Recently turned 40. Generally speaking, I don’t see a big difference in the heal time of cuts or bruises. My joints on the other hand feel like they don’t hold up like they used to. Recently spent a day helping a buddy cut down and mulch some dying trees on his property, made it through the day no problem. The next three days of recovery were rough though. I feel like a random day of labor like that when I was 30 wouldn’t have had the same impact. I do weigh probably 20 lb more now but I’m also more physically active on a daily basis than I was when I was just a 30-year-old IT geek. That being said, seeing some of the responses here from the 60 and 70-year-olds gives me hope that it’s all in my head.

34

I’ve largely avoided any major injuries pretty much my whole life, so I don’t have the best frame of reference

Most scrapes, bruises, cuts, sprains and other common injuries are right as rain in a couple days, maybe a week or two if it’s a particularly bad sprain.

I tend to not get sick too often, but I have noticed that when I do as I get older stuff like a sore throat or cough will linger a few days longer than they used to, fever still breaks in a day or two, and I’ll be feeling just fine otherwise, just that little tickle in my throat sticks around for a while.

45 here, and it depends on the illness/injury. I don’t get ill very often, can get over a cold in a week, still never had COVID (that I’m aware of, knock on wood). But God forbid I get any sort of scratch or cut anywhere on my body, it will always always get infected, always. Yes, I bathe regularly, wash my hands religiously, use anti-bac wound cream, cover the wound, etc, it ALWAYS gets red and itchy and irritated. That never used to happen to me in my 20s or 30s.

Early 20s. There isnt too much of a difference but any wounds I do get now take longer to heal than I remember and the scars stay for somewhat longer too. I could recieve the most cartoonishly outrageous injuries as a kid and in upto a year or so there would be little to no sign of them ever happening but now Im here collecting scars like a whale collects barnacles since they dont go away as fast.

57 and slow healing of injury is the #1 change I have noticed with aging. Not illnesses, those still resolve quickly, and allergies got better, skin got less inflammatory. Recovery from workout soreness seems about the same too.

But injury? I broke my arm when 7 or so, 6 weeks in a cast, couple more to feel normal. Broke my finger at 45 or so, TWO YEARS before it stopped swelling and was normal.

72. I haven’t noticed a great slowdown in healing/recovery - I had a knee replacement six years ago and recovered well from that. Never had COVID, rarely get colds. I feel like my health is generally better now than in my youth, when I drank, smoked and took drugs. When the doc suggests I lose weight I want to show him pix of my speed-addled self in the 70s. I was super slim! But so bloody unwell.

At almost 40, I’m finding I still recover from most injuries fairly quickly. Roll an ankle in the grass? Good as I’ve always been within a minute or two. Strain a muscle? A day of rest and I’m back in working order.

I dread the day when this starts to change.

I first noticed slow healing when I hit 27, had a knee injury that FUCKING SUCKED. It was over a year before I could do a knee bend.

Even now, decades later, it still aches when it gets cold.

At a certain age you don’t actually recover anymore. It’s just added to the list of things you’re slowly dying of.

Hovering around 30 and to be honest my immune system has always been made of papier-mâché and butterfly wishes lmao, so I guess no difference.

I did get COVID in the last couple years and never quite properly recovered, but that’s not really related to age.

I try to stay on top of my wiggly joints more to prevent further injury than my teen years gave me, but otherwise am typically fine (by my standards).

I’m in my mid-60’s, although I haven’t entirely accepted that yet. My recovery rate hasn’t changed much, if any, but I do get more minor injuries than I used to. My joints are not as forgiving as they were 40 years ago.

Mid 50’s. I haven’t noticed any increase in recovery time from injuries or illness so far.

I went through a period in my 30’s when I’d get sick with a cold in October/November and stay sick until March. I think more than anything else it was just catching every bug the kids brought home from school, and just going through a series of overlapping illnesses every year. It stopped when I hit 40.

One thing I’d point out is that we never really recover from an injury. Our bodies are just in a perpetual state of trying to hold everything together.

Lack of vitamin C will result in Scurvy. One of the effects of scurvy is that scars from injuries and surgeries just open up again. I interpret that as your body not being able to fake it anymore.

If you’re having trouble healing, maybe eat an orange ;-)

What do you mean “recover”?

Early 30s, this year I had knee pain every time I when for a jog, the pain lasted 2 or 3 days each time, it lasted for over a month until I met with my brother who’s a physiotherapist and gave me very simple advice:

• warm up before running
• run in smaller steps, large steps are harder on the knees
• stop or take a break before it starts hurting
• run more often, 3 times per week minimum

The pain was gone in 2~3 weeks. Has not came back since.

It’s not always about the age, sometimes it’s about doing things correctly or getting the right care.

30ish. The main difference is that my hangovers have gotten worse. In my 20s I could party all night at the club and still be functional the next day. Now I can’t spend an evening at the pub without destroying my weekend.