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Physically, my best advice is to take good care of your back and your teeth. These 2 things can make a huge quality of life difference once you are past 40. I
by eludwig 6y ago
Physically, my best advice is to take good care of your back and your teeth.
These 2 things can make a huge quality of life difference once you are past 40. I would also add your eyes, but there is not a lot you can do about that one! Almost everyone needs reading glasses by 40. Glasses suck, but you get used to it.
Psychologically, the best I can say is to forgive yourself for any stupid things you did when you were young. Try to be as kind to yourself as you would be to others. I think of this as the "inverse golden rule." Really important as you get older, because regrets and self-doubt pile up otherwise.
- summitsummit 6y agodarn im not very kind to others
- RyJones 6y agoAgreed on all accounts. Fighting your teeth, back, and weight sucks. You can't undo the damage of neglect to your teeth
- antognini 6y agoOne thing I'll add to this is to take care of your hearing. Some age-related hearing loss is inevitable, but you can reduce the amount of hearing loss you'll experience by minimizing your exposure to loud sounds. How loud is too loud? A rule of thumb is that if you walk around with earbuds and can clearly hear a podcast while standing next to a busy street, it is loud enough to damage your hearing. Hearing loss is a risk factor for dementia. As people lose their hearing it becomes harder to engage with their friends and family which speeds cognitive decline.
- Jimmc414 6y agoI agree and think q-tip use has damaged my hearing considerably over the years.
- everybodyknows 6y agoThe ear canal is surprisingly delicate. I started ocean swimming recently, and was surprised to learn that I was developing "surfer's ear" -- a buildup of scar tissue. The damage is cumulative, and if you let it go past a certain point the only fix is surgery.
- mrfusion 6y agoThe sea water was causing scar tissue? I’m confused.
- magicalhippo 6y agoI'm guessing air trapped in the ear canal can cause stretching damage when under water?
- everybodyknows 6y agoJudging from experience with my own ears, cold is the primary irritant.
- Someone 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfer%27s_ear https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfer%27s_ear: Irritation from cold wind and water exposure causes the bone surrounding the ear canal to develop lumps of new bony growth which constrict the ear canal. Where the ear canal is actually blocked by this condition, water and wax can become trapped and give rise to infection
- ashtonkem 6y agoAnd don’t be afraid to wear earplugs. I used to commute via public transit with 25db earplugs in, to protect my hearing. It reduced my stress significantly to boot.
- jesterson 6y agoWould you mind to recommend a particular one to buy?
- ashtonkem 6y agoNot in particular. Earplugs are well regulated by the dB reduction they offer, the only other thing that matters is going to be fit, which is extremely personal. I’d recommend going with cheap disposable ones, since they tend to get pretty gross easily.
- danmaz74 6y agoActive noise cancelling is great to be able to hear a podcast (or whatever else) where it's noisy without having to increase volume.
- jedberg 6y agoMy eye doctor told me something very useful about 20 years ago, when I was in my early 20s. He told me not to wear my glasses unless I had a headache. He said that your eye has muscles and they need workouts like the rest of your body. So I basically never wore them. I was just on the cusp of needing a prescription back then. He gave me glasses because insurance covered it so why not he said. But then gave me the advice above. I’m 43 now and can see just fine without glasses. My prescription has been stable for 20 years.
- srtjstjsj 6y agoThat's a good way to get a headache that never goes away. Be careful.
- treeman79 6y agoFound a 20 year old copy of my first prescription. Identical to my non prism glasses. My advice, if your head hurts, there is a reason for it. And it probably matters.
- satya71 6y agoI'm not certain that's sound medical advice (in fact, my intuition leans on it being bad advice)
- pestaa 6y agoNot wearing your glasses is a terrible idea if you have astigma (eye ball deformation). If I let my eye muscles work, my vision would actively deteriorate.
- jkk1 6y agoyour day will likely come, unless you're a -2.50 or so. you can almost figure out a person's age by their ability to accommodate (vary focus)-- there are graphs out there (https://qa.healthtopquestions.com/41365/presbyopia-age-chart https://qa.healthtopquestions.com/41365/presbyopia-age-chart). You may have a longer go w/o readers if your starting point is a little more minus. You should wear your glasses if you need them-- fatigued, unable to see, need to see. Nothing permanently bad happens if you wear them all the time or not at all, you'll just be blurry or strained.
- Tade0 6y agoAlmost everyone needs reading glasses by 40. Not if these eye drops can help it! http://fdaaa.trialstracker.net/trial/NCT03809611/ http://fdaaa.trialstracker.net/trial/NCT03809611/
- car 6y agoThank you for posting. This compound to soften the solidified lens is a good idea.
- baha_man 6y ago'Almost everyone needs reading glasses by 40' I think it's more like 45 than 40.
- kodyo 6y agoI'm 45 this year. Bought my readers this year. Checks out.
- telesilla 6y agoI'm the opposite, I have increasingly failing sight long distance but my shortsightedness has no signs of showing. I'm curious when I'll need bifocals, and whether it's possible to wear long and short vision contacts, one in eye, and wait for my brain to adjust.
- jkk1 6y agoYou must be myopic, and your optimal distance of your optical system is naturally at near. If so you may not need bifocals at all. Think of your distance glasses power as making up for how much your optical system is off by to be focused at infinity (distance). A person with a minus prescription has excess power and naturally focuses nearer targets. A person with -2.00 power glasses is focused best at 1/2.00 = 0.5m which is a nice reading distance. A person not requiring glasses ("0") is focused at infinity and has perfect distance vision. For such an eye to focus up close the lens/ eye muscles work to increase the power (fatten the lens) until near is in focus. Unfortunately this ability to accommodate steadily decreases w/ age, noticeable at 40yrs old. Those who are +3, the focal length is 1/3meters BEHIND your eyeball and you'll need glasses for everything once your natural ability to vary focus starts dropping off. You can figure out your exact focal length (meters) by taking your distance prescription a + b x c, and calc 1/(a + 1/2b). minus in front of eye, plus behind the eyeball. Neat, huh?