If you are a Senior and you exercise, then injury prevention must be one of your top priorities — more so than other age groups.
Some injuries to Seniors occur as a result of bones becoming brittle and easy to break or from a decline in muscle mass (Sarcopenia). But most exercise injuries to Seniors result from structural changes in your joints due to the aging process.
Knee joints, hip joints and shoulder joints seem to be the major joints where problems arise. Microtears (tiny tears) in the muscles surrounding a joint, and calcification of the joints are the main culprits. Calcification of the joints are not as common as tears. Repetitive stress can also be a culprit for injuries to smaller or weaker joints.
Tears are most common in the shoulder joints. For the most part, the dreaded rotator cuff injury is a microtear in one of the muscles making up the shoulder complex. I know, I had one. It was painful. It healed.
Injuries generally occur as a result of overuse, or some sort of unusual strain or pressure on the joint and associated muscles, tendons and ligaments. This could happen from an unusual turn or twist, or from a quick movement that your joint is not used to.
Exercise can be the cause, the prevention and the solution to these injuries. Seniors who exercise have a much stronger infrastructure than those who don’t. Movements that would cause injury to the non-exerciser normally wouldn’t bother the exerciser.
On the other hand, if you exercise, you are likely to move in ways that the normal person wouldn’t move and thus are more likely to overuse muscles and joints.
Finally,
both rest and certain exercises are most often the recommended solutions to
muscle and joint injuries, and both are normally recommended by a Physical
Therapist. When you see a doctor or Physical therapist for an injury (and I
recommend you do) you will get a series of exercises to help heal the injury.
Do them!
And keep in mind, too, that Seniors will normally take longer to heal than younger people.
So, what’s the takeaway from this article? Be careful. Don’t make really sudden or unusually movements, particularly if weight or resistance is involved. You are better off exercising than not exercising but you must still be careful not to abuse your muscles or joints. In other words, be bold but be careful!
Thank you for reading.