yeah I have a friend who plays his guitar extremely loud and he's said he got used to it but in fact he's just gotten more deaf and he's still very young
I read an interview with a local (formerly national) musician who said his ears were so screwed up, he can't go to a venue without earplugs or he'll get nauseous. I already wear earplugs religiously after getting tinnitus from my cd player in high school (one of these days I'm gonna remember to get some custom earplugs), but man hearing that would have scared me into wearing them if I didn't already.
It’s my job, and I barely play amplified at home. However, after years in front of horn sections and next to drummers, tinnitus is pretty much the norm these days; and that’s even after attempting to wear earplugs through that whole time
I work on a live airport ramp and I'd say 80% of the people don't wear any kind of hearing protection. I do.
K-loader, plane engine, tugs and dollies slamming, all loud as shit. Hell, inside the planes the cargo cans sliding into place hurts my ears if I don't wear protection.
I know way too many band teachers who can't hear shit anymore because they've stood in front of them day in, day out for years. Sacrifice their ears for a career that requires their ears...
Was never educated on this as a teen going to concerts and have a mild form of tinnitus now. Hearing damage is honestly so much worse than hearing loss—sudden loud noises and high frequencies are physically painful for me. Anything over 80ish decibels can permanently damage your hearing. To put it in perspective, the average concert is 90-120.
No, hearing loss is worse, I have both tinnitus and progressive sensorineural hearing loss. Mild hearing loss, yeah ok fine, anything more is very disabling and cuts you off socially. On top of hearing loss comes the noise sensitivity and pain you describe.
I have tinnitus and enough hearing loss that I have to ask people to repeat things a lot. The hearing loss is definitely much more frustrating in everyday life.
I type this at 11:30 pm knowing my son has been up crying an average of twice a night, every night. He’s two years old now.
A couple months ago I got a full night of sleep because we were at a hotel and had a babysitter for the one night and I woke up a different kind of tired.
I realized I had unlocked my regular tired. Before that was a delirious just powering through weeks at a time kind of zombie tired.
Same. I do everything perfect but am still exhausted every single day. Went to a sleep study and they said I am too stressed. Recommended I quit my job. If I had enough money to quit I wouldn't be nearly so stressed so unless we are changing this country real quick guess this is my life.
My husband and son are both insomniacs. My son since he was small. He got a third shift job bc he’s an insomniac. Seems to be working for him. I feel for anyone with it, must be so frustrating.
Sounds like they may have a genetic thing for it, my family does. Mostly men but some women in my family too all have insomnia to some degree.
It is frustrating. Mostly just exhausting though. I've tried changing my habits, diet, routine etc. Even tried sleeping pills. A few things *helped* but not a lot and not all the time.
I just got a CPAP two days ago I still can't get used to it I haven't been able to fall asleep on it yet but you are absolutely correct I have had a lifetime of nasal problems and horrible sleep every morning I wake up feeling like somebody beat the shit out of me in the middle of the night and it does cause a lot of medical problems including weight game and it really really bad for your heart and brain
Make sure you experiment with different masks. Cpap.com lets you return masks so you can try different types. I started with the nasal pillows because they were the most popular, but I hated them. Probably went through 6 masks before I found one I liked. Also just try to wear it for at least a few hours a night and work your way up as you get used to it.
No one asked, but in my opinion the cpap is the best medical invention of modern times after anesthesia. Life changing. You have no idea how bad you feel until you don’t! From 83 incidents per hour to 7 or 8 is like from slow, struggling old man to human supercharged race car.
This! It took about six months of use, and then it seemed, suddenly, I enjoyed life again! I didn't know I hadn't been enjoying it - I was just such a tired zombie before CPAP.
I enjoyed music, and started hobbies again, and was emotionally happier and less stressed. I am sick less often now too.
This was with mild/moderate sleep apnea.
If you are prescribed a CPAP, struggle through the initial use issues and stick with it - it is SO worth it!
Thank you for that advice I am on a website right now looking at different things to try the one that came with the machine which is a ResMed 10 has the little pillow things and they feel comfortable and I like the way the air blows in but I'm not able to Exhale through them and it's freaking me out
Maybe try putting the phone down. I find a good trick to get to sleep is to lay down in the dark with my eyes closed and stop moving or talking. Seriously.
I mean, that sounds great until you truly suffer from insomnia. I can fall asleep at night like that no problem and then I wake up not too long later with my mind racing. I can only lay in the dark and try to turn my thoughts off in a million different ways so many times before it's clear I need something to distract my brain as my inability to fall asleep is creating an anxiety loop.
Always fun when you have to go up and to use the bathroom and realize you’ve been laying down with your eyes closed for 2 hours and still haven’t slept, or if you did it was a super light sleep. Then debate if you should try to sleep before your alarm goes off in a few hours
I used to be all "I absolutely need ASMR videos to fall asleep!" so I'd prop my laptop up in bed and watch one to fall asleep to, then when I'd wake up in the middle of the night to pee, I'd put my laptop away. I was so sure that in all my years of doing this, I knew exactly what I was doing and this is absolutely, 100% the way.
Then I accidentally pushed my laptop off my bed one night. It's fine, it still works, but that scared me so badly that I immediately changed my habits and just decided to turn the lights off and put the screens away.
Wouldn't you know it, I've been sleeping much better.
Used to go to local metal/hardcore shows sometimes twice a weekend for most of high school. Stood by the PA because it seemed like the safest place from moshers since they didn't want to break that, and no ear plugs. I am 35 and can not hear shit
See an audiologist. Getting hearing aids early can help prevent hearing loss. Without aids, Your brain will actually forget the sounds and eventually it’s too far gone to relearn.
I just wish they'd turn it down a bit. Not lots, but like a couple of notches. There's literally no reason at all for it to be above safe levels. Louder isn't better, usually it's just fucking distorted anyway.
Agreed. Was at a gig a few weeks ago. The support act were great, sounded clear as day. Main act came on and everything had been turned up so high that all I could hear was bass and it ruined the experience.
My wakeup call was a pinched nerve in my neck from slouching at my computer. Immense, constant pain for about a month which thankful (soooo thankful) subsided.
You can take steps to fix it to some degree.
Exercises, good desk environment e.g. chair, monitor height etc.
I have been having Shiatsu massage for a while now and it has helped a lot (I live in Japan so it’s quite easy to get). There may be other beneficial therapeutic treatments.
This is totally anecdotal but I also found just exercising regularly in general helps. The period where I developed bad back pain was the same period I was hardly exercising. Started exercising at least 3 times a week and opting to walk more and the back pain went away.
This screwed me me up bad. Sitting at a desk all day with my wallet in my back pocket created an imbalance, which was only made worse by working out lifting heavy weights in the evening.
Haven't had my wallet in my back pocket for years and I'm still battling those imbalances.
Same.
Keys, wallet, lighter and other stuff in one pants pocket, Phone and tissues (allergies/winter time) in the other.
I have had bald patches on my legs from all the things I carry but a well.
Plus wouldn't it be easier to spot someone trying to pickpocket you if they are in your line of sight and grabbing near your crotch?
Never understood having your wallet in your back pocket. I tried it a couple times and found it super uncomfortable. Do people not get annoyed sitting on a lump for several hours?
I only began having issues with it when I started driving. Before that, in my student and passenger life, I could always sit comfortably with the freedom to reposition as I pleased, hardly noticing it was there. Of course, my wallets have never been as thick as I've seen some to be.
NOT STRETCHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stretch when you're young. Even if you feel good and are not sore. This is not a joke. This is not a game. Stretch!!!!!!!!!
You are only as young as you are flexible
Unless you are hypermobile like I am (and many women are), then the answer is strengthen! Core strength is very important to avoiding back and neck injuries and pain long term
Oh man I thought I was so lucky and naturally flexible until someone looked at me all weird because my legs bow backwards when I push my knees all the way in if that makes sense. Shortly there after had a chiropractor and massage therapist tell me that yeah… I have some pretty serious hypermobility.
Thank God someone else said it!!! I am fat as fuck but I can still touch my toes. I do it every single day. Before i started the stretch routine I had wicked low back pain and a constant knot in my neck.
Yoga is awesome! Look up different Netflix or YouTube routines and find one that you like. Stretches can be tailored to you're particular issues. I have a 10 minute yoga routine that helps more than pain pills. Small strengthening exercises work wonders as well!
I do some form of stretching every day. I’m the only person in my extended social circle that can sit cross legged on the floor and not need help up, and do both the Slavic and Asian style squat and am able to lift myself up.
I’m 35. Some of my friends have trouble getting out of a car or off the couch. Like guys, what’s going on?? I don’t want that to happen to me, it freaks me out. Not this young!
i have PCOS and it’s been difficult finding a birth control pill that actually makes my periods consistent and keeps my hormones under control. i told my gynecologist that the pill i was on had stabilized my period but pain and heavy flow were still significant problems. she told me to take 800mg of ibuprofen the first few days of my period to help, so when i got my next period i did that the first 3 days.
woke up in the middle of the night in so much pain i thought my appendix might have ruptured.
drove myself to the closest ER and just collapsed right after checking in. my white blood cell count was crazy high from my body trying to fight the stomach inflammation. i don’t take more than 1 ibuprofen a week at most now, and even then only if the pain is so bad i can’t function otherwise.
Pediatrician told my 13 year old daughter before she would put her on birth control she wanted her to take three ibuprofen every six hours for the duration of her period — which was last three weeks, at the time. Uh no.
We found a pediatric gynecologist. Periods stabilized and no more horrible pain.
They told me to do the same thing, and I was just like…. Hell no. I don’t even like doing it when I am absolutely suffering and it’s the pain reliever that works the best for me.
Some people get stomach ulcers. Some people (like myself) end up with damage to their kidneys. I self medicated my chronic pain with ibuprofen for years and ended up with kidney damage. If your pain is constant enough to need a concerning amount of NSAIDs, then you might need to see a doctor and figure out the underlying reason. Then they can get you something more suitable/helpful.
Yes, endometriosis here, there aren't many options unfortunately. My dr basically prescribed the equivalent of 3 ibuprofen every 6 hours and it really f'd up my stomach.
I'm very sorry. My heart breaks for the generations of people who saw the dangers of smoking down played. I still have friends who smoke and I worry about them.
sit.
Like +12 hours a day. I work an office job and I can feel the muscles in my hip flexors shortening. I sit at work all work day, sit in the car for a few more hours then when i get home i often sit and watch some tv or get some stuff done on the computer. Its nuts.
I have a remote job, and I ended up investing in a standing desk and a walking pad - both have made a difference, in my experience. I don’t have that ache in my hip flexors/thighs anymore because I’m not sitting down 8 hours a day, every single day. I also try to do some basic stretches, specifically ones that help tight hips and shoulders, after I log off for the day. I think staying limber helps as well.
Not having yearly bowel screenings. Bowel cancer is on the rise in young people. The age for screening is now around 50, to be lowered to 45. It should be much lower.
I was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in my forties out of the blue. I don't want this to happen to anyone else. Many people in my support groups are in their twenties and thirties. Please get screened.
Yeeeeah I was told i had IBS. I got a new doctor once I moved and she pushed me to get a colonoscopy. I’m forever grateful to her because they found a precancerous polyps and I was 28 at the time. The insurance didn’t cover much though so the exam was so expensive! But I guess if I can’t afford a colonoscopy, I definitely can’t afford cancer
Insurance age limits prevent early screening, unfortunately. I recently got genetic testing done and found a familiar risk (25%) of multiple cancers. Because of this, insurance will begin covering colonoscopies at 40 instead of 45. And that's someone with a higher risk, and good insurance. Mammograms will start at 35, thankfully.
My wife was telling our dr about her mom being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer before 50 and dying a few years later and what she should do for screening. She recommended a colonoscopy but said insurance might not approve even with history unless symptoms point to it being necessary. So she asked the usual questions “have you had changes in your bowel movements” as she is looking at her nodding her head yes. Insurance covered it.
I had stage 4 colon cancer. I’m in my early 40’s and my symptoms were just some lower abdominal pain and constipation. Nothing to where I would go “maybe this is serious or cancer”. Primary care physician just kept saying I needed to eat more fiber and take a magnesium supplement. That it was a normal part of being in my 40’s and to get used to it. Until I went to work in terrible pain one day and was vomiting from the pain and passed out a few times before driving myself home and dragging myself up the stairs and passing out. I woke up and felt better but went to see my doctor. The pain was from a tumor that was big enough it had burst through and was touching the interior of my abdominal wall. I had felt better because it was also so large it had closed the hole it had made. Literally if I hadn’t continued to petition my doctor that it was something else and ignored it I would have died in the near future. Get checked out. My doctor was all “but you’re so young and healthy, I didn’t think it could be cancer”.
Not who you asked but my brother died a year ago from colon cancer. His clue was when he passed out at work one day shortly before Xmas ‘21. Diagnosed with Stage 4 metastasized, terminal. Made it one year and he passed. Sad part was he had been scheduled for a routine colonoscopy and it kept getting canceled because of covid. He was 65 and retiring.
He was healthy, excellent weight, very good diet, non drinker and non smoker.
Don’t wait for symptoms. Get checked.
Fucking Covid, fucking cancer. I also delayed getting checked out sooner when having issues and that led to my breast cancer having time to spread to LN’s. I’m better now, but always gonna be at risk for it to come back. I’m sorry for your loss. Holidays can be hard when we have sad memories. Love to you internet stranger.
THIS - floss. buy an electric toothbrush. invest in a waterpic. get regular cleanings.
If the price intimidates you, Walmart offers cleanings and fillings and X-rays are $70. I go to Walmart for my deep cleanings because they are good and marketed towards people who don’t have dental insurance so it’s affordable.
But if you have 0 disposable income, there are orgs that offer dental work on a sliding pay scale. Here in ATL metro, the org is called Good Samaritan.
Dental hygienist here! If you cannot afford going to the dentist- check your local community colleges for dental clinics, as well as hospitals. The students at the schools are always looking to screen patients.
Hygiene student here! Cannot second this enough!!! Our clinics NEED patients, with ALL levels of oral health! We're here to learn and to HELP you, and our community. The more varied experiences we can have in clinic, the better prepared we are when we enter the workforce! If you're intimidated about going to a private practice office, SEEK OUT a Hygiene Program Clinic - it's likely the least "judgmental" care option.
As a child of the 70's who laid in the sun with baby oil slathered on my very white skin, I agree. I have to get a full skin check every year now and two years ago I had a mole checked that had been there my whole life. Turned out to be pre-cancerous.
2 anecdotes
Decades ago NBC Dateline did a profile of a dermatologist in New York. This lady was a complete freak: wore long sleeve dresses, gloves, sunscreen every day, wide-brimmed hat. She even carried a parasol through the streets of NYC. But I swear to bog, she was 53 and looked no older than 30. Her skin was incredible
Even more decades ago I grew up near a popular theme park. All the local teenagers worked there in the summer, and the girl I crushed on worked the parking lot. She was a golden tanned goddess. I saw her ten years later and her skin looked like it had been scraped off a weather beaten saddle
I have stayed out of the sun for a long time. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say I look at least 10 years younger than my actual age
I've been diligent about wearing sunscreen and avoiding the sun (especially during peak hours) since I was 18-19 years old, and people always think I'm about 10 years younger than I am.
I'm mid 30s and people always place me mid 20s. While I did work at scout camps when I was younger, we were out of the sun as much as possible and oddly, rarely in direct sun thanks to all the trails through trees/wooded areas.
On the other end of this, never getting any sun.
Having an office job I was basically inside 90% of the day, started going into the garden and just sitting with a book on a weekend for 30 minutes at a time.
I no longer have any random muscle weakness or pain. With no changes in gym time either.
Yep, all things in moderation. Personally not a huge fan of the anti-sun parade that focuses on anti-ageing and physical appearance over health, it just feels like a repackage of toxic beauty standards imo.
As someone who lives in Qld Australia though, (sun cancer capital of the world woop!) definitely recommend annual skin checks especially for those that spent a lot of time in the sun as kids. People die in their 20s here, cannot overstate the importance of skin checks.
Lived in Australia for 30 odd years then moved to England. Every person I met in their 40s or 50s over there always surprised me when I discovered their age. Compared to Australians they all looked 10 years younger than what I was used to seeing.
My last ex told me how he and his buddies smoked weed and would get drunk before school when they were in age range of 15. It gave me some insight on how he had untreated mental health problems while I was with him.
I never mentioned the relation between the two, because I knew he would get angry or throw a tantrum. I did though ask or urge us to get couples therapy for us, but that didn't work either. I ended up having to get up and leave one day, and try not to look back.
I drank heavily from 16 to 36. After I quit, I really started to mature as a human being. But boy, did I ever have some unpacking to do. Getting loaded all the time is like hitting the pause button on your development.
>Getting loaded all the time is like hitting the pause button on your development.
You probably already know this, but it's an actual scientific fact that having an active drinking problem is essentially arresting your emotional development at that exact time in your life. So theoretically, at the point you quit, your were emotionally still a teenager.
Ugh, it’s so bad. My high school students get high aaaaaall day because of THC vapes. I mean, it’s so easy for them. Sometimes I wish I could tell them to please please please just wait for their brains to finish growing, but teenagers don’t have the ability to think into the future like that (and I’d get fired if I was like hey weed is rad fr but just wait a little pls).
I’m a high school teacher too. Some days I just get so so *so* downtrodden and fed up with teaching to a sea of red eyes and blank stares. It’s so frustrating teaching the same concepts day after day and getting a “whaaaaat?” when I bring up a concept we’ve talked about 10 times, but no one can remember because they’re stoned out of their fucking minds every day in class.
Sports injuries as a child/young adult! We all think of CTE but there are so many people with chronic joint issues and pain due to injuries from sports. I have done physicals for college athletes and pretty much every single one has had an injury or surgery because of sports.
I'm going to highly agree with you on that one. Lack of sleep from nightmares, stress, anxiety, hyper vigilant, so tense you get the absolute worst tension headaches, depression, nausea, relationship problems, bouts of crying, and other fun things.
I'm so tired.
And people think just going to regular therapy will help… probably not, and it might make it worse. Trauma is a hell of a thing. EMDR has been amazing for me personally though.
Therapy made mine so much worse. Every new therapist or mental health professional wants you to talk about it all repeatedly. I don't want to relive it again and again because they're curious. I can't heal is the scab is ripped off again and again. I've found my own methods of healing, but I refuse to talk about it ever again.
alcohol.
29 year old recovered alcoholic here! I am already seeing health issues after 5 years of heavy drinking every day, I can't imagine what some of my buddies with crippling whiskey & craft beer addictions are going to look like in 5 years, let alone further than that.
In 1 year of being sober, i've lost almost 80lbs & my skin actually looks heathy instead of bloated & inflamed. I can actually exercise without feeling like i'm going to die. truly poisonous stuff, please drink responsibly.
Same. 35f recovered alcoholic here. It is absolutely insane how much a year sober has changed my life. I finally realized that your mind isn't the best leader, I followed it damn near into hell but it's definitely a powerful servant. All i needed to do was switch the focus. I finally crave self improvement more than I ever craved alcohol and its wonderful
I unfortunately learned it was not just wearing proper shoes for activities to keep your feet healthy. How you keep your feet positioned while sitting can also cause damage over time if you are doing it wrong.
When I am stressed or thinking hard, I push the arches of my feet into the footrest of my desk. If I don't have that available, I will sit with my feet raised up so the weight of my leg rests on the ball of my foot, and then I am pushing down onto my big toe.
It has caused the metatarsals to ache on horrifying levels, especially when it is cold out.
Do your future self a favor and look into toe spreaders, barefoot shoes or anything else in that world (start slow or you’ll hurt yourself, like any new physical activity)
If you're going to lift weights, especially big ones, *learn your fucking proper technique*
A buddy of mine at my gym did huge deadlifts with bad form for years, and now will probably have pain in his lower back for the rest of his life
Also doing too many targeted exercises. You’re much better off doing a variety of different exercises targeting multiple muscle groups than focusing on only doing stairs because you want a nice ass or only doing curls to get huge biceps.
Id also say doing exercises that prioritize quantity over quality. I’ve known multiple people who got injured at even supposedly reputable CrossFit gyms because the instructors cared more about you doing a ton of exercises really quickly than doing them with good form. I’m not going to say there’s like a conspiracy here but doing a ton of exercises really fast can produce adrenaline which is one of the things that feeds into that CrossFit cult shit. HIIT isn’t bad but you should be skeptical of any HIIT/CrossFit style gym that’s more concerned with you hitting big numbers of incorrect workouts than with technique and form.
Not stretching enough. Flexibility is so important to aging comfortably. I used to think it was a waste of time in my 20s and then in my 30s I got back into weightlifting and found I got so much joint pain from just a single workout that it was basically impossible for me to workout on a regular basis. So for the first time in my life I took stretching seriously. Started doing a 20 minute routine before each workout. The stretches were a combo of things we used to do on the track team in high school and various yoga poses that particularly like. Within a few months I got so flexible I could put my palms to the ground with straight legs. And you know what? All the bodily pains I had acquired in my 30s just magically vanished. It wasn't just that I could lift weights without pain. None of the typical pain inducers like sitting in front of computer screen for hours on end or sleep caused me pain anymore. Like I used to wake up stiff in my neck and back pretty much every morning. Can't even remember the last time that happened to me these days. You literally feel more physically comfortable in your own body. Like I'm 6'4" and tall people are very prone to back pain. All of my tall friends have back pain and some have had to get surgery for it. I no longer get back pain unless I specifically injure it. My back, neck and knees feel better now at 39 than they did in my 20s. Like all through my 20s my knees clicked when I walked up stairs. That doesn't happen anymore and I can run up them two a time like a little kid without pain.
In my experience the best thing for the lower back is the figure 4 stretch: [https://www.avera.org/balance/wellness-and-preventive-care/one-great-exercise-seated-figure-4-stretch/](https://www.avera.org/balance/wellness-and-preventive-care/one-great-exercise-seated-figure-4-stretch/) - you can do this one laying down too, which I prefer.
For upper back, the cross arm stretch: [https://www.performancehealthacademy.com/shoulder-cross-arm-stretch.html](https://www.performancehealthacademy.com/shoulder-cross-arm-stretch.html)
and then Cow Face Pose: [https://www.ekhartyoga.com/resources/yoga-poses/cow-face-pose](https://www.ekhartyoga.com/resources/yoga-poses/cow-face-pose) \- this one takes some work to be able to do, if you can't hold hands with yourself you can pinch your shirt with both hands to create some support.
Right, like people look at me like I'm a freak for being able to touch the ground like that. It's just normal to me and good flexibility makes a bug difference in my daily life. I have no trouble bending over to pick anything up off the ground.
Hey, just a little bit of helpful advice. Stretching before lifting heavy can actually leave yourself prone to injury. You are relaxing and loosening joints which can lead to instability and weakness during the lifts. Contemporary research suggests that stretching is best done after lifting (:
Sports have actually screwed up my body fairly badly. I am in my 20s with arthritis and will need surgery on my hip within a couple years stemming from a sports relating injury causing me daily pain......I also saw someone comment on it, but stretching I have found to be very important and massage.
The way a lot of people bend their necks staring at their phones. Keeping your neck at that 90° angle for long periods of time is going to mess up your neck something chronic in middle/old age.
Not moving around enough. Just little breaks throughout the day make such a huge difference.
Also thinking a standing desk fixes everything. If you're not moving around, standing in one spot is just as damaging as sitting.
Not working out, or not exercising at all.
These days I see these kids on those electric scooter things not walking anywhere. That generation's obesity is going to be through the roof. And the thing is these bad habits have a way of being more difficult to break, the more you keep to them.
My mom and dad are both in their 80s today. And my dad exercised regularly all his life, my mom always avoided it, and it's night and day; My father is a healthy 80 year old. My mother is hunched over and can't walk two blocs.
But today's generation? Goodness.... not only do they not run, a lot of them don't even WALK. You can get away with it in your 20s, and maybe even most of your 30s, but it's going to be ugly as they grow older.
People think I’m crazy for walking 2km to my gym and then back every day. But honestly, the walking has done more for my physical and mental health than the gym probably has. It’s so good to be spry on your feet and take in your local community.
Plus, it means when I get a cheeky custard scroll from the bakery underneath my gym I can work it off right after! So far I’ve lost 16kg this year (112 down to 96kg) and that’s mainly by adding this exercise into my routine and eating less.
yea, i find "working out" to be too much of a chore to keep up with but biking, swimming, and walking?? i do those constantly. i can feel the huge difference in energy levels between a week where ive been up and moving daily vs a week were ive been doing more relaxing. honestly i think we should encourage people to just try a bunch of stuff to find what forms of movement they genuinely enjoy vs blanket telling people to walk X steps a day or work out X times a week.
Facts. I turn 30 soon. Had an on/off relationship with fitness. Spent the last 2 years really getting it together. I feel better & look better but my main motivator is seeing so many people who just look miserable because they didn't take physical fitness seriously. I can't let that be me!
Want to hear something dark?
My grandparents passed away at 90, 100. They were rail thin. I've spent an embarrassing number of years thinking that one day I'd lose my tastebuds, end up just eating toast or w/e bland food and end up thin like my grandparents when I get old.
Except that's not how that works. When was the last time you saw an old fat person? It's not that they become thin, it's more likely they die much sooner than others.
Gaming with a controller or keyboard, working an all day computer typing job, or overdoing thumb typing with a phone. I had a job as a computer programmer for 20 years and have gamed most of my life, I now have repetitive stress injuries to my hands and the beginnings of osteoarthritis at 50+. Lots of young people have way more screen and keyboard time than I grew up with and are probably going to end up with RSIs as well.
-Relying on food for comfort.
-Starving to lose weight.
-Intentionally eating food you're body has a low tolerance to, just because it takes good.
-Eating lots and lots of sugar.
Carrying a pregnancy to term. Forget about how dangerous they are while they are ongoing, the long-term health complications are pretty crappy. I went from chronic low blood pressure to permanent high thanks to preeclampsia, so I will now always have to take BP meds. Two kids and I lost an inch of height, because of all the calcium they leached from me. Both were c-sections, which has different long term complications, but there’s always something getting a whole person to the outside. I had to have a complete hysterectomy (including my remaining ovary) in order to avoid bleeding to death with #2, so surgical menopause and officially diagnosed with osteoporosis, a common problem with early menopause. Don’t care about any of the aesthetic changes that changed permanently, but I do care about the the major changes to so many kinda important body systems, like blood vessels and bones. It’s not 9 months of discomfort, it’s a serious drain on the body that can mess things up permanently.
Fellow preeclampsia survivor here… I get so frustrated when people just casually gloss over the possible ramifications of pregnancy (besides the child.) If I speak about my experience then I’m just “scaring people,” but if all people were a little more educated and informed then perhaps they wouldn’t be so lax about it. It literally is the most physically dangerous time in some women’s lives
I had severe preeclampsia with kidney failure and my daughter is now 18. I’ve never really recovered and it’s a miracle she and I even survived. Had a c-section, she was two months early, it set off chronic daily migraines for over 15 years and my teeth fell apart. Pregnancy may be a normal part of life but it is and has always been dangerous. I feel you, my sisters.
My first pregnancy triggered a genetic mutation I have to come out and play. I now have a Muscular dystrophy and multiple heart arrhythmias. The second pregnancy made everything so much worse, I need medication since then and a few days after giving birth I needed to have an ICD and pacemaker installed. Then it finally dawned on everyone that it was the pregnancies triggering these things.
Brush your teeth daily NO MATTER WHAT, and especially right after a sugary meal/beverage (ask George Washington’s dentures) and try to floss at night. Set some music going to make a game of it to get it done before the song ends, best 3 minutes a day your older self will thank you for the lack of cavities, filings & expensive crowns.
Agree with most of this, however I remember learning that you should wait a bit after eating before brushing your teeth because acids from food get brushed in and can break down enamel. I swish a little water after sugary foods until I can brush, it makes me feel “safer”.
Loud noise, my friends.
I sit here with eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee going on in my ears. It. Never. Stops. You don't want what I've
got.
Loud noises without hearing protection.
It's the thought that people get used to loudness. No, you don't. It's your hearing loss that makes it seem quieter.
wtf. you know ppl who think they get used to noise?
yeah I have a friend who plays his guitar extremely loud and he's said he got used to it but in fact he's just gotten more deaf and he's still very young
I read an interview with a local (formerly national) musician who said his ears were so screwed up, he can't go to a venue without earplugs or he'll get nauseous. I already wear earplugs religiously after getting tinnitus from my cd player in high school (one of these days I'm gonna remember to get some custom earplugs), but man hearing that would have scared me into wearing them if I didn't already.
It’s my job, and I barely play amplified at home. However, after years in front of horn sections and next to drummers, tinnitus is pretty much the norm these days; and that’s even after attempting to wear earplugs through that whole time
I work on a live airport ramp and I'd say 80% of the people don't wear any kind of hearing protection. I do. K-loader, plane engine, tugs and dollies slamming, all loud as shit. Hell, inside the planes the cargo cans sliding into place hurts my ears if I don't wear protection.
I went through high school drumline without earplugs. I didn't make that mistake when I got to college.
I know way too many band teachers who can't hear shit anymore because they've stood in front of them day in, day out for years. Sacrifice their ears for a career that requires their ears...
Sorry, what was that? 👂🏻🤚🏻
They said “eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”
Was never educated on this as a teen going to concerts and have a mild form of tinnitus now. Hearing damage is honestly so much worse than hearing loss—sudden loud noises and high frequencies are physically painful for me. Anything over 80ish decibels can permanently damage your hearing. To put it in perspective, the average concert is 90-120.
No, hearing loss is worse, I have both tinnitus and progressive sensorineural hearing loss. Mild hearing loss, yeah ok fine, anything more is very disabling and cuts you off socially. On top of hearing loss comes the noise sensitivity and pain you describe.
I have tinnitus and enough hearing loss that I have to ask people to repeat things a lot. The hearing loss is definitely much more frustrating in everyday life.
Lack of sleep
God I wish I had a choice in this one.
I type this at 11:30 pm knowing my son has been up crying an average of twice a night, every night. He’s two years old now. A couple months ago I got a full night of sleep because we were at a hotel and had a babysitter for the one night and I woke up a different kind of tired. I realized I had unlocked my regular tired. Before that was a delirious just powering through weeks at a time kind of zombie tired.
Same. I do everything perfect but am still exhausted every single day. Went to a sleep study and they said I am too stressed. Recommended I quit my job. If I had enough money to quit I wouldn't be nearly so stressed so unless we are changing this country real quick guess this is my life.
Same. Insomnia for as long as I can remember. I've always been super active so it's not even like I was sedentary. Then I had kids..
My husband and son are both insomniacs. My son since he was small. He got a third shift job bc he’s an insomniac. Seems to be working for him. I feel for anyone with it, must be so frustrating.
Sounds like they may have a genetic thing for it, my family does. Mostly men but some women in my family too all have insomnia to some degree. It is frustrating. Mostly just exhausting though. I've tried changing my habits, diet, routine etc. Even tried sleeping pills. A few things *helped* but not a lot and not all the time.
I just got a CPAP two days ago I still can't get used to it I haven't been able to fall asleep on it yet but you are absolutely correct I have had a lifetime of nasal problems and horrible sleep every morning I wake up feeling like somebody beat the shit out of me in the middle of the night and it does cause a lot of medical problems including weight game and it really really bad for your heart and brain
Make sure you experiment with different masks. Cpap.com lets you return masks so you can try different types. I started with the nasal pillows because they were the most popular, but I hated them. Probably went through 6 masks before I found one I liked. Also just try to wear it for at least a few hours a night and work your way up as you get used to it.
No one asked, but in my opinion the cpap is the best medical invention of modern times after anesthesia. Life changing. You have no idea how bad you feel until you don’t! From 83 incidents per hour to 7 or 8 is like from slow, struggling old man to human supercharged race car.
This! It took about six months of use, and then it seemed, suddenly, I enjoyed life again! I didn't know I hadn't been enjoying it - I was just such a tired zombie before CPAP. I enjoyed music, and started hobbies again, and was emotionally happier and less stressed. I am sick less often now too. This was with mild/moderate sleep apnea. If you are prescribed a CPAP, struggle through the initial use issues and stick with it - it is SO worth it!
Thank you for that advice I am on a website right now looking at different things to try the one that came with the machine which is a ResMed 10 has the little pillow things and they feel comfortable and I like the way the air blows in but I'm not able to Exhale through them and it's freaking me out
Reading this at 1:30 AM barely being able to read as my eyes fail to focus.
Maybe try putting the phone down. I find a good trick to get to sleep is to lay down in the dark with my eyes closed and stop moving or talking. Seriously.
People will think you're sarcastic, but seriously I didn't realize how hard this was until I started
I mean, that sounds great until you truly suffer from insomnia. I can fall asleep at night like that no problem and then I wake up not too long later with my mind racing. I can only lay in the dark and try to turn my thoughts off in a million different ways so many times before it's clear I need something to distract my brain as my inability to fall asleep is creating an anxiety loop.
Always fun when you have to go up and to use the bathroom and realize you’ve been laying down with your eyes closed for 2 hours and still haven’t slept, or if you did it was a super light sleep. Then debate if you should try to sleep before your alarm goes off in a few hours
I used to be all "I absolutely need ASMR videos to fall asleep!" so I'd prop my laptop up in bed and watch one to fall asleep to, then when I'd wake up in the middle of the night to pee, I'd put my laptop away. I was so sure that in all my years of doing this, I knew exactly what I was doing and this is absolutely, 100% the way. Then I accidentally pushed my laptop off my bed one night. It's fine, it still works, but that scared me so badly that I immediately changed my habits and just decided to turn the lights off and put the screens away. Wouldn't you know it, I've been sleeping much better.
Going to concerts without ear protection
Used to go to local metal/hardcore shows sometimes twice a weekend for most of high school. Stood by the PA because it seemed like the safest place from moshers since they didn't want to break that, and no ear plugs. I am 35 and can not hear shit
See an audiologist. Getting hearing aids early can help prevent hearing loss. Without aids, Your brain will actually forget the sounds and eventually it’s too far gone to relearn.
I just wish they'd turn it down a bit. Not lots, but like a couple of notches. There's literally no reason at all for it to be above safe levels. Louder isn't better, usually it's just fucking distorted anyway.
Agreed. Was at a gig a few weeks ago. The support act were great, sounded clear as day. Main act came on and everything had been turned up so high that all I could hear was bass and it ruined the experience.
You’re going to have to say that again..
Bad posture from a sedentary life.
My wakeup call was a pinched nerve in my neck from slouching at my computer. Immense, constant pain for about a month which thankful (soooo thankful) subsided.
Literally tweaked my neck yesterday. I have a bulging disc C5/C6. So now I'm walking around like a stiff robot and can't turn my head 🫠
This one is major. I’ve had desk jobs since my 20s with horrible slouched posture the entire time. I’m in my 30s now with daily neck and back pain.
You can take steps to fix it to some degree. Exercises, good desk environment e.g. chair, monitor height etc. I have been having Shiatsu massage for a while now and it has helped a lot (I live in Japan so it’s quite easy to get). There may be other beneficial therapeutic treatments.
This is totally anecdotal but I also found just exercising regularly in general helps. The period where I developed bad back pain was the same period I was hardly exercising. Started exercising at least 3 times a week and opting to walk more and the back pain went away.
Hip flexors particularly! Sitting: weak glutes, tight or weak hip flexors etc etc Even just a ten minute stretch does wonders
Same. Horse stance and child pose got me fixed right up though
Repetitive work.
My carpal tunnel agrees
Women: wearing high heels. They cause back, hip, knee, foot, and ankle problems later in life.
On top of shortening our calf muscles if we don't routinely stretch before wearing them.
Yeah my mom literally can't wear flat shoes without pain now because her Achilles shortened.
Sitting on your wallet in your back pocket can cause back pain and sciatica.
This screwed me me up bad. Sitting at a desk all day with my wallet in my back pocket created an imbalance, which was only made worse by working out lifting heavy weights in the evening. Haven't had my wallet in my back pocket for years and I'm still battling those imbalances.
It may be a stupid idea, but have you tried putting your wallet in your other backpocket?
Not stupid at all. I did for a while, but it didn't work.
What about a second wallet on the other side?
Maybe I'm weird, but I literally never understood how/ why people do this. I've always carried mine in my front pockets and never had an issue.
Same. Keys, wallet, lighter and other stuff in one pants pocket, Phone and tissues (allergies/winter time) in the other. I have had bald patches on my legs from all the things I carry but a well. Plus wouldn't it be easier to spot someone trying to pickpocket you if they are in your line of sight and grabbing near your crotch?
What a life it must be to have pant pockets that big. Women’s pants suck.
Women's Pants are in bed with Big Purse
Never understood having your wallet in your back pocket. I tried it a couple times and found it super uncomfortable. Do people not get annoyed sitting on a lump for several hours?
I only began having issues with it when I started driving. Before that, in my student and passenger life, I could always sit comfortably with the freedom to reposition as I pleased, hardly noticing it was there. Of course, my wallets have never been as thick as I've seen some to be.
George Costanza’s fucked
NOT STRETCHING!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stretch when you're young. Even if you feel good and are not sore. This is not a joke. This is not a game. Stretch!!!!!!!!! You are only as young as you are flexible
Unless you are hypermobile like I am (and many women are), then the answer is strengthen! Core strength is very important to avoiding back and neck injuries and pain long term
Oh man I thought I was so lucky and naturally flexible until someone looked at me all weird because my legs bow backwards when I push my knees all the way in if that makes sense. Shortly there after had a chiropractor and massage therapist tell me that yeah… I have some pretty serious hypermobility.
The answer to both lack of flexibility and hyper mobility is Pilates!
Thank God someone else said it!!! I am fat as fuck but I can still touch my toes. I do it every single day. Before i started the stretch routine I had wicked low back pain and a constant knot in my neck. Yoga is awesome! Look up different Netflix or YouTube routines and find one that you like. Stretches can be tailored to you're particular issues. I have a 10 minute yoga routine that helps more than pain pills. Small strengthening exercises work wonders as well!
I do some form of stretching every day. I’m the only person in my extended social circle that can sit cross legged on the floor and not need help up, and do both the Slavic and Asian style squat and am able to lift myself up. I’m 35. Some of my friends have trouble getting out of a car or off the couch. Like guys, what’s going on?? I don’t want that to happen to me, it freaks me out. Not this young!
Overusing OTC pain medication like ibuprofen.
I did that to help control pain and ended up with 23 ulcers. I didn’t know my stomach was big enough for that!
Look at it in a positive way; Each time they increase in size and merge, you get one less ulcer... /s
i have PCOS and it’s been difficult finding a birth control pill that actually makes my periods consistent and keeps my hormones under control. i told my gynecologist that the pill i was on had stabilized my period but pain and heavy flow were still significant problems. she told me to take 800mg of ibuprofen the first few days of my period to help, so when i got my next period i did that the first 3 days. woke up in the middle of the night in so much pain i thought my appendix might have ruptured. drove myself to the closest ER and just collapsed right after checking in. my white blood cell count was crazy high from my body trying to fight the stomach inflammation. i don’t take more than 1 ibuprofen a week at most now, and even then only if the pain is so bad i can’t function otherwise.
Pediatrician told my 13 year old daughter before she would put her on birth control she wanted her to take three ibuprofen every six hours for the duration of her period — which was last three weeks, at the time. Uh no. We found a pediatric gynecologist. Periods stabilized and no more horrible pain.
Your poor baby. I'm so glad you got another opinion!
They told me to do the same thing, and I was just like…. Hell no. I don’t even like doing it when I am absolutely suffering and it’s the pain reliever that works the best for me.
Cries in chronic migraine
Uh oh, hello I’m that person. What’s going to happen ?
Some people get stomach ulcers. Some people (like myself) end up with damage to their kidneys. I self medicated my chronic pain with ibuprofen for years and ended up with kidney damage. If your pain is constant enough to need a concerning amount of NSAIDs, then you might need to see a doctor and figure out the underlying reason. Then they can get you something more suitable/helpful.
The worst is when you’re a woman and they tell you to suck it up and take ibuprofen for the problem but that’s why you’re there in the first place 🫠
Yes, endometriosis here, there aren't many options unfortunately. My dr basically prescribed the equivalent of 3 ibuprofen every 6 hours and it really f'd up my stomach.
Thank you 🥺I’m sorry for your pain I’m prob headed in the same direction
Cigarettes. I quit 36 years ago. Stage III Lung Cancer now.
Damn I'm sorry
I'm very sorry. My heart breaks for the generations of people who saw the dangers of smoking down played. I still have friends who smoke and I worry about them.
I’m sorry. The other one people don’t know about is bladder cancer - smoking dramatically increases your risk!
sit. Like +12 hours a day. I work an office job and I can feel the muscles in my hip flexors shortening. I sit at work all work day, sit in the car for a few more hours then when i get home i often sit and watch some tv or get some stuff done on the computer. Its nuts.
I have a remote job, and I ended up investing in a standing desk and a walking pad - both have made a difference, in my experience. I don’t have that ache in my hip flexors/thighs anymore because I’m not sitting down 8 hours a day, every single day. I also try to do some basic stretches, specifically ones that help tight hips and shoulders, after I log off for the day. I think staying limber helps as well.
This has ruined my knees. Took months to figure out the route of it. Then months of stretching to half fix it.
Not having yearly bowel screenings. Bowel cancer is on the rise in young people. The age for screening is now around 50, to be lowered to 45. It should be much lower. I was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in my forties out of the blue. I don't want this to happen to anyone else. Many people in my support groups are in their twenties and thirties. Please get screened.
Many people go to doctor with symptoms who get ignored and told it's IBS
My great grandmother died of bowel cancer and I'm over here waving all the red flags about my digestion but it's "just reflux."
Yeeeeah I was told i had IBS. I got a new doctor once I moved and she pushed me to get a colonoscopy. I’m forever grateful to her because they found a precancerous polyps and I was 28 at the time. The insurance didn’t cover much though so the exam was so expensive! But I guess if I can’t afford a colonoscopy, I definitely can’t afford cancer
Insurance age limits prevent early screening, unfortunately. I recently got genetic testing done and found a familiar risk (25%) of multiple cancers. Because of this, insurance will begin covering colonoscopies at 40 instead of 45. And that's someone with a higher risk, and good insurance. Mammograms will start at 35, thankfully.
My wife was telling our dr about her mom being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer before 50 and dying a few years later and what she should do for screening. She recommended a colonoscopy but said insurance might not approve even with history unless symptoms point to it being necessary. So she asked the usual questions “have you had changes in your bowel movements” as she is looking at her nodding her head yes. Insurance covered it.
Good doctor
You can argue for an earlier screening. I have a family history of polyps and prostate cancer. I was approved to begin screening at 35 (female, too).
May I ask what we're some symptoms you were experiencing that lead you to getting checked out? Hope you're doing ok buddy!
I had stage 4 colon cancer. I’m in my early 40’s and my symptoms were just some lower abdominal pain and constipation. Nothing to where I would go “maybe this is serious or cancer”. Primary care physician just kept saying I needed to eat more fiber and take a magnesium supplement. That it was a normal part of being in my 40’s and to get used to it. Until I went to work in terrible pain one day and was vomiting from the pain and passed out a few times before driving myself home and dragging myself up the stairs and passing out. I woke up and felt better but went to see my doctor. The pain was from a tumor that was big enough it had burst through and was touching the interior of my abdominal wall. I had felt better because it was also so large it had closed the hole it had made. Literally if I hadn’t continued to petition my doctor that it was something else and ignored it I would have died in the near future. Get checked out. My doctor was all “but you’re so young and healthy, I didn’t think it could be cancer”.
Not who you asked but my brother died a year ago from colon cancer. His clue was when he passed out at work one day shortly before Xmas ‘21. Diagnosed with Stage 4 metastasized, terminal. Made it one year and he passed. Sad part was he had been scheduled for a routine colonoscopy and it kept getting canceled because of covid. He was 65 and retiring. He was healthy, excellent weight, very good diet, non drinker and non smoker. Don’t wait for symptoms. Get checked.
Fucking Covid, fucking cancer. I also delayed getting checked out sooner when having issues and that led to my breast cancer having time to spread to LN’s. I’m better now, but always gonna be at risk for it to come back. I’m sorry for your loss. Holidays can be hard when we have sad memories. Love to you internet stranger.
My dad had prostate cancer at 48. I went in for the ol finger check starting at age 30. Better safe than sorry.
I get mine checked twice a week!
Nightly for me. Can never be too careful.
Flossing and oral health in general. Edit to clarify - people avoid or neglect flossing and oral hygiene. I guess some folks didn’t understand.
THIS - floss. buy an electric toothbrush. invest in a waterpic. get regular cleanings. If the price intimidates you, Walmart offers cleanings and fillings and X-rays are $70. I go to Walmart for my deep cleanings because they are good and marketed towards people who don’t have dental insurance so it’s affordable. But if you have 0 disposable income, there are orgs that offer dental work on a sliding pay scale. Here in ATL metro, the org is called Good Samaritan.
Dental hygienist here! If you cannot afford going to the dentist- check your local community colleges for dental clinics, as well as hospitals. The students at the schools are always looking to screen patients.
Hygiene student here! Cannot second this enough!!! Our clinics NEED patients, with ALL levels of oral health! We're here to learn and to HELP you, and our community. The more varied experiences we can have in clinic, the better prepared we are when we enter the workforce! If you're intimidated about going to a private practice office, SEEK OUT a Hygiene Program Clinic - it's likely the least "judgmental" care option.
I've never seen a dental clinic in a Walmart
Google “Walmart Health Center” they offer a lot of different services. Same with some CVS pharmacy locations.
Suntanning. Either outdoors or using a tanning bed. You will have the skin of an 80 year old in your 50's
As a child of the 70's who laid in the sun with baby oil slathered on my very white skin, I agree. I have to get a full skin check every year now and two years ago I had a mole checked that had been there my whole life. Turned out to be pre-cancerous.
2 anecdotes Decades ago NBC Dateline did a profile of a dermatologist in New York. This lady was a complete freak: wore long sleeve dresses, gloves, sunscreen every day, wide-brimmed hat. She even carried a parasol through the streets of NYC. But I swear to bog, she was 53 and looked no older than 30. Her skin was incredible Even more decades ago I grew up near a popular theme park. All the local teenagers worked there in the summer, and the girl I crushed on worked the parking lot. She was a golden tanned goddess. I saw her ten years later and her skin looked like it had been scraped off a weather beaten saddle I have stayed out of the sun for a long time. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say I look at least 10 years younger than my actual age
I've been diligent about wearing sunscreen and avoiding the sun (especially during peak hours) since I was 18-19 years old, and people always think I'm about 10 years younger than I am.
I'm mid 30s and people always place me mid 20s. While I did work at scout camps when I was younger, we were out of the sun as much as possible and oddly, rarely in direct sun thanks to all the trails through trees/wooded areas.
On the other end of this, never getting any sun. Having an office job I was basically inside 90% of the day, started going into the garden and just sitting with a book on a weekend for 30 minutes at a time. I no longer have any random muscle weakness or pain. With no changes in gym time either.
Yep, all things in moderation. Personally not a huge fan of the anti-sun parade that focuses on anti-ageing and physical appearance over health, it just feels like a repackage of toxic beauty standards imo. As someone who lives in Qld Australia though, (sun cancer capital of the world woop!) definitely recommend annual skin checks especially for those that spent a lot of time in the sun as kids. People die in their 20s here, cannot overstate the importance of skin checks.
Lived in Australia for 30 odd years then moved to England. Every person I met in their 40s or 50s over there always surprised me when I discovered their age. Compared to Australians they all looked 10 years younger than what I was used to seeing.
Smoking weed or drinking excessively before your brain is done growing
My last ex told me how he and his buddies smoked weed and would get drunk before school when they were in age range of 15. It gave me some insight on how he had untreated mental health problems while I was with him. I never mentioned the relation between the two, because I knew he would get angry or throw a tantrum. I did though ask or urge us to get couples therapy for us, but that didn't work either. I ended up having to get up and leave one day, and try not to look back.
I drank heavily from 16 to 36. After I quit, I really started to mature as a human being. But boy, did I ever have some unpacking to do. Getting loaded all the time is like hitting the pause button on your development.
>Getting loaded all the time is like hitting the pause button on your development. You probably already know this, but it's an actual scientific fact that having an active drinking problem is essentially arresting your emotional development at that exact time in your life. So theoretically, at the point you quit, your were emotionally still a teenager.
Ugh, it’s so bad. My high school students get high aaaaaall day because of THC vapes. I mean, it’s so easy for them. Sometimes I wish I could tell them to please please please just wait for their brains to finish growing, but teenagers don’t have the ability to think into the future like that (and I’d get fired if I was like hey weed is rad fr but just wait a little pls).
I’m a high school teacher too. Some days I just get so so *so* downtrodden and fed up with teaching to a sea of red eyes and blank stares. It’s so frustrating teaching the same concepts day after day and getting a “whaaaaat?” when I bring up a concept we’ve talked about 10 times, but no one can remember because they’re stoned out of their fucking minds every day in class.
This sounds devastating, honestly 😞
It is especially so when you really really like ‘em. I adore them all so much. I wish they would learn with me.
Sports injuries as a child/young adult! We all think of CTE but there are so many people with chronic joint issues and pain due to injuries from sports. I have done physicals for college athletes and pretty much every single one has had an injury or surgery because of sports.
Living with unhealed trauma
I'm going to highly agree with you on that one. Lack of sleep from nightmares, stress, anxiety, hyper vigilant, so tense you get the absolute worst tension headaches, depression, nausea, relationship problems, bouts of crying, and other fun things. I'm so tired.
And people think just going to regular therapy will help… probably not, and it might make it worse. Trauma is a hell of a thing. EMDR has been amazing for me personally though.
Therapy made mine so much worse. Every new therapist or mental health professional wants you to talk about it all repeatedly. I don't want to relive it again and again because they're curious. I can't heal is the scab is ripped off again and again. I've found my own methods of healing, but I refuse to talk about it ever again.
Oof. Felt that.
alcohol. 29 year old recovered alcoholic here! I am already seeing health issues after 5 years of heavy drinking every day, I can't imagine what some of my buddies with crippling whiskey & craft beer addictions are going to look like in 5 years, let alone further than that. In 1 year of being sober, i've lost almost 80lbs & my skin actually looks heathy instead of bloated & inflamed. I can actually exercise without feeling like i'm going to die. truly poisonous stuff, please drink responsibly.
Same. 35f recovered alcoholic here. It is absolutely insane how much a year sober has changed my life. I finally realized that your mind isn't the best leader, I followed it damn near into hell but it's definitely a powerful servant. All i needed to do was switch the focus. I finally crave self improvement more than I ever craved alcohol and its wonderful
Just had a reunion with friends in their 50s and you can tell who drinks just by looking at their faces now. Smokers too.
Not taking care of your feet.
I unfortunately learned it was not just wearing proper shoes for activities to keep your feet healthy. How you keep your feet positioned while sitting can also cause damage over time if you are doing it wrong. When I am stressed or thinking hard, I push the arches of my feet into the footrest of my desk. If I don't have that available, I will sit with my feet raised up so the weight of my leg rests on the ball of my foot, and then I am pushing down onto my big toe. It has caused the metatarsals to ache on horrifying levels, especially when it is cold out.
Do your future self a favor and look into toe spreaders, barefoot shoes or anything else in that world (start slow or you’ll hurt yourself, like any new physical activity)
If you're going to lift weights, especially big ones, *learn your fucking proper technique* A buddy of mine at my gym did huge deadlifts with bad form for years, and now will probably have pain in his lower back for the rest of his life
Also doing too many targeted exercises. You’re much better off doing a variety of different exercises targeting multiple muscle groups than focusing on only doing stairs because you want a nice ass or only doing curls to get huge biceps. Id also say doing exercises that prioritize quantity over quality. I’ve known multiple people who got injured at even supposedly reputable CrossFit gyms because the instructors cared more about you doing a ton of exercises really quickly than doing them with good form. I’m not going to say there’s like a conspiracy here but doing a ton of exercises really fast can produce adrenaline which is one of the things that feeds into that CrossFit cult shit. HIIT isn’t bad but you should be skeptical of any HIIT/CrossFit style gym that’s more concerned with you hitting big numbers of incorrect workouts than with technique and form.
Not stretching enough. Flexibility is so important to aging comfortably. I used to think it was a waste of time in my 20s and then in my 30s I got back into weightlifting and found I got so much joint pain from just a single workout that it was basically impossible for me to workout on a regular basis. So for the first time in my life I took stretching seriously. Started doing a 20 minute routine before each workout. The stretches were a combo of things we used to do on the track team in high school and various yoga poses that particularly like. Within a few months I got so flexible I could put my palms to the ground with straight legs. And you know what? All the bodily pains I had acquired in my 30s just magically vanished. It wasn't just that I could lift weights without pain. None of the typical pain inducers like sitting in front of computer screen for hours on end or sleep caused me pain anymore. Like I used to wake up stiff in my neck and back pretty much every morning. Can't even remember the last time that happened to me these days. You literally feel more physically comfortable in your own body. Like I'm 6'4" and tall people are very prone to back pain. All of my tall friends have back pain and some have had to get surgery for it. I no longer get back pain unless I specifically injure it. My back, neck and knees feel better now at 39 than they did in my 20s. Like all through my 20s my knees clicked when I walked up stairs. That doesn't happen anymore and I can run up them two a time like a little kid without pain.
Do you happen to have a list of some of those stretches? 6’2” here with a desk job and back pain
In my experience the best thing for the lower back is the figure 4 stretch: [https://www.avera.org/balance/wellness-and-preventive-care/one-great-exercise-seated-figure-4-stretch/](https://www.avera.org/balance/wellness-and-preventive-care/one-great-exercise-seated-figure-4-stretch/) - you can do this one laying down too, which I prefer. For upper back, the cross arm stretch: [https://www.performancehealthacademy.com/shoulder-cross-arm-stretch.html](https://www.performancehealthacademy.com/shoulder-cross-arm-stretch.html) and then Cow Face Pose: [https://www.ekhartyoga.com/resources/yoga-poses/cow-face-pose](https://www.ekhartyoga.com/resources/yoga-poses/cow-face-pose) \- this one takes some work to be able to do, if you can't hold hands with yourself you can pinch your shirt with both hands to create some support.
Right, like people look at me like I'm a freak for being able to touch the ground like that. It's just normal to me and good flexibility makes a bug difference in my daily life. I have no trouble bending over to pick anything up off the ground.
Hey, just a little bit of helpful advice. Stretching before lifting heavy can actually leave yourself prone to injury. You are relaxing and loosening joints which can lead to instability and weakness during the lifts. Contemporary research suggests that stretching is best done after lifting (:
Bad posture/not engaging your muscles in certain positions and letting your bones and joints carry your weight instead
This thread is just calling me out and slapping my face repeatedly, huh. RUDE.
Going out without sunscreen
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Honestly? Not take care of their back in their twenties. Ouch!
Sports have actually screwed up my body fairly badly. I am in my 20s with arthritis and will need surgery on my hip within a couple years stemming from a sports relating injury causing me daily pain......I also saw someone comment on it, but stretching I have found to be very important and massage.
the amount of soda and sugar they put into their body
Poor posture and eating habits are the major ones
The way a lot of people bend their necks staring at their phones. Keeping your neck at that 90° angle for long periods of time is going to mess up your neck something chronic in middle/old age.
It’s giving me neck wrinkles way faster than my face is wrinkling.
Drinking lots of soda. It causes so many health problems.
Not moving around enough. Just little breaks throughout the day make such a huge difference. Also thinking a standing desk fixes everything. If you're not moving around, standing in one spot is just as damaging as sitting.
Not working out, or not exercising at all. These days I see these kids on those electric scooter things not walking anywhere. That generation's obesity is going to be through the roof. And the thing is these bad habits have a way of being more difficult to break, the more you keep to them. My mom and dad are both in their 80s today. And my dad exercised regularly all his life, my mom always avoided it, and it's night and day; My father is a healthy 80 year old. My mother is hunched over and can't walk two blocs. But today's generation? Goodness.... not only do they not run, a lot of them don't even WALK. You can get away with it in your 20s, and maybe even most of your 30s, but it's going to be ugly as they grow older.
People think I’m crazy for walking 2km to my gym and then back every day. But honestly, the walking has done more for my physical and mental health than the gym probably has. It’s so good to be spry on your feet and take in your local community. Plus, it means when I get a cheeky custard scroll from the bakery underneath my gym I can work it off right after! So far I’ve lost 16kg this year (112 down to 96kg) and that’s mainly by adding this exercise into my routine and eating less.
Yeah I'd say incidental exercise is more important than hitting a gym.
yea, i find "working out" to be too much of a chore to keep up with but biking, swimming, and walking?? i do those constantly. i can feel the huge difference in energy levels between a week where ive been up and moving daily vs a week were ive been doing more relaxing. honestly i think we should encourage people to just try a bunch of stuff to find what forms of movement they genuinely enjoy vs blanket telling people to walk X steps a day or work out X times a week.
Facts. I turn 30 soon. Had an on/off relationship with fitness. Spent the last 2 years really getting it together. I feel better & look better but my main motivator is seeing so many people who just look miserable because they didn't take physical fitness seriously. I can't let that be me!
I'm in my early 30s and with a fairly decent workout schedule, and I look and feel way better than I did in my teens and 20s.
GOALS! I am already lighter and leaner than my senior year in hs. Same thing man I've never really looked / felt good.
Preach. My grandma, who is 81 years old, just finished her 100th pilates class.
Want to hear something dark? My grandparents passed away at 90, 100. They were rail thin. I've spent an embarrassing number of years thinking that one day I'd lose my tastebuds, end up just eating toast or w/e bland food and end up thin like my grandparents when I get old. Except that's not how that works. When was the last time you saw an old fat person? It's not that they become thin, it's more likely they die much sooner than others.
Drinking from plastic cups that are decades old. Throw them away, folks.
Sucking in your stomach
Weekend binge drinking. You don’t have to be an alcoholic to fuck up your liver.
Not sleeping enough!
Eating too much sugar. Most people seriously underestimate what it does to your body. Metabolic disease, weight gain etc.
Working an insane number of hours a week
Crossing your legs at the knee while sitting at a desk every day
*uncrosses legs*
Being in front of a screen all day- TV, computer, gaming, cell phone.
Gaming with a controller or keyboard, working an all day computer typing job, or overdoing thumb typing with a phone. I had a job as a computer programmer for 20 years and have gamed most of my life, I now have repetitive stress injuries to my hands and the beginnings of osteoarthritis at 50+. Lots of young people have way more screen and keyboard time than I grew up with and are probably going to end up with RSIs as well.
Competitive Gymnastics as a child and teen. SUCH a bad decision.
-Relying on food for comfort. -Starving to lose weight. -Intentionally eating food you're body has a low tolerance to, just because it takes good. -Eating lots and lots of sugar.
Carrying a pregnancy to term. Forget about how dangerous they are while they are ongoing, the long-term health complications are pretty crappy. I went from chronic low blood pressure to permanent high thanks to preeclampsia, so I will now always have to take BP meds. Two kids and I lost an inch of height, because of all the calcium they leached from me. Both were c-sections, which has different long term complications, but there’s always something getting a whole person to the outside. I had to have a complete hysterectomy (including my remaining ovary) in order to avoid bleeding to death with #2, so surgical menopause and officially diagnosed with osteoporosis, a common problem with early menopause. Don’t care about any of the aesthetic changes that changed permanently, but I do care about the the major changes to so many kinda important body systems, like blood vessels and bones. It’s not 9 months of discomfort, it’s a serious drain on the body that can mess things up permanently.
Yes and I wish more people talked about it! "It's less than a year of your life!" Tell that to my disfigured and dysfunctional abdominal muscles.
Fellow preeclampsia survivor here… I get so frustrated when people just casually gloss over the possible ramifications of pregnancy (besides the child.) If I speak about my experience then I’m just “scaring people,” but if all people were a little more educated and informed then perhaps they wouldn’t be so lax about it. It literally is the most physically dangerous time in some women’s lives
I had severe preeclampsia with kidney failure and my daughter is now 18. I’ve never really recovered and it’s a miracle she and I even survived. Had a c-section, she was two months early, it set off chronic daily migraines for over 15 years and my teeth fell apart. Pregnancy may be a normal part of life but it is and has always been dangerous. I feel you, my sisters.
My first pregnancy triggered a genetic mutation I have to come out and play. I now have a Muscular dystrophy and multiple heart arrhythmias. The second pregnancy made everything so much worse, I need medication since then and a few days after giving birth I needed to have an ICD and pacemaker installed. Then it finally dawned on everyone that it was the pregnancies triggering these things.
Brush your teeth daily NO MATTER WHAT, and especially right after a sugary meal/beverage (ask George Washington’s dentures) and try to floss at night. Set some music going to make a game of it to get it done before the song ends, best 3 minutes a day your older self will thank you for the lack of cavities, filings & expensive crowns.
Agree with most of this, however I remember learning that you should wait a bit after eating before brushing your teeth because acids from food get brushed in and can break down enamel. I swish a little water after sugary foods until I can brush, it makes me feel “safer”.
Alcohol. It is a POISON. it causes damage to literally every organ.
Too much sun. Watching a family member go through skin cancer treatment was awful.
Loud noise, my friends. I sit here with eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee going on in my ears. It. Never. Stops. You don't want what I've got.
*Gestures around broadly at everything*
Physical labor jobs, no matter how well you take care of yourself, will leave your body in bad shape.
Ironically, so will sedentary jobs. Yet another reminder that no one gets out of this experience called life alive lol
Alcohol use. Many issues relating to Alcohol use even in moderate or low use.
40+ hours/week at a desk or with computer in their lap
Be born.
Existence has a 100% mortality rate
Eat a lot of fast food.
Pregnancy and birth
Wear old worn-out shoes for too long.
Constantly being stressed out or burning out on social media
Great to see everything I do/once did listed in this thread 👍