How do you minimize chronic aches and pains?

[EOTE]

A lot of us on this forum are "older and (hopefully) wiser" and life has taken a toll on our bodies where we wake up each morning feeling like the tin man after a major rain storm or worse that King Kong did a tap dance on us the night before. We have to get out the oil can (medications and/or dietary supplements) and lubricate all the joints to drive away the rust (i.e. aches and pains).  So I was curious what others are doing or taking to minimize the effects of joint stiffness or chronic pain so we can go about our daily lives?

My story is that when I was young and foolish I used to jump motorcycles (think Evel Knievel style) which had a major effect on my back, knees, and hips.  On top of this my father owned an office supply and furniture store where I worked after school.  I always thought I was invincible and had to drag 400 pound desks up 4 flights of stairs by myself.  By the time I was 19, I had constant back pain and my hip joints would pop out without warning, leaving me doing a face plant.  By the time I was 21 I was working as a diesel mechanic and over the next ten years had a few work related back injuries as well as developing repetitive motion injuries.  This has followed me all of my life and now I wake up in the mornings and my back or hips will tell me "hey, you remember that time you jumped your motorcycle off that cliff?  I'm here to remind you of how much fun it was!"

So over the years I have begun taking various supplements like MSM, Chondroitin, Glucosamine, and fish oil as a way to deal with the chronic pains.  When things get really bad, I throw in a couple of Advil.  I've found that without the daily intake of these supplements I would feel literally crippled and unable to function normally.  I remember once I stopped taking MSM and after about a week I couldn't even walk a block without my hips and knees being in excruciating pain.  I do try to minimize the use of pain killers like Advil because I am concerned about the effect it could have on my liver and kidneys but as time goes on and with all the work I am doing to build our retirement dream home there are times I can't function very well without the pain killers.  Fortunately all my vitals are excellent and are the best they have been in 40 years so health-wise I am ok.  

Another thing I am encountering is leg and muscle cramps.  Certain activities bring on the muscle cramping faster than other things like climbing ladders a lot, or kneeling work.  Fortunately, I have been able to minimize the cramps with the regular use of magnesium malate/citrate and sometimes potassium supplements.  I also found these incredible natural remedy pills on the big A store that stop the cramps within minutes when they become severe.  

Oh, and what did my doctor recommend?  Oxycontin.  I tried it for a while but gave it up after reading about all the negative effects.

[doc henderson]

calcium carbonate (tums) will stop cramps too.  I like you used to take Advil for all the aches and pains.  now I take 4 pills maybe 2 or 3 times a year.  I used to tell the neighbor, who had been a mechanic his whole life, " it will be a sad day for your family when all your aches and pains finally go away!"

[Ed_K]

 Before I got cancer I used tyelonal quick release sometimes 2 at a time this was for 10 yrs before. You can take up to 6k mg no more than that a day. I didn't have any problems kidneys or liver damage. I did have problems with kidney stones but I believe that was from having Multiple Meyloma which dissolves the calcium in the bones and the kidneys grew the stones. But the Drs. I've asked this question all said "never heard of such a thing".
 Along with the supplements try eating pickles during the day or 2 Tbl spoons of vinegar mixed with 6 ounces of  water just as soon as you get a cramp.

[square1]

Low impact & isometric type exercise targeting the area that is aching. Problem is I'm having to add new exercises frequently  ;)

[doc henderson]

@Ed_K recent recommendations for Tylenol (acetaminophen)  is no more than 4,000 mg or 4 g (same thing)  It is for sure toxic at levels of 10 g a day.  so 2 of the extra strength every 6 hours, or 2 regular strength every 4 hours.  Advil or Motrin (ibuprofen)  can be 800 mg (4 over the counter tabs)  every 6 hours.  You have to be careful if you are on ACE inhibitors and if you have kidney insufficiency.  we all loose 1% of our kidney function per year after age 40.  so if you are 80 and on an ACE, and you take a normal dose of ibuprofen, you could wind up in renal failure in a few days.

[Ed_K]

 The 6'000 mg is what my primary care Dr. at the time 15yrs ago I think said to take. 6 or more hours between doses. 4'000 is better as less is better. I've been on lots of high power pain meds since being diagnosed with the cancer and I'm trying hard to lower the doses, at times I can totally stop the 2 low power meds with just taking the tyelonal. I can't take ibuprofen because of the myeloma.

[Nebraska]

Fish oil, trying to avoid gluten and milk proteins(it really seemed to help me I'm not perfect with it) and yoga ddp. Keep moving!

[Magicman]

The simple answer is Clean Living.

Avoid it at all cost!!   :

[EOTE]

The simple answer is Clean Living.

Avoid it at all cost!!   :

I think that's what I did...and it caught up with me.  :D

[Sedgehammer]

Good question, I'm still searching. I take several ttpes of pain killers. All script based. Over counter no matter the dose is like pissing in the wind. Where i'm lucky i guess is i do have have an extremely high pain tolerance, so i've learnt to just accept it as my new normal and get on with life as best as I can. Got 2 little kids, so that hurts more, but also helps as it forces me to try and stay more mobile then I would otherwise most likely. 

[doc henderson]

I think we learn to tolerate it.  I would much rather put a central line in an 80 year old lady than a teenage boy.  It is a 4 inch long needle going into the neck or under the clavicle or into the groin and pointed to the heart.  got the picture.  Little old ladies say things like, "so how many kids do you have Doctor".  tough.

[Old Greenhorn]

You're not kidding DOc. I had a few I treated that SHOULD have been screaming in pain, one I recall with a shattered hip. As we were getting her in a scoop stretcher and onto a back board, she said to me "Now don't hurt your back lifting me young man, I couldn't live with that!" I was 55 at the time.

[Southside]

Break something really, really, painful, makes the daily aches and pains rather insignificant.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Been meaning to chime in here since yesterday. I too suffered from the 'getting older' stuff. Many, sometimes most, mornings I felt like I had to re-assemble my bones when I got out of bed. Lots of injuries over the decades were adding up. Last December ('18 ) I hurt myself running the mill, nothing special, but the pain was unbearable and I could barely walk with assistance. I finally broke down and asked friends to suggest a chiropractor. Dear friends gave me a name and said they thought 'he would be a good fit for me'. I had no idea what that meant, but I was in agony. I went, he fixed me, over a period of weeks and months. Turns out, he used to do construction, but his back problems took him out of the game and he began to study how to ease his own pain, eventually working through message therapist and becoming a Chiropractor (and a few other things I don't understand). This guy has found and fixed, or at least adjusted injuries from 30 or more years ago. I thought I would have to just live with it, but I have learned different. Now I just go once a month fro 'balancing things out' because I still do dumb stuff. These days I never have to think about getting out of bed carefully, I just bounce up. I have not felt this good or pain free in a couple of decades. I used to take Advil like candy, nearly every day. Now a small bottle lasts me 2 months or more. When I do over-stress my back I am usually back to normal by the next morning whereas before I could count on a few weeks of pain.
 He always asks what I am working on and wants to come spend a day helping with the mill. Tells me I am in better shape than almost all of his patients my age. I asked if he realized I was 32 years old. :D
 Anyway, this is what worked for me. 

[jb616]

I also agree that regular visits to a chiropractor are beneficial if you want to minimize medications.  Once I got straightened out, i have a 1x a month "tuneup" visit. Another important thing is stretching. I stretch everything from my ankles to my neck every day. 

[Onthesauk]

I remember my Dad telling me, "You're Swedish, it's suppose to hurt."

[EOTE]

Something I have been dealing with is leg cramps, particularly at night after a hard day's work.  I was able to mitigate it somewhat by taking a magnesium supplement.  I have tried magnesium oxide, magnesium citrate, magnesium glycinate, and magnesium malate with magnesium malate being the most effective.  I have also supplemented it with a potassium supplement.  I found for almost foolproof and immediate relief that Hyland's Leg Cramps tablets stop the cramps.  However, they don't eliminate them for the rest of the night.

Most of the difficulty of preventing the cramps I think was my regimen of taking the supplements after the end of the day.  Yesterday, I decided to try something different as I was faced with digging out 80' of trench 2' deep in hot sunny weather (90's).  This is assuredly a recipe for leg cramps at night.  What I changed was to take the magnesium and potassium supplements during the day at intervals (3 times) with my normal hydration.  (I went through a gallon and a half of water because I sweat like crazy in the heat).  I also took my supplements before bed.  I was pleasantly surprised that I had no leg cramps last night and slept pretty well to boot.  I am going to implement this regimen from now on.

I am sharing this because it worked for me.  Doc probably should weigh in from his perspective but hopefully if you're plagued with leg cramps at night this might be a solution that could work for you.

[red]

When I woke up at night with leg cramps pickle juice would stop them ASAP.  Do some research on pickle juice and athletes. 

[EOTE]

When I woke up at night with leg cramps pickle juice would stop them ASAP.  Do some research on pickle juice and athletes.

Wow!  I never stop learning something new.  You are right!  There are several significant studies on how pickle juice works to relieve muscle cramps .  Who would have thought?  I may have to give that a try as well.  Vlasic here I come! :D
It now begs the question that if I substitute the pickles for the pickle juice and add a cheeseburger with all the other condiments for a midnight snack if I will even get leg cramps. :D :D :D
Thank you for the pickle juice suggestion.

[btulloh]

It now begs the question that if I substitute the pickles for the pickle juice and add a cheeseburger with all the other condiments for a midnight snack if I will even get leg cramps. Thank you for the pickle juice suggestion.

That and a cold Lone Star will certainly achieve the same or better results.  :D

Good luck and keep us posted.  Nobody wants leg cramps in the middle of the night.

[Sedgehammer]

That and a cold Lone Star will certainly achieve the same or better results.  :D

Good luck and keep us posted.  Nobody wants leg cramps in the middle of the night.

This is my preferred and it may just depend on what those leg cramps are from....

[sawguy21]

I wake up with leg cramps if I don't stay adequately hydrated, man do those things hurt. Otherwise it is extra strength Tylenol to control the effects of aging, I don't like it but that's the reality. Losing weight has really helped too but this Covid thing sure hasn't been beneficial as outdoor activity has been seriously curtailed.

[scsmith42]

Re aches and pains, my wife is a believer in CBD oil. It worked well for her when she had shingles, and she started giving it to our older dogs when they were in obvious muscle and joint distress. It clearly Provides relief for them. 

Quality varies amongst manufacturers.  She likes the products from John Lyons.

[sawguy21]

My wife tried CBD oil, it was the only thing that relieved her pain but she didn't react well, felt loopy.

[Raider Bill]

My wife tried CBD oil, it was the only thing that relieved her pain but she didn't react well, felt loopy.

You sure that was CBD oil? :D

[sawguy21]

That is what her son told her :D

[thecfarm]

If I don't drink enough water, through out the day, I get the cramps. Than I drink 4-5 glasses of water as I walk around in pain. After about 5 minutes all is fine. Than I am up 2-3 times to go to the bathroom because of all the water I drank.   :

[barbender]

I used to work on an asphalt paving crew. Long days (14-16 hours and longer some days) out in the hot mix and the hot sun. It didn't matter how much water I drank, I'd still get leg cramps at night. I started drinking Gatorade, no more cramps. I'd like to find a different supplement that provides whatever Gatorade does, without the sugar because it is usually my reliance on Gatorade in hot weather that stumbles me up when I try to go on a sugar free diet to lose weight.

[Sedgehammer]

Gatorade makes a low calorie powder and powerade makes a zero calorie bottled.

[doc henderson]

the low cal is G2, and you can get it made up, or packets to dump in a water bottle.  you can also eat more salt in your food, and take 4 tums (calcium carbonate) before bed.  if you get a cramp, 4 tums will stop it in a bout 3 minutes.  salt substitute is potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride so you can do a bit of each and cover most electrolytes.  you can take milk of magnesia or mag citrate to get magnesium, but also get diarrhea.   8)     .  you can buy salt tabs, and we did this in boy scouts.  some talk bad about salt, but we cannot live without it.  

[Walnut Beast]

Emergen-C  has Electrolytes in it and they come in small packets. Gatorade Zero is sugar free. 

[doc henderson]

as we get older it hurts to lay in bed, or work all day, and everything in between.  might as well get stuff done.  long term more activity is better.  you got to cut out the dumb stuff.

[Walnut Beast]

Sometimes the dumb stuff is fun Doc 😂

[doc henderson]

It is but takes longer to recover, if at all.  :D .  we all did it when we were young, and learned how to survive.  

[PoginyHill]

I did hamstring stretches upon my doctors advice to attempt relieving hip pain (I'll need a new joint sometime). After about a month of doing stretches I noticed lower back pain went away when doing normal stuff like cutting wood on the ground. Didn't do anything for my hip, but did wonders for my back. Most effective for me was lying on the floor (sunny side up), with one leg pointing up against a door jamb or the corner or a wall.

[Ed_K]

 When I was logging I took gal of water an qt of gatorade an still got cramps at times. 1 tablespoon of cider vinagar in 2 onces of water will stop them in less than a min.

[red]

Here is more info on leg cramps 

[azmtnman]

My wife has fybromyalgia. She has used turmeric and noni (natural supplements you can find in the vitamin aisle.) The have helped her. 
I've heard good testimonials about CBD from people I know personally.

[mike_belben]

My yard is full of prickly wild lettuce. Lactuca serriola.  Theres a milk inside of it with painkilling and muscle relaxing properties.  Many ways to use it. I harvested a mason jar of leaves and stems, poured in vodka and keep it in the freezer.  Alcohol dissolves the compound and it gets darker, stronger and tastes worse with time. A table spoon of the booze into a big swig of ginger ale before bed loosens my fused spine up pretty well. 


Otherwise i try to just fall apart gracefully. There arent many joints left i dont have problems with. 

[HemlockKing]

I wake up with leg cramps if I don't stay adequately hydrated, man do those things hurt. Otherwise it is extra strength Tylenol to control the effects of aging, I don't like it but that's the reality. Losing weight has really helped too but this Covid thing sure hasn't been beneficial as outdoor activity has been seriously curtailed.

I get them when I sleep a restless night of turning and rolling. 
The only thing that helps my back pain is to keep moving, if I sit, it starts hurting after a hour or so. Driving a truck is not fun. Funny though when I'm bending over kneeling down lifting firewood and cutting trees I feel great. I do stretches too when it gets bad, o can literally feel the nerve running down my left leg is shorter than my right because it's getting pinched by a back disc. 

[mike_belben]

Youve probably got degenerative disc disease.  (Around my house there is another malady i gripe about called regenerative dish disease.. Where no matter how much i wash, the sink continually overflows in dirty dishes)

Anyway, my understanding from a docs explanation 2 decades ago, is your spine has gels that dont receive blood flow.  They got a fluid that needs to be squished out by compression and reabsorbed by the suction of your spine being elongated from stretching and good sleep. Without the nutrients of this fluid they essentially die off, harden, age whathaveyou.   Basically we were designed to work hard and sleep hard.  

Get some cardio on a trampoline and an inversion table to stretch the spine.  Might relieve the sciatica if its just stenosis and not a bulged disc.  I have had better results from DO's than MD's on back stuff. Laying around on more and more advils and such is the worst thing to do in my experience.  

[HemlockKing]

Best thing I did after I injured my back was learn to lift things properly,
Compound lifts you know, not just arching over and heave hooing with just your lower back. Kneeing down actually using your thighs to lift stuff instead of your back, besides you're a stronger lift this way anyway. For me if I sit idle I get pain increasingly, stretches help, my pain goes down my left leg, if I start feeling it I know it's time to stretch cause quite literally left legs nerve is being pinched shorter and I can feel that strain.

[Ed_K]

 I have chronic lower back pain from blowing out a disk L4-L5 and ended up getting operated on. When I wake up in the morning before getting out of bed I pull both knees up to my head 10 times. That has helped with the pain considerably.

[mike_belben]

If you guys dont have a foam roll you better get one.  Its just a padded pipe you roll on but i cant do without mine. Seems to me leg stretches help the entire spine.

[HemlockKing]

If you guys dont have a foam roll you better get one.  Its just a padded pipe you roll on but i cant do without mine. Seems to me leg stretches help the entire spine.

Use it on your glute muscle and thighs(hamstring). Basically sit on it and roll back and forth the length of your thigh, but do one thigh at a time so tilt to each side. The muscle in that’s area for me gets unbelievably tense and sometimes it almost hurts loosening it up.

[Nebraska]

Yoga.

[Old saw fixer]

200 milligrams of celecoxib (Celebrex) works for me, arthritic back and knee.  Moving around helps more than you'd think.

[doc henderson]

If you are over 60, the day all the pain goes away will be a sad day for your family.

[Jeff]

I dont know if I don't have pain most days, or just ignor it because its there each morning and evening. Many evenings is where I find the blood from something I know nothing about happening. Just shrug and go.