There is no doubt that as we age our ability to recover reduces. As I am not far off that age myself it is something that I am feeling very acutely.

It is also a stage of our life when perhaps we have more time for our own pursuits. Children are older and more independent, we may find ourselves more financially secure and hopefully with a little more time to focus on ourselves.

It also becoming clearer that lifestyle choices around diet and exercise have a huge impact on our overall health our ability age without suffering from many illnesses from diabetes, heart disease and even some cancers.

A big part of any healthy lifestyle is exercise especially as our lives have become more sedentary. Fifty is also the age when we start to notice increasing stiffness and pain in joints. This is often put down the fact that you are just getting older. That is not a narrative that I subscribe to. Often people are suffering from pain in one side or the other. If it is purely age that caused this problem surely everybody would be affected and it would affect both sides equally? The argument made then is that the person is right or left handed and this is the reason for the one sided problem, I have never seen any conclusive research that this is the case and certainly in my practice I do not find that this is an issue.

So what is it that causes problems as we age? The reality is, they are the same as when we are younger, it is just that when we are younger we can get away with it. In general health terms the things that matter are diet/nutrition, exercise and stress. The major factors that I find are related specifically to musculoskeletal issues (those relating to Muscles, bones and joint) or MSK for short are: Dental issues, Some Jewelry, Nutritional problems & Injury. As I am often referencing research it my articles, I feel that it is fair to point out that no research has been done yet into many of the areas that I am picking up as causes for pain and dysfunction.

The issue that all of the above have in common is how they affect your muscles and nervous systems ability to function normally.

The majority of our movement is autonomic meaning it is not under conscious control from the brain – it relies on reflexive arcs working between sensory inputs to your spinal cord and compensatory output to your muscles. Finding out what is causing these not to work properly, is paramount to finding a lasting solution.