Vigorous Exercise Reduces Risk of Pain

Pain becomes more common as we age.  Pain complaints cause work absences and ER visits. 

Researchers examined data from 5,802 British participants (41% male) in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, age 50 or over, for a period of 10 years.  Just over 2,400 reported suffering from musculoskeletal (bone, joint & muscle) pain at the end of 10 years.  All activity helped decrease pain, but only high levels of exercise, at least once a week, lowered the risk of musculoskeletal pain.  Vigorous activity included: swimming, jogging or running, cycling, digging with a shovel, and tennis.

Takeaway: Regular vigorous exercise lowers the risk of developing chronic musculoskeletal pain as you age.

Well-being is a journey, not a quick fix

Source

Nils Georg Niederstrasser and Nina Attridge, Associations between Pain and Physical Activity among Older Adults, PlosONE, Jan 28, 2022, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263356.