I'm 32. Early this year I threw my lower back out pretty bad, which was the first time it had ever happened to me. I figured it was because my daughter is getting a little bigger now and I was still trying to lift her up with my back like she was an infant. But since then, I've thrown my lower back out probably four more times. Like fully thrown it out. It just keeps happening, and it hurts just as badly every time. I'm completely immobilized right now. Can barely move, much less bend over. It sucks.
On top of that, I have turf toe or something wrong with my foot. I used to be a runner, but now I can't run or my foot will take out its revenge for the next 24 hours. I thought it would just go away if I took it easy on my foot for a while, but it's still a problem about 3 months later.
I'm having other health issues as well. Tooth pain. More frequent headaches. My knee is messed up. Glasses prescription is worse now. I'm only 32 for Christ's sake!
This just fucking sucks, because I never used to have these problems and now they seem to have all hit me in the space of about a year or two.
Is the answer just stretching daily and getting into the gym? How can I strengthen my back without the risk of absolutely wrecking it again?
8 comments
> failing health
I would not call this anything remotely like “failing health.” These are all normal issues, and all ones I’ve had between my late 20s and early 40s other than more frequent headaches (but I’ve also had several other issues you didn’t mention).
I’ve gotten through all of them with the usual suspects of doctor/dentist/optometrist care, physical therapy (although very little, actually), time, patience, and acceptance that we’re astoundingly good machines but still imperfect ones. All in all, despite these minor issues, I’m very satisfied with the body I’ve been using for over five decades.
Welcome to over 30.
To your last paragraph: Yes. If not, things will only go downhill from here.
On a positive note, you can chang things.
All of this is speculation. But my credentials are BA in exercise science and a PhD in biomechanics and spent a decade of my career working with professional athletes. So that fuels my speculation.
Also…. This is gonna be harsh.
I’ll touch on the teeth and your eyes first. Not my area of expertise so I’ll get it out the way. Sounds like you need to go to the dentist and go to the optometrist. Seeing a doctor is a good thing.
Ok so the rest of you. It is possible that you have a degenerative condition that is causing your bone and muscle mass to deteriorate faster than the average human. But unless you have a genetic history of such a disease that scenario is exceedingly unlikely. More likely than not you have too little muscle and too much fat.
This is what happens when you are over 30 and out of shape. You start to break down. Eventually you reach an age where you are no longer sore from working out but you are sore from not working out. You need to do the big 3 of staying in shape.
You need to get your diet under control. You need to get a baseline of regular exercise(walking, jogging, running, swimming, yoga, basketball, hiking, soccer). You need to strength train.
Your back and your knee didn’t just decide to throw themselves out one day. Your kid isn’t a 500lb atlas stone. You let your body atrophy and it became too weak to pick your child up.
Fortunately 32 is far young enough to get in amazing shape reasonably quickly.
Pointers can be shared. Happy to help.
Mate, I’m not a doctor. Previous sports injuries could be throwing you off. COVID infections are known to have long-term impacts all over the body. Unfortunate genetics? I dunno. Diet, exercise, daily work stress (desk job, harsh manual labor, MMA fighter, etc.). There are *so* many variables.
I went to Italy and saw my husband’s aunt who is in her late 70s. She looks much younger than her age, is in relatively good shape, does not lead a sedentary life and for all her life there, has never led a sedentary lifestyle. Comparatively, his aunt’s cousin who is actually younger by 5 years, lives a much different lifestyle – sedentary, doesn’t eat well and looks 10 years older.
the two look so different and move differently as well. Older aunt is very mobile and balanced, is able to keep up with the grand kids when walking around, goes up the stairs with no issue (they live on the 4th floor and she’s able to walk up and down the stairs multiple times during the day with no problem). Younger cousin is very slow, needs help walking longer distances, doesn’t do long distance walking well at all, has joint stiffness and poor balance; she’s actually fallen a few times.
I’m leaving this comment because as you get older, your body begins to decline *if you do not take care of it*. Look up sarcopenia; the images are shocking when you realize the rate of (accelerated) muscle decline as we age). Balance also starts to decline, bones become brittle and low muscle mass and poor balance is what leads to falls in seniors…and it’s falls that can be lethal to seniors. Google it, you will see lots of articles stating why falling in your senior years can actually kill you.
so don’t let yourself get to that point. At 32, *you have so much time to turn things around*; you just have to put in the effort and consistency to change. I’m a 48yr old woman and post menopausal so I have an even greater risk of osteoporosis and muscle decline because of my low estrogen levels, not to mention all the other bullshit (health issues) that come with menopause. Because of this and the fact that I do NOT want to be immobile when I’m older, I workout like a mf. I do functional strength training every day and I make sure to move for most of the day. I lift heavyass weights, do yoga and muay thai and stretch.
seriously, start today to exercise and eat right for longevity. A strong body will help ward off all of the things you’re experiencing now.
> I thought it would just go away if I took it easy on my foot for a while, but it’s still a problem about 3 months later.
I’m not a doctor but I’m 40 and have played competitive sports basically all my life.
In your 30’s, the idea of “taking it easy for a little while” being the cure to injuries goes away quickly.
What happens in your 30’s is you “take it easy”, you don’t use the injured area as much because it hurts, but by the time it’s no longer actively injured and doesn’t hurt anymore, that area of your body is now significantly weaker and easier to re-injure, you re-injure it, you get weaker, and the cycle continues.
This happens in your 20’s too but you don’t lose strength as quickly so you might not notice it.
The way to properly recover (at any age, but it’s especially important past 30) is to train the injured area as you recover so you are regaining functional strength and mobility. Injuries reduce our capacity and if we don’t work to regain that capacity, we’ll quickly re-injure and lose even more capacity. However, if you don’t have a regular workout regimen, you’ll likely require professional guidance, at least to start with.
If your back, feet, and knees are giving you problems, you probably need to see a physiotherapist, athletic therapist, or personal trainer with experience in injury recovery to get a proper recovery plan. Those are all areas that can take a while to heal properly and problems can become chronic if not properly dealt with.
You’re a dad so you’re probably very busy but you gotta exercise and stretch to keep your body in shape. It might be hard to find the time but you need too. You don’t even have to do it hardcore or for a long time. But body Maintance is a thing dude.
And go see a doc. Don’t get medical advice online.
The good news is I’m 50
And probably in the best shape of my life.
I started having back pain issues in my early 30s. It was because I was out of shape, too much drinking, too much eating, too little exercise, and a sedentary job.
Sitting down all day will tighten your hamstrings and weaken the muscles of your posterior chain (Hamstrings, glutes, spinal muscles). Those are the muscles that hold you upright when you are standing. You will have back pain if those muscles get weak and aren’t used often enough, especially if you are a taller person.
Anything that works and stretches those muscles will help prevent the misery of back pain. If you want to move around without pain as you get older, you have to do something to keep your strength and flexibility. Make time for a couple of gym sessions a week and talk to a trainer for a session or two, or find something else that makes your hamstrings work especially hard.