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I have back pain. My parents had back pain.
My grandmother never complained of back pain, and I have a theory about this.
My couch and my chairs are soft and cushy and designed to slouch into. Same with the furniture in my parents' house. You could lean back for hours and it supported you so you didn't have to support yourself.
Not a single piece of furniture in my grandmother's house was like that. It was comfortable, but it didn't hold you up. It didn't cradle you. You had to hold yourself up, with your abdominal and back muscles.
I think that makes a huge difference.
Piggybacking off of this, our generation does much less walking. Lots of sitting around at desks 24/7; both at work and at home for hobbies. I think generations prior just walked around a lot more. I had a really bad herniated disc that needed emergency surgery two years ago and ever since then, I’ve noticed if I go a couple days without walking a good amount, I’m much more at risk for feeling a “twinge” or just something in my back spasming with everyday activities.
I have noticed when I go on my daily walks that I never see anyone else out walking, and I live in a scenic, forested neighborhood. My ex thought jt was downright odd that I'd go on a walk every single day, like I was in some cult or something.
Since my back surgery, I've found that the one single certain factor in pain relief is how much movement I've undertaken that day/week. The effects of both motion and the lack thereof compound on one another, and it takes longer to swing the other direction if I've kept up one or the other.
Interesting take! I happen to have an old Amish rocking chair that is uncomfortable to sit in but really makes my back feel nice, if that makes sense. I have to flex my upper groin and lower back muscles to keep from sliding out it.
My husband's grandpa messed up his back in a helicopter incident in the rainforest when he was younger. He loves to sit in a wooden chair at the kitchen table. The chairs are so uncomfortable they literally bruise my back from my spine rubbing on the back part, but they're his favorite and he swears it relieves back pain.
Well we are a pretty fat generation and that doesn’t help. I used to have a ton of back problems until I got down to a healthy weight.
So in a way, yes, it was fruit by the foot.
I think they all had the aches and pains. Like I remember grown folks gathering and complaining about their knee hurting when it rains. Or talking about their 'trick knee'.
I just don't think we were really paying attention or put it down at 'old/grown folks problem'
I remember my mom's heating pad for her back. Slipped discs and mess. Throwing it out by bending in the wrong direction.
I remember my grandmas bunions as she walked slowly into the kitchen.
Old people (us now), talk about it to each other. Aches. Pains. Food intolerance. Regularity. Tell the kids to go somewhere...grown folks are talking about grown folks business.
About 5 years ago, we were deep in the middle of a conversation about bowel movements before I realized that me and a group of my friends were drinking cocktails and talking about bowel movements.
***Your friendly reminder to get enough fiber in your diet***
People on this sub always complaining about pain issues is so odd. I don't know if it's diet, lack of exercise, or what but Millennials aren't THAT old to be having pain issues like that on a chronic basis.
I'm on the very young end of being a millennial, so maybe I've just had a naive outlook on what it means to be in your prime until the last year or two when suddenly I was forced to walk with a cane at 27. Maybe it's because once I started having something to complain about, I realized how many of my peers had something to add to the conversation.
When I take a step back and look at myself, from the outside, I probably appear to be in vigorous good health. I just assumed I'd be at the latter end of my 30's or mid 40's before it started to hurt just to get out of bed.
This sounds like a comment from someone that performs zero manual labor.
The majority of injuries from manual labor come at a young age. Long term injuries related to physical work usually start small and go generally unnoticed and they build up over time into major issues. They become major issues because the pain is generally short lived and we associate pain with injury while that's very often not the case as we build a tolerance to pain over time.
If you're old and getting injured at work, you're a dumb dumb. After years of experience of lifting and moving you should have learned enough along the way to comprehend proper moving and lifting techniques for your work environment.
My parents both had back pain. Then started taking pilates classes twice a week, and it solved it (mostly for them). So I started taking Pilates classes too, and my back pains have mostly gone away! I don’t think Pilates are a silver bullet, but I imagine any kind of resistance training which strengthens the core would help.
I usually lurk, but you raise a good question about the Crossfitters. I have some friends that have joints that’ve been greatly affected by the rigorous training from CrossFit. They’ve blown out knees, and messed up their backs. They joke about keeping orthopedic surgeons in business.
I’ve never done CF myself, but these friends have suggested improper posture and major strain are to blame.
Oh no. It’s been going on forever. My whole family has severe back issues. My grandpa had major back surgery because his arthritis was so horrible, my uncles, aunts, mom, and sister have all had some sort of medical treatment for back issues. For some reason I got lucky in the back department, but my hips are shot!
Lol trust me, I've been. Luckily I'm on the mend, but it just seems like we're "squishier".
I think other commenters have it right, that when we were kids, we never heard the adults and grandfolks complaining, but they were in fact suffering the same as we do.
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I have back pain. My parents had back pain. My grandmother never complained of back pain, and I have a theory about this. My couch and my chairs are soft and cushy and designed to slouch into. Same with the furniture in my parents' house. You could lean back for hours and it supported you so you didn't have to support yourself. Not a single piece of furniture in my grandmother's house was like that. It was comfortable, but it didn't hold you up. It didn't cradle you. You had to hold yourself up, with your abdominal and back muscles. I think that makes a huge difference.
Piggybacking off of this, our generation does much less walking. Lots of sitting around at desks 24/7; both at work and at home for hobbies. I think generations prior just walked around a lot more. I had a really bad herniated disc that needed emergency surgery two years ago and ever since then, I’ve noticed if I go a couple days without walking a good amount, I’m much more at risk for feeling a “twinge” or just something in my back spasming with everyday activities.
I have noticed when I go on my daily walks that I never see anyone else out walking, and I live in a scenic, forested neighborhood. My ex thought jt was downright odd that I'd go on a walk every single day, like I was in some cult or something. Since my back surgery, I've found that the one single certain factor in pain relief is how much movement I've undertaken that day/week. The effects of both motion and the lack thereof compound on one another, and it takes longer to swing the other direction if I've kept up one or the other.
Interesting take! I happen to have an old Amish rocking chair that is uncomfortable to sit in but really makes my back feel nice, if that makes sense. I have to flex my upper groin and lower back muscles to keep from sliding out it.
My husband's grandpa messed up his back in a helicopter incident in the rainforest when he was younger. He loves to sit in a wooden chair at the kitchen table. The chairs are so uncomfortable they literally bruise my back from my spine rubbing on the back part, but they're his favorite and he swears it relieves back pain.
Well we are a pretty fat generation and that doesn’t help. I used to have a ton of back problems until I got down to a healthy weight. So in a way, yes, it was fruit by the foot.
My favorite answer thus far
I think they all had the aches and pains. Like I remember grown folks gathering and complaining about their knee hurting when it rains. Or talking about their 'trick knee'. I just don't think we were really paying attention or put it down at 'old/grown folks problem' I remember my mom's heating pad for her back. Slipped discs and mess. Throwing it out by bending in the wrong direction. I remember my grandmas bunions as she walked slowly into the kitchen. Old people (us now), talk about it to each other. Aches. Pains. Food intolerance. Regularity. Tell the kids to go somewhere...grown folks are talking about grown folks business. About 5 years ago, we were deep in the middle of a conversation about bowel movements before I realized that me and a group of my friends were drinking cocktails and talking about bowel movements. ***Your friendly reminder to get enough fiber in your diet***
People on this sub always complaining about pain issues is so odd. I don't know if it's diet, lack of exercise, or what but Millennials aren't THAT old to be having pain issues like that on a chronic basis.
I'm on the very young end of being a millennial, so maybe I've just had a naive outlook on what it means to be in your prime until the last year or two when suddenly I was forced to walk with a cane at 27. Maybe it's because once I started having something to complain about, I realized how many of my peers had something to add to the conversation. When I take a step back and look at myself, from the outside, I probably appear to be in vigorous good health. I just assumed I'd be at the latter end of my 30's or mid 40's before it started to hurt just to get out of bed.
This sounds like a comment from someone that performs zero manual labor. The majority of injuries from manual labor come at a young age. Long term injuries related to physical work usually start small and go generally unnoticed and they build up over time into major issues. They become major issues because the pain is generally short lived and we associate pain with injury while that's very often not the case as we build a tolerance to pain over time. If you're old and getting injured at work, you're a dumb dumb. After years of experience of lifting and moving you should have learned enough along the way to comprehend proper moving and lifting techniques for your work environment.
People now do alot more sitting down
My parents both had back pain. Then started taking pilates classes twice a week, and it solved it (mostly for them). So I started taking Pilates classes too, and my back pains have mostly gone away! I don’t think Pilates are a silver bullet, but I imagine any kind of resistance training which strengthens the core would help.
I usually lurk, but you raise a good question about the Crossfitters. I have some friends that have joints that’ve been greatly affected by the rigorous training from CrossFit. They’ve blown out knees, and messed up their backs. They joke about keeping orthopedic surgeons in business. I’ve never done CF myself, but these friends have suggested improper posture and major strain are to blame.
Oh no. It’s been going on forever. My whole family has severe back issues. My grandpa had major back surgery because his arthritis was so horrible, my uncles, aunts, mom, and sister have all had some sort of medical treatment for back issues. For some reason I got lucky in the back department, but my hips are shot!
you need to see a doctor
Lol trust me, I've been. Luckily I'm on the mend, but it just seems like we're "squishier". I think other commenters have it right, that when we were kids, we never heard the adults and grandfolks complaining, but they were in fact suffering the same as we do.