Let’s face it, it really sucks getting old. We think slower, our body heals slower and it seems like anytime we are around others of the same age all we do is talk about how messed up our bodies have become.
Admittedly I have not been easy on my body. Running a lot back when it was all the rage. Weight lifting. Skiing. Careers that involved using more back than brains. It all adds up to wear and tear. Then throw in Gravity and time.
When we are born we are blessed with biology that allows us to heal faster, recover from injury and repair quicker. The cells that allow for this are stem cells. They are everywhere in our bodies, rallying the components we need when we break something, cut something and so on. With time, (yep as we age) we have less of these cells available to do the task and as a result healing is longer and more painful. The example I use is look how long a 12 year old takes to heal a typical cut in the skin and compare to that of a 60-something year old. Those are stem cells in action, but in my case way fewer than I used to have.
Much has been theorized about stem cells and whether or not they are witchcraft, dangerous, safe and so on. I have spent a fair amount of time researching the studies and controversy and have decided to try therapy for my aching knee. Avoid what I refer to as one of the “Rites of passage” A total knee replacement.
We’ll see how it goes and in further posts I will describe the process as I enter into it next week.