I am not skeptical and in need of convincing. I don’t disbelieve that others take the efforts to heart and see art in it. I do not. Similarly, the fact that Philip Glass can take an 88-key piano and ( aesthetically not mechanically ) cut 72 of the strings in the harp of the piano, then compose a seven-hour manifesto using only 16 keys doesn’t mean it isn’t art.
It just means it’s not my kind of art.
I knew that, when you get old, sometimes body parts don’t work as well as they used to, and sometimes old injuries that you thought had long since healed come back to haunt you.
But nobody ever told me that it applied to eyebrows.
It used to be, my eyebrows did their job just fine. But nowadays, if I’m out in the rain for more than about ten minutes, they saturate, and I end up with rain running down into my eyes. Especially my left eye, where I have a scar right down the middle of the brow from a childhood T-ball accident.
I’ve now achieved one of the cornerstone attributes of old age: I fall asleep while watching TV. I’m watching a movie, and next thing I know I’ve slept past 45 minutes of it. Or even a sitcom that I’m bingeing. I’m suddenly an episode or two past what I remember. Or even the news.
But when I’m not watching TV, I have industrial-strength insomnia.
TV was my greatest sleeping aid already in my 30’s, for what it’s worth. I too suffer from pretty bad insomnia.
I don’t know if “talking with my sister who happens to have an MD” counts as “consulting a doctor” (she is, emphatically, not “my doctor”). However, some people who stand for long periods - such as myself when I’m working as a cashier - can, apparently, benefit from lightweight compression socks easily available over the counter. Prolonged standing is surprisingly harsh on the human anatomy and compression socks can reduce feelings of “heaviness” and fatigue as well as reduce minor swelling by compensating for the circulation help you’re not getting because your calf muscles aren’t moving/squeezing as they would if you were walking, running, or otherwise moving. I started wearing them on my standing shifts and feel notably better. My sister suggested it as something a middle-aged woman on her feet a lot might find useful.
Healthy people who might wear compression socks to prevent problems include athletes, people who stand all day at work, people on long duration flights, and pilots (who also spend a lot of time in airplanes, seated in one spot). These tend to be lighter compression and don’t have to be fitted as carefully to the wearer.
Of course, if someone is having some sort of symptom - significant swelling, pain, burning, etc. - consulting a doctor in a professional capacity makes a lot of sense. Anyone with a skin infection, nerve damage, diabetes, and a bunch of other issues should consult their doctor first, or with a history of a problem like blod clots or DVT’s. Not only is fitting more critical for such people, but they also might require higher compression levels that could require an actual prescription.
Some of this is also connected to lack of practice. It won’t solve all the problems, but it will help.
About two years ago I discovered I was starting to have some issues with getting up and down off the floor. I still could, but it was no longer effortless. Since then, I’ve incorporated getting down and up from the floor into my exercise problem along with stretching. While still not effortless, it has gotten easier.
Part of the reason elderly people fall and can’t get up is due to lack of practice making this difficult to impossible. Cultures where people routinely get up and down from low position (such as in Japan, where many still sleep on futons on the floor) have fewer problems with the elderly being stranded horizontally on the floor because the daily up-and-down helps keep them in condition for performing this maneuver. Basically, use it or lose it. Regular practice won’t solve all problems or keep you able to get up and down from the floor forever but it will extend the amount of time you can do this without trouble or requiring assistance.
I agree with you. Much of my current problem is derived from the fact that I have injured my spine, knees and one ankle often and it makes movement too painful. If I had a job, and therefore health insurance, I might be able to see my PT again and get further along with recovery. And maybe after thirty years of trying to identify my vertigo and ability to fall and injure myself again at a moment’s notice will be resolved, too. If wishes were fishes…
When my hypo-active thyroid was untreated, I could fall asleep any time I ended up prone. Even with it treated, the TV will lull me to sleep fast, especially with history shows on. My wife jokes that I “just sleep better when Hitler’s on the TV”, but really any show can do it.
My solution is I now watch TV that I don’t want to sleep through standing up.
Unless you are using lack of practice to mean not exercising their muscles, I think this is wrong. The two times I personally had to help older people up it was because the didn’t have not only the strength to pull themselves up by grabbing furniture but almost no grip strength to hold on to anything. With arthritic hands very common among the elderly, I’m not sure any amount of practice or exercise will improve their grip enough to help them get off the floor.
Hence I said “part” of the reason. Other parts could be paralysis/weakness from a stroke, lack of grip strength as you indicated, as well as weakness and lack of flexibility.
I can actually still get up off the floor without needing to grab anything at all - but if I became weak I likely wouldn’t be able to do that. Also, I still have good balance, damaged balance might require the person hang onto something to get up and down safely.
Strength and flexibility are two things that can be improved for a lot of people.
Yes.
I never set foot in a gym in my life until I hit 60. And then I realized, looking at my parents’ generation, that I better start doing something if I didn’t want to end up like too many of them.
Obviously not going to a gym these days, but I have a whole kit of resistance bands and rubber band thingies and pushup stands at home, and I use them them every day. Also, I’m biking everywhere, since I’m afraid to get on the NYC subway.
It’s actually making a noticeable difference.
Being post-covid and having two Pfizer shots I decided joining a gym would be a reasonable risk for me now, especially as I was becoming very, very de-conditioned.
After two weeks I am already starting to notice a slight difference. Slight. But it’s there. I’m sleeping better and my stamina might be a tiny bit better already.
I think some people assume that you need to exercise like crazy. No, you don’t. But you do need to keep moving.
I notice a lot of people middle-aged and older at the gym I go to, and a lot of them doing what might be called light exercise, but what matters is that they are moving. That’s how you maximize your chances at a healthy old age.
Yeah, I’m ashamed at my attitudes thirty years ago: “Oh, man, this place is full of fogies sauntering on the treadmills…”
Then I started thinking “You GO, gramps! At least you’re doing something about getting old!”
And now? Now I am Gramps…
Back when I was a Catholic in the 1950s-60s, I used to scoff at the old folks who had to use the edge of the pew to help them genuflect, especially to get up. Dang- I couldn’t genuflect unaided now to save my life soul.
For decades, I did a series of exercises for my lower back. They were exercises that had to be done lying on my back/side on the floor. Unfortunately, now, I can’t get down on the floor. If I did, I wouldn’t be able to get back up.
The amount of hair now growing out of my ears and nose.
As opposed to the amount that used to grow on the top of my head.
Penn Jillett, on his podcast, was speaking of the time he interviewed an amazingly athletic man (sorry, I forget his name, but he is an Olympic sprinter I believe).
When speaking of him, Jillett said something like "this is a guy who rises up from the sofa without even having to think about it".
I can relate.
mmm
This is my problem. I need a sturdy table or cabinet at hip height that I can get on and off. Trying to find something multipurpose and sturdy that fits in my condo is bit of a challenge.
C’mon, seniors. This could be us! After reading this thread, I’m determined to regain some/most/all of my flexibility and in-shape-ness.
I have a friend whose doc gave him a list of stretches to do every morning. If he does them, he has a good day. If not…
Okay, I’m going to go back to physical therapy and get some stretches from The Nice Hippie Fitness Lady there. Add to that some stairs, some light weights, and some walking/biking, and I’ll be ten years younger the next time you hear from me.
Wake me up when you get there. I’ll be dozing on the couch.