Arithitis and wrench bending
 

As a bone fide "geiser" its getting really tough to do even the little stuff on my AD like change oil. Hands hurt like h-ll before and after and real deterrent lately. Doc gave me some of that pain cream that all the ancient ex jocks are pitching on tv. Its generic diclofenac (aka voltaran) and is covered by medicare. Dulls pain out for me and beats opioids. Just saying it exists and helps.

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Good to know.

Years of wrenching and abuse has aged my joints prematurely. I use 250 Mg quercetin daily. I notice days when I forget to take it.

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Now know why most old folks are grumpy. 24 hour pain is a PITA and adds to the gravitational pull when passing by a recliner. Find myself walking away from even fun jobs on the 54 or even washing it. My mom is 96 and don't know how she puts up with it. She still laughs when i ask her if she still has the owners manual that came with me when born. Would be handy to see maintenance tips. Good part is i can still jump in (thanks to power running boards) and go for a simple cruise on sunny days here on the beach.

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I resemble that and being 73 have earned it.

A lot of years working as a mechanic as well as 60 years of cars being one of my primary hobbies has contributed to a a lot of the pain. Both parents having Arthritis doesn't help either, my dad had the kind that caused his fingers to be bent and mom typed on manual type writers for too many years. She still has never used a computer key board and I don't think she ever used an electric typewriter.

Gathering stuff to build my shop I bought a Pneumatic nail gun to do the framing with as my elbow and wrist suffer too much if I use a hammer. I can pop a ball joint lose or maybe chisel one rivet off before the pain sets in.

My wife uses some cream she gets at the pot store to help with pain in her legs at night. I've Thought about trying it on my hands.

My knees tend to be the deal killer before my hands most of the time, A couple of bad falls over the years have messed up the ligaments and tendons a bit and were never properly dealt with.

Still I go until it hurts too much to go and then find something less painful to do.

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Yup like they say getting old ain't for sissys. Just turned 70 and not used to all the pain that comes with. Got lots of replacement parts which work fine or better than OEM. Its the old OEM stuff thats the problem. Yes old injuries come back to haunt you in old age. Survived 18, 500 pound bombs cooking off after a crash but hearing is shot. In a race with old friends to see how many replacemnt/improved body parts we can get before we checkout. Think i'm at 36+ not including hearing aids.

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All original parts but do have hearing aids that I don't wear at home because the dog will snag them and partial dentures that I am still learning to eat with.

Loosing a bunch of weight and getting in better shape would help my knees a lot.

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FWIW Been finding lots of $$$ hearing aids folks lose putting on or taking off masks. I turn em in but who knows if they get them back. Things can cost $5k a pair!!!

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Don't see or expect many young'uns posting on this thread but I feel right at home. My long time business partner of 35 years and i starting flipping houses 3.5 years ago after 30 years in the cabinet business. He's 70 and I'm 73. All was well with both of us but man these last 3 years have been rough! Arthritis loves me now. Back hurts, fingers twisting (people can't tell which direction I'm pointing when I do), thumbs don't work (barely above the apes now), and right knee is now starting to quit unannounced (not good on ladders).
Partner is about the same and trying to recover from 3 strokes.

We're a sad pair but still find humor in it all. We make more noises getting up and down from the floor than the sounds of our power tools. Spend more time looking for the tools we just set down and now have walked. Pencils....pfft, get Amazon shipments daily.

I quit diclofenac as it didn't seem to help. 1000 mg Tumeric Curcumin works better for me, at least so far. Still, trying to put nuts on bolts is the worst.

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Doc put me on Gabapentin 300 3x day. That and the gel and i can function. If it gets worse will be screwed. Look at everything i do BEFORE i do it as recovery time is very long. Young folks, enjoy yourselves while you can.

Took 54 out for daily spin. Ocean waves were really ripping today under bright sky. Can't really stop anywhere here in our little beach town without drawing a mini crowd and honks and waves coming and going. Folks always ask how long i've had it and i always say i got it when i was 19. The look on their faces when they look at my ancient mug is always amazing.

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72 and all original parts except for a couple teeth and they dont come out. If my feet didnt hurt so much the rest i could live with at this point although just about everything hurts a little. Doc want to cut the bone spurs on my feet, its not that bad yet

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One of the younger employees in my shop shared a video with me of three younger guys acting old and making noises as they moved around and sat in chairs. Eventually with a bunch of groaning and grunting they got up and walked away. I said "Nope. Those guys don't get it. All three stood up straight and walked off no problem. The truth is you get your feet on the ground then continue to work on standing straight while you slowly gimp away from the chair. It helps if you have something to grab and lean on while the joints and muscles complain." They laughed out loud at the truth of it while I laughed knowing their turn is coming. :)

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The one thing I would tell the young guys is never jump off or out of anything that isn't on fire. I jumped out of too many helicopters that were several feet off the ground on Combat assaults and off too many other things such as my buddy's sailboat that cause me a lot of knee issues now.

Throw in bad choices of foot gear, Way too many years of wearing shoes that didn't fit right or have proper arch support.

I don't know if you still can but you used to be able to go to Whites in Spokane and have a cast taken of your foot to have work boots made. they molded the sole to match your foot and the guys who wore them never had foot problems or too many leg issues that weren't self inflicted.

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I am one of the young one's at 50, I know I am not near the 70's yet but I had a knee pain and used the CBD cream for about 2 months and now the pain is gone. Not sure if that is what made it better but I believe it helped. It cost about $30 but I recommend it to everybody that has joint pain. Give it a try.
Mac

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36 over here.

Thanks for this, guys.

Guess I'll pray a brain aneurysm takes me out early...

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Just a little warning. CBD is made from Marijuana and does have THC present in small amounts. Unfortunately its detectable in drug tests and can cause latent problems with workmans comp issues and ATF. Newer technology can detect THC presence at incredibly low levels using devices similar to breathalyzers or colorimetric dermal wipes. National record keeping adds to the problem. These are things the govt and pot industry doesn't warn you about as it interferes with sales and taxes. You will find many who violently dispute this but attorneys, judges and the insurance industry are having a quiet field day. I wish i didn't know this but was involved with toxicology and instrumentation for 40 years.

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Its been said that Old is Not a Disease! It sure as Hell feels like it Tho!

Allen

Re: Arithitis and wrench bending
 

we all do :D

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At 3 score and a quarter more my thumbs are shot. I can get a good day of work out of them then have to take 2 days to heal.... Which they actually don't heal but they do become usable to turn a wrench or grasp heavy things again. My eye site and hearing are failing me too. But it's only certain frequencies that I have a hard time hearing and in that range of hard to hear freq's is where my Mrs' usual fidelity lay. We do alot of high volume communication anymore, LOL.
Can't make out the small print without amplification and it seems my memory tain't what it used to be either.
Too many times I finally get situated under one of my vehicles only to find that I forgot the wrench or other tool needed for whatever task I vaguely remember crawling underneath to perform in the 1st place. Sometimes I just lay there thinking it's as good a place for a short nap as any..... LOL....
Likes been said, aging ain't for sissies....

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I'm retired and don't have to take random drug tests anymore. Wife uses cbd cream to relieve pain in her legs with good results.
Any side effects aren't going to be anywhere near what the side effects of even too much Tylenol are. I have diverticulitis that I attribute partially to using too much Tylenol for several years.

Back in the 70's my father in law was an outside salesman for a wholesale hardware store in Waco Tx, One of his accounts that was a little hardware store in a small predominantly Bohemian town sold far more WD-40 than any other account. He found out that the locals were spraying it on their wrists and elbows to relieve joint pain. Pretty much the same as people used DSMO about the same time.

I don't wear them all the time but those Copper fit knee bands do help with knee pain some.

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My father in law was diabetic for 40 years made it to 96, mother in law had arthritis, had knees, hip and shoulder replaced made it to 92. They said it often and it really rang true - getting old isn't for sissies.

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Already planning for possibility of 6 months of down time for rotator cuff surgery but need to push thru until winter. New house. New shop and 2 buildings to be built here at the riverside cabin. Can't do the heavy stuff but need my one and a half arms. Luckily $$$ makes up difference.

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My problem is cramping. I'm diabetic and if I'm not careful, I get severe cramps, so bad I can't stand or walk. But it always starts in my hands 1st. When I get to where they start, I hurry up and try to hydrate. I learned from one of my employees that coconut water works faster if you don't mind the taste.

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yes im 69 and im there to they call it the golden years I never figured out why they call it that unless its all the gold you need to give the doctors lol

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Too true, especially dentists!!

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So now I'm seeing Voltaren commercials every 10 minutes on TV. Think the blue emu died?