3 Reasons Your Back Pain Is Worse in Midlife
Jan 15, 2022
1. Muscle mass
From approximately 40+, the average age for the beginning of peri/menopause and the time when our estrogen levels begin to drop, our muscle mass is decreasing by 1% every year. Over time, that reduction has big implications on your skeletal support structure meaning if you’re someone who has spent 2-3 decades sitting at a desk and you’re wondering why your shoulders, neck, or back are suddenly now a problem, this could be it.
Couple that’s with a gradual reduction of bone density and we are left with a very unstable support structure.
Your core and pelvic floor are credited with having a huge impact on postural alignment and helping to remain pain-free, but remember these are muscles, muscles that are reducing in mass and therefore efficacy by a percent every year, leaving you and your body in a precarious position, and open to pain.
2. You’ve ignored it until now
You might feel like you have suddenly been plagued by pack pain but in actual fact, it could have been lying dormant for quite some time.
The pain you are feeling is usually the last hurrah from your back. It’s the back waving its white flag of surrender, begging you to change your ways!
We spend our 20’s and 30’s neglecting what our bodies actually need in preference for what we want – usually revolving around sporadic and high-impact exercise, coupled with hours spent in a chair, at a desk, or in a car.
Stretching, mobilizing, and focusing on your core or posture usually happens intermittently, when we remember and is often seen as the less important element of wellbeing.
And then in midlife our bodies revolt. They fight back with the biggest and strongest signal they have, telling you in no uncertain terms that something is not right.
So your pain might feel new but the cause is a long build-up of neglect.
3. Energy
So many elements of midlife affect our energy levels – we are bottom of the to-do list, focusing instead on kids, parents, jobs, and homes and we don’t sleep well because of stress, hot flushes, and anxiety. Is it any wonder we aren’t getting to our mats to mobilise our joints, or paying proper attention to those little niggles of pain shouting to us to listen? We have a lot of other things to think about and zero energy for more.
But what is the result of not paying attention or giving in to the lack of oomph that we feel?
...it WILL get worse.
...it'll develop and become a bigger, trickier issue to fix.
...compensation patterns and further pain will develop.
...you'll stop doing the things you love because of the pain.
...you'll rely on medication or alcohol.
...your overall health will suffer.
You're not imagining it, your pain could be getting worse in midlife.
Head to my free workshop to find out how you could fix it simply and for good.
Author
