The Damn I'm Old Thread - Putting Up With Being a Geezer

[Duncan Glenday]

I broke my big toe playing volleyball of all things in Gym class when I was in high school. If it is broken there is not a lot you can do other than have it splinted and wrapped up. It was more debilitating than I would have expected.

I've broken 2 toes. One in high school, and one +25 years ago.

They never heal properly, and every so often, I'll get a sharp twinge of pain from one of the breaks.

[mozo-pg]

I broke my big toe last year. Everything is fine so far.

[SteveSly]

Oh ok. How old are you now? 61? I know you mentioned it on FB but I forgot.

63

[Garyhead]

Some good geezer news this afternoon. I haven’t started the Harley in a year…. Left arm partially paralyzed since May 3rd. Doing PT for three months now and today I fired it up and rode it around the block….looks like I might back on the road again in the future. Was also able to get the holiday decorations down from the attic after getting the bikes out of the way. Getting some sense of normalcy back into my life…..Hand surgeon wants me to try some Occupational Therapy first before a surgery is needed ….

[SteveSly]

I've broken 2 toes. One in high school, and one +25 years ago.

They never heal properly, and every so often, I'll get a sharp twinge of pain from one of the breaks.

I also broke my toe next to my big toe a few years ago and it hurts all the time. I have thought about looking into possible surgical solutions, but have to get the knee taken care of first.

[Jerjo]

A question regarding pain and inflammation. I've got areas with arthritis and tendinitis that pain and/or restrict me. A few, like the tendinitis in the back of my hands or the arthritis on my bad ankle or my left elbow, I am trying to treat with topical things like Tidl spray or the Biofreeze roll on. Does this stuff actually relieve the pain or just mask it, thus resulting in overtaxing those areas when I think I'm pain free?

[Shadow]

I think I've broken the pinky toe a couple times just walking into things. It probably hurts for about a week while healing.

[moecurlythanu]

Great to hear progress, Gary. Chin up and onward and upward.

[SteveSly]

A question regarding pain and inflammation. I've got areas with arthritis and tendinitis that pain and/or restrict me. A few, like the tendinitis in the back of my hands or the arthritis on my bad ankle or my left elbow, I am trying to treat with topical things like Tidl spray or the Biofreeze roll on. Does this stuff actually relieve the pain or just mask it, thus resulting in overtaxing those areas when I think I'm pain free?

I have similar issues with various body parts and have the same question. I have tried several of those products, but not really sure that they actually do anything. They can sometimes appear to relieve some pain, but not sure that they really work. The main ingredient in them is menthol which is the same thing found in cough drops and mentholatum ointment that many of our mothers used on us as kids. It produces a cooling sensation, but not sure how well it actually relieves pain despite what their marketing would have you believe.

[Rarebird]

This morning I suffered a little bit from pain in my back, though I've experienced much worse and actually I did expect it this time as well, consering I've did a lot of lifting my keyboards in order to put them on a new stand. My M-Audio keyboard is the heaviest, weigthing 21 kilo. I mostly lifted in from the old stand to the new one and back several times. The other 2 keyboards are much lighter with a weight under the 10 kilo mark, which I still can lift without much problems.

[markwoll]

An ankle thing on my left side has me in a boot. Grrr. But after just a couple of days it feels much better. Even with some short walks with the dog with my hiking boots on.
I kept getting early morning cramps in my foot that got the tendon that deals with lateral stability all inflamed. It twists my foot inward and I have to walk on it to get any relief I have to walk on it.
Having a demanding pup ( and a hard head ) kept me going on 2-3 mile walks a couple of times a day.
Some ibuprofen and 'rest' have made a difference. Plus not having an ankle cramp for a week have helped a huge amount. So far no shots ( just a dose pack ) and no talk of imaging or invasive stuff.
So Yay!.

[mozo-pg]

Middle aged men and Prog night. About once a month, I host a 'Prog Night'. Four buddies drop by my house and we feast on pizza. The music is like a book club. People bring their favourite and sometimes rare prog CDs. Each person has a turn to describe their music and play 1 or 2 tracks. We rotate in a circle. We just sit and absorb the loud and pleasant music. It's so much fun! One friend described it as a mini-vacation.

[mozo-pg]

I should add - I'm 62 - probably past middle age.

[Rarebird]

Middle aged men and Prog night. About once a month, I host a 'Prog Night'. Four buddies drop by my house and we feast on pizza. The music is like a book club. People bring their favourite and sometimes rare prog CDs. Each person has a turn to describe their music and play 1 or 2 tracks. We rotate in a circle. We just sit and absorb the loud and pleasant music. It's so much fun! One friend described it as a mini-vacation.

Sounds great.

[Shadow]

Middle aged men and Prog night. About once a month, I host a 'Prog Night'. Four buddies drop by my house and we feast on pizza. The music is like a book club. People bring their favourite and sometimes rare prog CDs. Each person has a turn to describe their music and play 1 or 2 tracks. We rotate in a circle. We just sit and absorb the loud and pleasant music. It's so much fun! One friend described it as a mini-vacation.

They have something like that around here at a high end stereo store. Second Saturday of each month from 4-6 they will list a genre and you bring records in to be played on stereos that you can't afford. Depending how many people show up depends how many songs get played from your records. They also cater with food and beer, sodas and water.

[ronmac]

This thread is beginning to depress me. I'm so thankful that I am generally healthy. Sure, I take cholesterol and blood pressure meds, but I can function and my doctor says I'm healthy.

[SteveSly]

Middle aged men and Prog night. About once a month, I host a 'Prog Night'. Four buddies drop by my house and we feast on pizza. The music is like a book club. People bring their favourite and sometimes rare prog CDs. Each person has a turn to describe their music and play 1 or 2 tracks. We rotate in a circle. We just sit and absorb the loud and pleasant music. It's so much fun! One friend described it as a mini-vacation.

We have a group of us here in Southwest Michigan who occasionally get together for prog night too. The host is a member on this forum. We have not done it in a while, but like you there are usually 3 to 5 of us who take turns picking out music to listen to. Usually quite a bit of beer or tequila is involved in our little get togethers, but it is always fun when we do it.

[Jerjo]

I did more reading and investigating on inflammation and pain relief. As I suspected, those topical ointments, sprays, and patches MASK the pain. They take away the pain and allow me to use whatever is hurting, but the underlying issue isn't really addressed. Inflammation can only be reduced by ingesting something like aspirin, Tylenol, or Ibuprofen, hot/cold treatment like ice packs, heating pads, or even just soaking in a tub or hot shower. A round of steroids can do it as well, though there are side effects to that I would rather avoid. So I'm going to take a hot bath tonight in a mix of Epsom crystals. Heating pad and ice packs are standing by. The PA I see for general health said being I have no stomach issues with Ibuprofen I could probably take 8 a day without worrying about internal damage. Getting old is a literal pain.

[Trane]

Middle aged men and Prog night. About once a month, I host a 'Prog Night'. Four buddies drop by my house and we feast on pizza. The music is like a book club. People bring their favourite and sometimes rare prog CDs. Each person has a turn to describe their music and play 1 or 2 tracks. We rotate in a circle. We just sit and absorb the loud and pleasant music. It's so much fun! One friend described it as a mini-vacation.

We have a group of us here in Southwest Michigan who occasionally get together for prog night too. The host is a member on this forum. We have not done it in a while, but like you there are usually 3 to 5 of us who take turns picking out music to listen to. Usually quite a bit of beer or tequila is involved in our little get togethers, but it is always fun when we do it.

We do that every six weeks in Southern Brussels - normally at 4 of us, but of late one has moved out to the Ardennesand settling in, so it's only the three of us in the last year.

We take turns at hosting the event, and also an occasion to pull out the Single malts and have a couple of drams, though we remain calm since we/they have to drive home.

Same dudes I hope to convince one day to play modern boardgames, once we'll be retired. Problem is that there is 14 years between the younger and the older, so it'll be a while before we'll all be there.

This thread is beginning to depress me. I'm so thankful that I am generally healthy. Sure, I take cholesterol and blood pressure meds, but I can function and my doctor says I'm healthy.

Yeah, I know... Even if I'm not problem-free, I'm not exactly keen on spreading my aches/pain/issues on the web, even in soft & discreet places like PE. I'm not sure I would tell tell around if I had a big problem, though.
But keeping tracks of people I like (even if I probably won't meet them in person) seems a bit like a duty.

I rarely see my GP (generally for colds & flu), but do see a specialist twice a year, and she's happy about my handling my condition (despite many Kg surplus), though I don't think I'm doing much effort, except for taking medication daily.

[Duncan Glenday]

This thread is beginning to depress me. I'm so thankful that I am generally healthy. Sure, I take cholesterol and blood pressure meds, but I can function and my doctor says I'm healthy.

Same here. I take only 1 prescription med (and can survive without it). At my 2-yearly physical last week, my doc. said I'm more healthy than most people she sees half my age.

I work to maintain that health with constant hard exercise, clean eating ... mostly , and minimizing stress at work, and I pray to whoever will listen that I'll be able to maintain that for a long time with no sudden surprises. (67yo.)

[Duncan Glenday]

I'll start a thread for people to discuss exercise and health routines. I think we've had a few before, but they died. Perhaps this one will too.

[Vic2012]

My painkiller is cannabis. I'm using it medicinally but I wright my own prescription....lol. only on weekends though, a tiny amount and my posture improves. Really.

[Vic2012]

Write, not wright.

[Duncan Glenday]

I'll start a thread for people to discuss exercise and health routines. I think we've had a few before, but they died. Perhaps this one will too.

https://www.progressiveears.org/foru...-Health-Thread

[Jerjo]

My painkiller is cannabis. I'm using it medicinally but I wright my own prescription....lol. only on weekends though, a tiny amount and my posture improves. Really.

I'm still trying to find a reliable form of the devil's lettuce that works for me.

My routine right now is walking. I tried cycling this summer, it aggravated my hips. Too bad, I did a lot of off road in my 40s and 50s. So now I walk. Someday I need to find a back specialist/therapist that can help me stabilize my back so I can get back to building my core (my old set of exercises for that just sets the rhomboids in my back into spasms).