No-one likes to hear it but we are all getting older and as we age our tissues do tend to change over time.  But we can challenge this and slow down or even prevent many of these tissue changes and therefore improve how we feel generally.

As a physiotherapist in Exeter, I tend to notice with my patients is that they have got themselves into a vicious cycle of stiffness which then leads to feeling uncomfortable with movement.  They then avoid activity (often due to unnecessary worry of the potential harm that may accompany pain) and therefore feel more stiff (lack of movement) as well as weakness and general deconditioning which invariably leads to further discomfort with movement, further avoidance of certain types of movement and even more stiffness..

This becomes a bit of a chicken and egg situation but, fundamentally, this is primarily to do with tissues becoming stiff in the vast majority of cases.  This is why we tend to see people having decreased muscle strength and bone density as well as poor tendon, cartilage and other soft tissue quality as they age.  However, it is important to understand that this is not an inevitability and something that we just have to accept is going to happen to us over time. Why do we see people in their 60’s and even 70’s running marathons still, and why do people who get out and cycle 50 miles at the weekend look and feel so great well into retirement?  Is this by chance or is it possible that they have found a way to just keep going somehow?   

I would argue that it is because they found a way to keep active, that they didn’t panic about feeling a few aches and pains and found a way to exercise, move and stretch still without fear of doing themselves harm.  They were able to keep positive beliefs about movement and realise that, unless there was a significant traumatic event, the aches they felt were not due to damage to tissues, but just their bodies getting a bit stiff.  The vast majority of the time, when I sit down and discuss with patients how they are feeling, their pain behaves in this way. They feel stiff in the morning (they have not moved for several hours so this is normal) but when they get moving these aches and pains quickly go away.  They describe the same thing if they have sat down for a while. The first time of asking, as they stand up and start walking, they again feel stiff and uncomfortable but again this goes quickly as they continue to move.

Movement, and not fearing stiffness and perhaps discomfort or even mild pain that is associated with this pattern of symptoms, is the key thing.  We have to find a way of keeping going and when we do, we invariably see people feeling good again and enjoying the things they love to do, and lose those anxious feelings about slowing down, losing mobility and independence as well as feeling vulnerable as a consequence.

We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country.  As you reach Exeter, the City signs certainly resonate with me, “Exeter - Live Better”.   Around Exeter, we have some of the most beautiful parts of the country to be active in. I don't know how accurate this is but read recently that Exeter has the biggest proportion of people who cycle or run to work.  I can easily believe this. Dartmoor and Exmoor, East Devon, North and South Devon coastline with thousands of miles of walking and cycling paths are just on the doorstep. And Cornwall is only an hour away.  It is the perfect place to maintain an active lifestyle.

Get some help if you need to.  Often people just need some reassurance with getting started again and education about what is really going on with them and why they feel how they do.  Sometimes patients have become stiff over a longer period of time and need some gentle manipulation to kick start getting themselves going again. Continued guidance about progressing strength and movement and getting back moving and enjoying exercise is often very useful.

So get in touch if this makes sense and we can discuss how you can get yourself back to enjoying feeling like the real you again.