In my aging era

My body is changing.

finally sit for long periods of time without feeling any pain.

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COVER: Mike

by Sayaka Matsuoka

Last year I turned 30, and ever since then, my body hasn’t really been the same.

First came the fall.

In the summer of 2022, I decided to take up roller skating again, a hobby that I had developed during the pandemic. I hadn’t been out on my wheels in a while, but thought to myself, I can do it. I have pads and a helmet. How bad could it be?

Well, turns out, pretty bad.

While skating on one of the local greenways, I took a sharp turn and fell right on my ass. It hurt for weeks. It hurt to sit, it hurt to stand, it hurt to shit.

When the pain didn’t subside for a few months, I decided to get an X-ray. Thankfully, my tailbone wasn’t broken, but it had been severely pushed inward by the fall; it was causing a serious problem. I sought out a pelvic floor physical therapist (didn’t even know those existed) and underwent manual therapy…. It was invasive to say the least. But it fixed my butt!

Now, almost six months later, I can

But then my hips began to hurt. I realized it was the way I was sitting in my chair, so I bought a new one. I also got one of those fun pillows you’re supposed to put between your knees when you sleep. Sometimes, if I accidentally sleep on my stomach for too long during the night, I wake up with bad lower-back pain.

Now, my right shoulder blade is the issue. For the last few weeks, I’ve been seeing a physical therapist (the regular kind, not for my butt), to stretch, strengthen and hopefully solve my upper back woes. But I have a feeling once that’s fixed, there will be something else.

Because I’m afraid to say it, but I’m in my “aging era.”

I used to be able to play four hours of tennis five days a week as a teenager and walk away not feeling a thing. Earlier this week, I did a strength workout and I’m still having trouble bending down to pick things up because my legs hate me.

And I’m an active person. I stretch, do yoga, play tennis, lift weights. But it’s all different now. I’m different now.

I was lamenting about my newfound problems to a lady I play tennis with the other day. Her response?

“What ’til you’re 40.”