If it helps, Biggles, I think even a daily multi-vitamin is of some benefit. Luckily, my general health is very good (still handling a dozen or so gigs per month), but my doc advised a multi-vitamin as part of my normal routine. Be well, mate.
Geezer Question???
- Thread starter happyrat1
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Me Too..
Picked up my old Bowie book (from guitar) and learned piano for Ch-Ch-Ch Changes...love that song .
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71 year old here, definitely WAY past dragging a Hammond behemoth.Not sure if this belongs in Technique and posture or General Keyboard.
I have a simple question that affects most, if not all, keyboard players sooner or later.
Maybe we should add a geezer forum and make this a sticky?
Sooner or later, if you are a keyboard player, your fingers will begin to fail you.
Be it arthritis, or carpal tunnel, or some other nasty form of "digitosis" (Tm Gary G. 2023) eventually we stop advancing in our craft and begin to slow down and begin regressing. (My thumb these days is making me far more sympathetic for Keith Emerson's demise.
The question?
What have been your experiences with the ravages of old age, or injury and what sort of coping strategies have you used to extend your playing time.
For some of us, therapy is a costly option not covered by our foundering government.
Every thing is welcome here, though the mention of copper bracelets might draw a snicker or two.
Let's archive our experiences with what works and what does not.
Ian: Please make this one a sticky
(Ironically, my keyboard time pretty much spans the lifetime of this forum
I found taking Turmeric daily greatly helped with arthritis after about 3 weeks. I go thru Hanon 20 piano exercises (95, then 110 bpm) on a Yamaha e-piano at least 5 times a week and so far, so good.
I'm almost 66, and just got here, so my expectations are low.
With asthma and arthritis both, keeping down inflammation and phlegm levels is a daily goal.
My solution to that end has been almost complete abandonment of dairy products, especially milk. Tiny amounts of cheese and cooked are acceptable.
BUT thing is that I love milk and I need it for soothing my over acidic stomach.
UNSWEETENED COCONUT MILK.
Delicious.
No dairy parts.
Just a little more expensive.
Highly recommend middle age folks dropping dairy products to improve allergies, asthma, and arthritis.
With asthma and arthritis both, keeping down inflammation and phlegm levels is a daily goal.
My solution to that end has been almost complete abandonment of dairy products, especially milk. Tiny amounts of cheese and cooked are acceptable.
BUT thing is that I love milk and I need it for soothing my over acidic stomach.
UNSWEETENED COCONUT MILK.
Delicious.
No dairy parts.
Just a little more expensive.
Highly recommend middle age folks dropping dairy products to improve allergies, asthma, and arthritis.
Rayblewit
Love Music / Love Life
@LoveLoud said: Highly recommend middle age folks dropping dairy products to improve allergies, asthma, and arthritis.
I don't think dairy has any bearing on arthritis.
My painful arthritis is not challenged by eating cheese or drinking milk, I can assure you.
As for allergies and asthma. . . maybe so but I am not affected with such ailments. Maybe take up on Yoghurt as a dairy supplement. It has natural anti oxidants to keep healthly bones and strengthen immunity to diseases etc..
R
I don't think dairy has any bearing on arthritis.
My painful arthritis is not challenged by eating cheese or drinking milk, I can assure you.
As for allergies and asthma. . . maybe so but I am not affected with such ailments. Maybe take up on Yoghurt as a dairy supplement. It has natural anti oxidants to keep healthly bones and strengthen immunity to diseases etc..
R
What have been your experiences with the ravages of old age, or injury and what sort of coping strategies have you used to extend your playing time.
I should have noted in my Advice post, experiencing a change in physiology due to dietary change, may take weeks/months to manifest.
It's a big change, even a hassle.
I should have noted in my Advice post, experiencing a change in physiology due to dietary change, may take weeks/months to manifest.
It's a big change, even a hassle.
Life happens.
Since the ‘80’s we have limited or avoided:- processed foods, minimise the amount of food we eat which contain chemical preservatives, salt.
We eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, breakfast is sugar free Muesli with yogurt and fruit juice, eat oily fish, minimise red meat consumption (totally avoiding any red meat originating from certain countries especially the USA), snack on mixed nuts (in a past life I must have been a squirrel).
We cook using Olive or Sunflower Oil.
Yet I have high cholesterol as well as low B12, another blood test this week.
A.I. sucks, this ass about face advice is the result of a search for a cholesterol lowering diet:-
Make swaps: Try swapping butter for olive oil, potato chips for unsalted nuts, white bread for whole grain bread, and full-fat dairy products for reduced-fat options.
Since the ‘80’s we have limited or avoided:- processed foods, minimise the amount of food we eat which contain chemical preservatives, salt.
We eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, breakfast is sugar free Muesli with yogurt and fruit juice, eat oily fish, minimise red meat consumption (totally avoiding any red meat originating from certain countries especially the USA), snack on mixed nuts (in a past life I must have been a squirrel).
We cook using Olive or Sunflower Oil.
Yet I have high cholesterol as well as low B12, another blood test this week.
A.I. sucks, this ass about face advice is the result of a search for a cholesterol lowering diet:-
Make swaps: Try swapping butter for olive oil, potato chips for unsalted nuts, white bread for whole grain bread, and full-fat dairy products for reduced-fat options.
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As an old guy, I must have found the right place.
What’s worked well for me is eating as much whole food as possible, almost no animal products and very little processed food. That and exercise works like a charm. About 6 years ago I was facing both high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and needed to make a choice, meds or something else. I was stubborn and went the diet and exercise route. Huge change with huge payoff.
My new doctor is quite amazed that I don’t take any meds and don’t need any. Apparently that is uncommon for a 60 year old. If only diet worked for a bad back.
What’s worked well for me is eating as much whole food as possible, almost no animal products and very little processed food. That and exercise works like a charm. About 6 years ago I was facing both high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and needed to make a choice, meds or something else. I was stubborn and went the diet and exercise route. Huge change with huge payoff.
My new doctor is quite amazed that I don’t take any meds and don’t need any. Apparently that is uncommon for a 60 year old. If only diet worked for a bad back.
I’m convinced that the luck of the draw is a lot of it. I don’t watch what I eat. Nothing to excess, but I don’t go sifting between what’s healthy and what’s not. You’d hardly call me athletic - never was, but here I am at 17st. 9lbs., with a good head of hair, doing three gigs a week and enjoying life at 81. If I keel over next week, not something I concern myself with anyway, I’ll have zero complaints. Like I say, luck of the draw and just grateful to have drawn well.
I notice that I have to keep my fingernails quite short, that's become more pronounced in the last year or so. I also find that I have to set my sound levels such that I can hear myself very well, otherwise, I am beating on the keys way too hard.
As far as diet, I'm the weird one of the group, I guess. I find my best performance comes with having eaten a clean, carnivore diet before I play a gig. No sugar, no carbs, generally just meat and eggs. It's the best I ever feel. Had done the vegan and vegetarian thing for decades looking for the fountain of good health, never found it. Certainly not critical of those for whom it seems to work. It just did not work for me.
As far as diet, I'm the weird one of the group, I guess. I find my best performance comes with having eaten a clean, carnivore diet before I play a gig. No sugar, no carbs, generally just meat and eggs. It's the best I ever feel. Had done the vegan and vegetarian thing for decades looking for the fountain of good health, never found it. Certainly not critical of those for whom it seems to work. It just did not work for me.
Rayblewit
Love Music / Love Life
It is amazing, even if you feel like crap, that after a wholesome meal you get more energy.
Eating meat enhances your adrenalin too.
It's one of those areas where people have a lot of disagreement. And I wasn't wanting to raise a stink among those who don't see things in the same way.
I've tried quite a few different things but have found that, for me, the ideal meal before a gig is 1/2 to 1 pound of ground hamburger (I like and typically make 1/2 pound hamburger patties anyway) and 3 or 4 sunny-side-up eggs. No bun, no fries, no tots, no onion rings, no veg to go with, just plain and simple, maybe a slice of REAL cheese and a little mustard. Coffee if it's morning, water if it's later in the day. That's it. I feel that I have energy for the whole gig, even if it's 4 or 5 hours, and no hunger at all. I also find I'm mentally alert which was really the biggest goal for me.
On stage, I typically have something close to a gallon of water, especially for long gigs. I had gotten into the habit of having something with sugar and something with caffeine in it also available on stage. And I do still usually stick something like that in my on-stage bag, only for IF I feel like I need it. But it has been most of this year that I have never reached for anything other than the water. The downside to reaching for anything other than the water then becomes feeling like someone has just dimmed the lights, I'll struggle to concentrate, I'll feel fatigued, and I'll enter a place where I have to keep drinking whatever it is to try to get another boost. Not a good place for me.
But hey, I'm just telling you about me. Another person might be totally different. I wouldn't tell them they're wrong but I'd hope they'd give me the same latitude.