait until my natural lenses turn white and make me blind as a bat, why can’t I get it done now? I can’t do lasic, I already have the star diffraction crap around lights at night, and my degree of astigmatism is too great - they would have to shave off too much eye and still not correct it properly. I would KILL to not have to put on my glasses to find my glasses ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/143 "2014-10-03T13:44:50Z")
> [@Lucretia](#): > > **Zoid** , if you’re only in your 40’s (even late 40’s), you _really_ should not be falling as much as you describe. It might be something to discuss with your doc, and if there’s not problem that he can find, there’s a lot of exercises that target balance. Much better to start them know while you’re relatively young. Falling can be deadly when you get old. Seconded. Please get it checked out. You are way too young for this to be due to aging. Tai Chi/qigong practice is good for balance. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/144 "2014-10-03T13:50:25Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I’ve been to a haematologist. All sorts of tests were run with no abnormal results detected. Just have to stay away from aspirin but I still bruise/bleed easily. My 91 year old Dad’s dermatologist told him that a big part of the problem was the thinness of his skin. When he lets us put moisturizer on him, the bruising decreases markedly. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/145 "2014-10-03T13:54:40Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I agree that there is not much around for those of a certain age - unless you live in a seriously major city like LA, NY, Boston … where a niche entertainment venue can have enough population to support it. > > What is really missing are entertainment venues of moderation - the old school coffee house with quiet music, good ‘non-foofy Star$$ coffee milkshakes’ coffees [there are hundreds of types of beans out there, with a huge variety of taste profiles. Have a tasting flight of coffee …] and a good selection of pastries both sweet and savory. A non flash smoking venue - no loud music, the ability to smoke with a decent selection of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages - think movie image of an English Gentlemans club, sitting around quietly chatting, enjoying a fire and a drink and smoke with other quiet people. A no shit bar - no loud music, perhaps a couple pool tables and dart boards and a dance floor where they don’t try to play the music at 150 db. One of my favorite memories of living in Virginia Beach off Witchduck was the third run movie theater that served food and drinks - it wasn’t the big flash movie, but older ones. I would LOVE this kind of place. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/146 "2014-10-03T13:56:06Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I never knew about this one, but it does seem to be a thing. I could never whistle well, and now I can’t do it at all. My Dad lost the ability to whistle around age 80, but at 90 it came back. Now he whistles all the time. But not well. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/147 "2014-10-03T13:56:58Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > My 91 year old Dad’s dermatologist told him that a big part of the problem was the thinness of his skin. When he lets us put moisturizer on him, the bruising decreases markedly. I’m not 91 (61 today - yay, I think :o) but my skin is very fragile and thin. I hate to think what it will be like if I make it to your Dad’s age. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/148 "2014-10-03T14:06:59Z")
At 62, I don’t have most of the problems mentioned above, for which I am grateful. Best pro: Menopause! I had an easy time with it, and it is great now not to have to think about menstrual supplies when traveling or going on long bicycle trips. Worst cons: Being invisible to men. Arthritis in toes that limits walking and hiking, and eliminates cross country skiing. However, I can bike, snowshoe, swim, and kayak, so I can stay active. I can still lift weights, do tai chi, exercise in other ways. Yay! How dang hard it is to lose weight now, and losing my formerly tiny waist. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/149 "2014-10-03T14:08:35Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I’m not 91 (61 today - yay, I think :o) but my skin is very fragile and thin. I hate to think what it will be like if I make it to your Dad’s age. Happy birthday!!! 61 is not so bad. Start moisturizing now! It really helps a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/150 "2014-10-04T06:10:22Z")
I’m only 36, but thanks to semi-diagnosed autoimmune crappy-crap, I’m aging more rapidly than I might have ordinarily… Plantar fasciiatis: got that this summer from running around amusement parks with the kids right after I had my last baby. Ugh. And due to breastfeeding, no medicine for me. Every freaking day hurts. So I am getting fatter because I can’t move without excruciating foot pain. Arthritis too. I eat more aspirin/tylenol/ibuprofen than you can imagine just to not roll in a ball and cry every day. (It’s every other day instead.) I do believe a bit of opiate would be much less harmful for me and baby, but that’s modern medicine these days… I used to wish for thinner hair. Now I still have bushy hair, but much less of it. It is NOT an improvement. Especially with all the grey, which sticks up in the middle. I color it, but that only lasts a week or so on the thick greys. Heartburn. WTF?!?! I knew that having children would mean a reduced sex life, as I had two in my twenties. Now I have two more little ones…only, neither me or DH can stay awake (at least, both of us on the same day) past their bedtimes to make up for it. And, to be honest, I don’t even care that much! This is a shocker for me. However, Panache’s little tale of getting an exam was kind of hot. :o Um, where was I? Oh, someone mentioned video games. I’ve been a gamer since my first VIC-20 when I had to copy the program files myself. I still purchase quite a few, but they bore me or I don’t have time to get into it. I’ve been playing Fallout:New Vegas for a billion years, it seems like, and I’m craving something like King’s Quest. I’d like to play games with my teenage son, but it’s not like taking turns on Super Mario anymore… I’ve had to tell my 15 y.o. daughter to wear something less revealing. This feels weird, and somehow hypocritical, but I guess it’s my duty. This one is very hard to explain. A bit of a hangover can last 3 days now. Aruvqan described a fantastic-sounding hangout. Even if I had unlimited babysitting, etc., there is nowhere around here that I’d like to go. I’ve been contemplating having us join the Moose or the Elks or something just to have a venue for good laid-back grownup time. Even if it’s bingo or line-dancing. Never thought I’d be in this boat. I trim/pull my husbands ear hairs…not IN the ear, but on the outer rim. They are freaky long and white!! Doesn’t actually bother me though, I’ve always been a monkey about grooming. It’s just that he’s so hot, and forty…one…it seems surreal. That’s not old!! Oh, and weird eyebrow hairs that will reach down and touch his cheek if I don’t notice and yank 'em. Somehow he never does. If I don’t have a bra on, my boobs will rest on my ribcage. Never expected that so soon. They aren’t horrid, I guess, but it’s always a surprise. Basically, I still feel 23 or so until I have to stand up and do something, and then I realize that things are going south in some fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Whitney\_Harper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@Whitney\_Harper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whitney_Harper)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189/151 "2014-10-04T13:04:55Z")
Balance can be a problem for older people. In addition, pets can bring back the youthfulness in folks. A dog or a cat can be great companionship for anyone, especially elderly people, and can really turn back the clock emotionally. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-they-dont-tell-you-about-getting-old/698189.md?page=7)