I wanted to address a question that I hear all too often.

I wanted to address a question that I hear all too often–I was asked this again only just yesterday: "Are aches and pains an inevitable part of getting older?"

As a physiotherapist with over 26 years of experience, I can tell you that this myth is well-entrenched in our society, but it's simply not true.

Yes, as we get older, we may have more time and experiences to accumulate physical strain in our bodies. However, this doesn't mean that aches and pains are inevitable.

In fact, with more time and knowledge, we have a greater opportunity to learn how to engage our bodies more ideally and actually de-accumulate strain to make ourselves more physically robust as we age.

"But what about wear and tear and degeneration?" you might ask. Surprisingly, research shows that our bodies are actually designed to degenerate with age. However, the majority of degeneration we see on an x-ray or MRI doesn't actually cause any aches or pains.

We can think about it another way–prior to us experiencing pain the degeneration in our bodies was there and we weren't suffering then.

So why do we experience aches and pains as we age?

Neuroscience tells us that it's really the protective reactions of our nervous system that create these sensations.

This happens as a result of us repeating unhelpful movement patterns and building strain–imperceptibly for months or years.

The good news is that for most musculoskeletal problems, like muscle, joint, nerve, ligament, and tendon issues, the nervous system's protection can be addressed and resolved – no matter how old we are.

Ageing is not the problem – it's a myth!

To help explain this idea, I've developed a model called Accumulation of Strain. You can learn more about this on our website: https://www.youngify.com.au/accumulation-of-strain

Of course, there are other non-musculoskeletal conditions that can cause muscle and joint suffering, such as inflammatory arthritis, stress and diseases–and I'm not referring to these types of problems in this summary.

However, when it comes to musculoskeletal problems, it's often the way we move or hold ourselves that accumulates strain and leads to aches, pains, stiffness, and weakness.

I see aches and pains that are similar in people who are in their 20s and also people in their 70s.

And once solved, these people equally maintain their improvements by learning to engage the right muscles to move, live healthy lifestyles and exercise and actually de-accumulate strain in the process which prevents their pain from recurring.

This makes their bodies more physically robust as they age.

At Youngify, we're committed to helping dispel the myth that aches and pains are inevitable with age.  Hence, the name, Youngify!

We believe that it's possible to maintain good health and mobility as we get older, and we're here to support you on your journey to better health and wellness.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out – we're always happy to help.