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Original poster

Why am I shrinking?

15 replies

molotovcupcakes · 07/08/2023 18:26

Hi, I'm in my late 50's and noticed that my sister is the same height as me but she has always been smaller than me by around an inch.
Does anyone have any medical knowledge about why this might be happening to me?

OP posts:
Aprilx · 07/08/2023 18:33

I am not medical but I think it is well documented that people shrink with age and you can google and find out the various reasons for this.

I am mid 50s as is my older sister thereabouts, we used to be the same height, now she is two inches shorter than I. I would imagine that some processes are happening to her sooner than they are happening to me, just as for example we didn't start or end our periods at the same age.

BarbaraWoodlouse · 07/08/2023 18:35

Not medical but osteoporosis is the obvious contender. At your age it would be investigated by a bone density scan I believe.

Isthatabubbleorabauble · 07/08/2023 18:37

I'm late 40s and at a recent check-up was told I'm half an inch shorter than I've always been measured at. The nurse said it just happens as you get older.

Caribun · 07/08/2023 18:39

As you get older the squishy cartlidge and the discs between your vertebrae, and in your joints slowly get thinner and thinner. This slowly make you shrink as you get older (most common cause anyway).

Violinist64 · 07/08/2023 18:41

It’s quite normal. I’m late in my fifties too and have definitely lost some height. My daughter is 5’1 and l was always quite a bit taller than her but the height gap is narrowing. My mother, in her eighties, is tiny now.

Daisy03 · 07/08/2023 18:44

Gravity.
Yoga and Pilates should help

BlackJumpsuit · 07/08/2023 18:58

Yes, my mum shrank quite a bit in her eighties.

Pilates yes, probably yoga too will help keep you from compressing too much!

maddening · 07/08/2023 19:00

We all shrink, about.a quarter of an inch each decade from when you are 40 (on average- so some more, some less)

NeverDropYourMooncup · 07/08/2023 19:00

Gravity/Time and posture. If you slouch, you'll be shorter than if your back muscles are strong and your posture is straight.

TheWayoftheLeaf · 07/08/2023 19:30

My poor nan was 5ft her whole life, but by the time she passed she was about 4ft 9in she was tiny!

Original poster
molotovcupcakes · 08/08/2023 20:45

Thanks for all the replies, I will definitely look into osteoporosis as my sister hasn’t shrunk at all & you would think that it would happen to both of us.

OP posts:
paisley256 · 08/08/2023 20:49

I've lost 3 inches! I'm now 5ft 3 and I'm now shorter than people I used to be taller than. I've got arthritis everywhere and as a PP said it's a loss of cartilage. I've just turned 48. Its feels weird.

Tilllly · 08/08/2023 20:54

molotovcupcakes · 08/08/2023 20:45

Thanks for all the replies, I will definitely look into osteoporosis as my sister hasn’t shrunk at all & you would think that it would happen to both of us.

Maybe she's growing....

SkipHopJumpSplatWallop · 08/08/2023 20:54

Osteoporosis. I would go to the GP and see if you can get a DEXA scan because if it is osteoporosis you need treatment sooner rather than later.

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