Correlation between aging and pain/bruising?

[llewesglaif]

Question for all you fencers out there, particularly if you've any medical expertise.

I'm a smallish female who's been fencing (epee) for 16 years. I started as a teenager, so now I'm in my early 30s. When I first started out, of course, getting hit took some getting used to, and there was plenty of bruising. Over the years, either I've gotten used to it and don't notice, or I actually got tougher and things didn't hurt or bruise as much. In the past year or so, though, I've started to notice that getting hit hurts a lot more. Pretty much anywhere on the body, although I've noticed it mostly in the upper chest, where I never used to get hit a lot but now seems like a prime target for some reason.

My question is whether or not there is any sort of medical or physiological reasons why fencing could be becoming more painful. Anyone else noticed this, or have any insights? Thx!!

[Inquartata]

Cellular degeneration?

I know that when I was young I almost never bruised at all, certainly not from fencing. Now I find bruises I don't even know how I got...

The pain thing I haven't noticed so much.

[EdGardner]

Hangovers are also more painful...

[seven6ty]

Hangovers are also more painful...

Quoted for truth. Plus, I can't give any more rep, doh.

[CadetVet]

Question for all you fencers out there, particularly if you've any medical expertise.

I'm a smallish female who's been fencing (epee) for 16 years. I started as a teenager, so now I'm in my early 30s. When I first started out, of course, getting hit took some getting used to, and there was plenty of bruising. Over the years, either I've gotten used to it and don't notice, or I actually got tougher and things didn't hurt or bruise as much. In the past year or so, though, I've started to notice that getting hit hurts a lot more. Pretty much anywhere on the body, although I've noticed it mostly in the upper chest, where I never used to get hit a lot but now seems like a prime target for some reason.

My question is whether or not there is any sort of medical or physiological reasons why fencing could be becoming more painful. Anyone else noticed this, or have any insights? Thx!!

Now that I've aged out of CadetVet-ism (I'm 50 and actually a Junior Vet), I can assure you that pain is a good thing. If something doesn't hurt when I wake up, I know my time on this earth is over.

So, let me suggest that you celebrate it and revel in it - unlike most signs of life which decrease with age (hearing, eyesight, stamina, sexual prowess), pain increases - its the one thing we can go to the bank with!

[Hauptman]

Hangovers are also more painful...

I've thought about this and I disagree. Hangovers hurt just as much when I was a kid, but I just didn't care as much.

[Phincer]

Just wait til you hit 50! Skin gets thin... think about really old people and how they have the big purple spots-my mom gets them-its just bumping up gainst something and bruising.

In my all too brief fencing experience(hopefully to be started again soon) I'd get hit-and bruise like I was beaten or doing drugs. Yeah, just waltz in to the doctor's office after a night of epee and enjoy the line of questioning that follows! Then watch their faces as you tell them your husband did it. But tell them about fencing before they call the authorities.

It only hurts at the time I get them though, the next day no pain. At least with fencing you know how you got the bruises....not like the college party days and "mystery bruises".

[flyingfencer]

Question for all you fencers out there, particularly if you've any medical expertise.

I'm a smallish female who's been fencing (epee) for 16 years. I started as a teenager, so now I'm in my early 30s. When I first started out, of course, getting hit took some getting used to, and there was plenty of bruising. Over the years, either I've gotten used to it and don't notice, or I actually got tougher and things didn't hurt or bruise as much. In the past year or so, though, I've started to notice that getting hit hurts a lot more. Pretty much anywhere on the body, although I've noticed it mostly in the upper chest, where I never used to get hit a lot but now seems like a prime target for some reason.

My question is whether or not there is any sort of medical or physiological reasons why fencing could be becoming more painful. Anyone else noticed this, or have any insights? Thx!!

I have no medical expertise other than my experience with fencing and aging.

I would doubt that your bruising and pain is related to simple aging. If you're in your thirties, you haven't begun to experience the more noticeable affects of aging. I've found aging affects things like recovery time from injuries, general reaction time, overall speed, hearing, sight, etc...

I would say that your issues probably have more to do with your mechanics of fencing. Perhaps, your distance is wrong, causing you to get hit harder, or you're using different tactics or you're just coming back to fencing after taking some time off or maybe you have a different coach.

[Peach]

I'd say I definitely bruise more easily. When I was a kid and fell of my bike, I used to get scrapes. Week before last, when I fell off my bike, I got a huge black bruise on my leg the size of a canteloupe. Heck, I can't take ibuprofen for long because I start to get bruising in my finger joints.

However, getting hit at 56 hurts no more than it did when I was young. It's just that I have a bit more pain at times when I' m not getting hit, for instance when I'm going downstairs in the morning or if I sit too long in the same position.

Hangovers hurt a great deal less, but that's because I gave up drinking when I was 22.

[theLuz]

[QUOTE=llewesglaif;693850]I've started to notice that getting hit hurts a lot more. QUOTE]

Parry........

[finnfence]

I noticed that once my breasts started to sag a little in my 30s, suddenly getting hit there hurt. In my teens I used to fence without any breast protectors and it never hurt - but then I didn't sag at all. My theory is that when you start to lose your subcutaneous fat, that's when you lose the cushion that protects you from bruising.

I think that sagging skin also bruises more easily, I theorize because it sinks rapidly into the underlying tissue under impact and allows a more force to be distributed over a smaller area of flesh, more deeply. I'm guessing that when skin is tight, it resists the blow slightly and there is time for a bigger block of flesh to be set in motion, helping absorb the force of the impact.

Then, too, I notice that my vein walls tend to be more fragile as I get older (vicious blood-testing nurses...actually I hear that it's because collagen is what keeps veins elastic, just like the skin, and that your veins start to get more fragile the same way your skin gets dryer and saggier as you age). I suppose that if a vein is more fragile it will leak more easily when hit and will take longer to close up; certainly my healing times have lengthened as I've gotten older.

There are also deficiencies in vitamins like b12 that can cause easier bruising, and I personally found that my 30s were when my reserves started running dry and not taking care of myself really started to carry a noticeable penalty. Picking up nutrients like B12 is particularly tricky because everyone's genetic blueprint and digestive flora are different, and while some people seem to be able to do just fine getting stuff from, say, vegetable sources, others need animal sources; some can get B12 and other nutrients from dairy while others (pardon the grossness here) seem to need to eat the blood or muscle or something in red meat, or seem to need a particular source, like beef. Some people absorb just about all of what they get, others need kind of nutrient overkill because they don't absorb very efficiently. All you can really do is go with what feels right for you personally, or what seems to work best for you. Main thing is not to ignore how your body feels just because someone said the latest theory is that people should/shouldn't eat X, whatever X is. At least that's my take on it. For me, the tricky bit is just differentiating between true body cravings (usually of the "feed me BROCCOLI!!! sort) versus tongue cravings (usually of the feed me PRALINES!!! variety). The tongue cravings have pretty much gone away since I stopped eating sugar, though. Took about 18 months of total sugar abstinance, but it's kind of amazing how good real food tastes again. It was sort of like my tongue had been living in black and white, and then the filter came off and wow! technicolor flavor! Anyway, my point is that not eating sugar can make it easier to read what your body really needs in terms of nutrients because it isn't always overriding everything else with a scream for the next sugar fix. But the abstinance has to be total - even stuff like sugar in bottled spaghetti sauce or breakfast cereal will mess the signals up.

But back to bruises...Then there is always the possibility that fencing is just getting more athletic over the years, and so hits are just plain harder than they used to be.

[Fencergrl]

In the past year or so, though, I've started to notice that getting hit hurts a lot more.

I would mention this to my doctor, it may be a symptom of a larger issue.

If you were comparing how you feel pain from when you were a teen to now, I would suspect your memory may not be accurate or you were more willing to ignore the pain when you were younger and you shouldn't worry about it.

However, you are talking about a noticeable difference from a year ago. This strikes me as odd, especially considering how young you are.

[crquack]

Early thirties? Aging? You have a nasty shock ahead of you.

Seriously though, I do not find that things hurt more with age. They do hurt longer. What used to take days to recover now takes weeks, in some cases months or even years.

Also perception of pain varies with circumstances, your motivation, your adrenaline status etc: It hurts more to practice with my wife (she does not even hit that hard) than being hit in a fight where the hits are much harder and the subsequent evidence of injury much more prominent.

[dcrocket]

Wait until you get on coumadin before you talk about bruising. I fleched my opponent and took a knee to the thigh. (no yellow card for jostling) Six weeks later I can go up and down stairs almost normally and my leg is not a solid purple.
Photos at 11:00......

PS I got the touch, won the pool bout, seeded 1st and took third...that part didn't help the bruising...

[Tomas N]

This may be too obvious, but have you bought a new jacket recently? The newer materials wick and breathe better, but are also thinner and absorb much less of the impact.

Tomas

[IvorDarcy]

I came back to fencing after an absence of almost 10 years but I don't think getting hit hurts any more than it did when I was younger. I do get the odd bruise now and again but that is usually when beginners misjudge their distance and I don't move out of the way fast enough. Other than that, the best way I have found to avoid bruising is to not get hit! Sure, getting older (I am 44) means a slower recovery from an injury but as long as you warm up and stretch (Yes I know there have been several discussions on how stretching does no good at all and does nothing to prevent injuries) so that your old body does not get the shock of suddenly doing a huge ballestra lunge, because you knew you could do it but forgot you were old and slow, then recovery should be reasonably fast.
If this does not work...throw your walker at them!

[telkanuru]

Parry........

But but but...

Counterattack...

[theLuz]

But but but...

Counterattack...

that's why I fence foil. It has never made sense to me to get poked so I can get the point. Why not NOT get poked and get the point? Get the point?

[Mr.Corduroy]

Now that I've aged out of CadetVet-ism (I'm 50 and actually a Junior Vet), I can assure you that pain is a good thing. If something doesn't hurt when I wake up, I know my time on this earth is over.

So, let me suggest that you celebrate it and revel in it - unlike most signs of life which decrease with age (hearing, eyesight, stamina, sexual prowess), pain increases - its the one thing we can go to the bank with!

Interesting. I've never really thought about pain quite like that before. Well, at least now I can stop worrying and actually be happy about the constant pain in my ankle, and the recurring knee issue, oh, and the bruising, we can't forget about the bruising.

[telkanuru]

that's why I fence foil. It has never made sense to me to get poked so I can get the point. Why not NOT get poked and get the point? Get the point?

Because your way requires more work and I'm lazy?