As a 30-year-old woman, I was excited to enter my 30s — and I still feel the same way with a birthday right around the corner. However, I admit that my body has changed a bit in recent years. For example, I notice that I digest food differently and can’t eat the same foods that I used to love. Knowing I’m not alone in my bodily changes, I asked the BuzzFeed Community what changes they have experienced with their bodies as they age. Here is what they shared:
1.“At 28, I went to the chiropractor for the first time because I was having back spasms and couldn’t sleep at night.”
2.“I started getting male pattern baldness from my early-mid 20s, while my chest and back hair decided to spread and grow more than ever. I used to be conscious of it but embraced it during my 30s. Then, within literally a year, all my body hair and beard changed color through salt and pepper to nearly white. I blame it on the stress of lockdown at the same time I had brain surgery. What’s left of my head hair has remained dark, though. Bizarre body!”
3.“I absolutely did not expect my body hair to go grey (white!) earlier and more quickly than the hair on my head. The first place I found grey hair was on my goddamn forearm. What on earth?”
4.“Skin tags and even more moles (yes, they get checked).”
5.“As I age, I have felt like my face finally looks like a grown-up. Fine lines and a little bit more give. I feel more beautiful than ever because I am more comfortable in my skin.”
6.“I already thought I was tired, but I had no idea how much MORE tired I could be. Or how much I’d have to pee at night. I was also surprised by my decrease in libido, but I actually appreciate that part. It would have been helpful 30 years ago.”
7.“I’m a 47-year-old cis woman, and about six months ago, my sleep pattern changed drastically for seemingly no reason (I suspect perimenopause). Suddenly, I only require six hours of sleep (used to be seven and a half or so). I no longer feel drowsy at all, ever, no matter how tired I am, and I wake up at the crack of dawn (I’ve always been a night owl). It feels like a superpower.”
8.“I’m still getting acne at 30. My mom’s 65 and still getting acne, too. I thought that shit was supposed to stop when I finished my teenage years.”
9.“51 years old. My balance, whether due to fading visual perception or diminishing muscle control, has been off recently. It can happen with a pivot movement where I’ll feel like I can’t see around my shoulder or when my muscles are tight, and the legs just don’t want to move in tandem.”
10.“All the worsening aches and pains as I get older.”
11.“I’m used to being bruised, but I used to have to fall or get hit to get a bruise. Since I turned 40, I haven’t been in a single fight, and I’ve only fallen once (both miracles within themselves), but I keep finding bruises all over my body. Where are the bruises coming from?”
12.“Hairs. Strange hairs sprout allllllll over your body.”
13.“When I was 29, I was diagnosed with lupus. The doctor I had was awful and just put me on a very high dose of steroids for eight months before I felt a sharp, intense, constant pain in my right hip. Fast forward to a doctor who finally believed my pain and ordered an MRI. My hip joint was dying from the inside out. I had to have a total joint replacement, and due to the damage to that joint — my ortho surgeon said it was so bad it was ‘peeling like an onion’ and then said I would most likely need all of my major joints totally replaced. I remember I laughed at first. He wasn’t kidding. By the time I did both hips and both shoulders, my knees were so bad I had three holes in my femur. I had developed a condition called Avascular Necrosis, which basically means the blood supply stops working in the bone marrow, and the bone dies from the inside out, as a consequence of the steroids I had taken.”
“I had a total of 10 orthopedic surgeries over four years. (Some of the replacements were not done right, and I had to have a couple of joints re-done by a better surgeon) I now have a much better rheumatologist and doctor and am off of all medications for lupus due to intense diet and lifestyle changes. And I can do everything they said I couldn’t do again: run, jump, shoot, throw! It’s insanely humbling. Life is so short; don’t ever take your health for granted, and when something doesn’t feel right, ALWAYS persist until you find a doctor who listens; you know your body better than anyone else!”
—Erin, 35
14.“After having three kids, my poor breasts looked like two popped balloons. They never tightened up. I’m only a B cup, so it’s sad. I never thought about little breasts sagging so much.”
15.“I can hear sounds from my bones. Not just the joints I stretch and crack now, but the bones in my legs (thigh and fibula). It’s a weird sound. Couple that with the fact that I also get one consistent headache for five to six days during my period like clockwork. Ahhh, the effin’ joys of aging.”
—Erica, 38
16.“When I was 31, I started getting itchy dark patches on my head, shoulders, and arms. If left the patches grew like black mold does. Six months of penicillin (usually six weeks is enough) and took several different trials to get correct medication to dissolve disgusting growth on skin. I use prewash Cetraban, 2% antidandruff shampoo for shower gel and fucibet now. Different dermatologists will diagnose various names for what I have, but the truth is they still don’t know what’s growing on me.”
—Anonymous
Are there any bodily changes you’ve experienced that you’d like to share? If so, tell me all about it in the comments below!
