Find out how your body works, changes you may experience as you get older, and how to deal with age-related body pain.
In your body, bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and other tissues combine to create the ’musculoskeletal system’, which allows the body to move and maintain its form and shape.
As you get older, your body changes - when our body’s cells, tissues and organs change over time, it affects how the body functions.[100]Cells become larger with age and are less able to divide and multiply, losing their ability to function, or even beginning to function abnormally.[100]Aging also causes tissues to lose mass (known as atrophy) or to become more rigid and difficult to move.[100]Over time, bones lose density and become more brittle, while thinning of bones in the spine (vertebrae) can cause them to become curved and compressed.[100]
One of the best ways to slow or prevent problems with muscles, joints and bones is moderate exercise, which can help you to maintain strength, balance and flexibility.[101]
If you do begin to experience more pain in your body, whether it’s your back or shoulders aching more at the end of a long day, there is no need to simply accept pain as a fact of getting older. There are medicines available that can help to relieve your pain and reduce the inflammation that is often a cause of pain. Your pharmacist can advise you on what products you can use to treat your pain. They can also offer advice on diet and exercises that can help to ease pain.
If you suffer from persistent pain in your joints, muscles or bones as you get older, you should visit your doctor who can carry out an examination or tests to identify the cause of your pain and offer advice on how to ease the pain as well as prescribing stronger medicines if necessary. Always tell your doctor about any medicines you are already taking, including ones bought from a pharmacy.