I find myself talking with patients on a daily basis about effects of “father time” and aging on the body. Unfortunately, I have not met anyone that has found out the secret to beating father time, but I am all ears! Until the fountain of youth is discovered we have physical therapy to keep us feeling as young and active as we can.

As we get through our mid 20’s our bodies start to decline gradually each decade. Tissues in the body start to lose the ability to retain water and thus become less flexible. The smooth surfaces of the bones in our joints start to wear down with use and can become painful. Lastly, overall healing times for injuries increases as our age increases, thus making minor injuries seem a little more severe.

The analogy I use with our active weekend warriors here in Denver is comparing the aging body to a used car. As we put more mileage on our beloved car we have be sure to keep up with the maintenance on the car, i.e. oil change and tire rotation, to keep it running smoothly. The same concept applies to our bodies. Just because we are all getting older does not mean we cannot continue with the activities we love, we just need to keep up with maintenance for our joints and muscles. Talk with your friendly Atlas Physical Therapist for any “tune ups” that are needed for your body!

Lukas Mehling PT, DPT