shrinking in old age

My husband is 6ft and other shoppers (always female!) often ask him to get things from high supermarket shelves 😁

Struggling to reach high shelves is not just due to losing height. We also lose flexibility. My teen DGD is the same height as me but she can reach things that I can't.

I am a bit confused about why trousers are now too long. Our spine shrinks but surely that does not make our legs shorter? I thought shops now make things longer as the average height has increased.

I think when the spine shrinks, the waist gets lower, so trousers appear longer

😂

Well its all in metres so Ive no idea !

Yes, I'm afraid 'little old lady' isn't just a phrase!

DH shrunk from 6’2” by over 2”, but he was told it was due to stacking of his spine, mostly from being in the scrum in rugby.

I’m 5’10” but don’t think I’ve lost height - weight would be good though…

I’m 73 and so far I haven’t shrunk at all, but if I do start to I won’t be happy! I’m struggling with my BMI as it is and that will just make it even harder.

I have definitely shrunk by one and half inches but my birthday suit hasn't!!

I find that my long umbrella with a curved handle is very useful in supermarkets! I hate having to ask someone to reach things down for me.
I keep thinking that the top shelves in Aldi, etc., could be made so they can be pulled down on a hinge? 🤔
Everything in our kitchen is too high - it drives me mad! 😡

I’ve been having treatment from a chiropractor and he says that I’m now a bit taller as he’s straightened up my wonky spine!

In April I had my annual BP and blood pressure check. Both very satisfactory. I have never been measured or weighed although it's obvious I'm not overweight. My passport has always had 5'1". I'll ask one of the DDs to measure me, some 60 odd years later.

I went for a Bio Bank second round of scans earlier this year after seven years and was told I was an inch shorter, a stone heavier and my blood pressure was too high.

yes i've just discovered i have shrunk a couple of inches, am now just 5"2", no wonder my 11 year old grandson towers over me.

Well, pably15, you’re fortunate to have a yearly check-up. I know I’m shrinking height wise but haven’t been called for a check since I reached 70, 2 years ago. Obv I’d see a doc if I had a problem but ……

I reached my full height of 5ft 4 and a half inches at age 14 . I am now in my 70s and am still 5ft 4and a half inches. I don’t know how I managed that ! I’m still the shortest in my family except for 14 year old DGD .

Eddieslass

Well, pably15, you’re fortunate to have a yearly check-up. I know I’m shrinking height wise but haven’t been called for a check since I reached 70, 2 years ago. Obv I’d see a doc if I had a problem but ……

I think it depends on what health problems you have..

Seems another negative thing to add to getting older - losing height so therefore what was previously an acceptable weight is now too high for our lower height. Bah!
I used to be 5' 2" so dread to think how much lower I have sunk now 😕

After I had my first hip replaced at my six week check up I mentioned to the surgeon I was lobsided He smiled and said when he did my second hip which was thirteen weeks after the first he would even me up as he thought I would appreciate not shrinking. He was true to his word and my physio commented how even I was after the up. So I have lost less height that I might have done without two new hips

When my Dad was alive (and suffering from slight dementia) he went for a medical and the doctor said he was 5ft 9". "I jolly well am not,"he said "I am 6ft and have always been 6 foot" Then he stormed out of the office!

I have scoliosis so my back is bent over. I don’t know how to record my height as, straightened out, I might still be 5’5.
My grandchildren were intrigued to hear that old people shrink and kept wanting to mark my height on the kitchen door where I marked theirs. I think they expected me to get down to toddler size!

I have lost half an inch .... so far.

And without trying or wishing to I have lost 1.75 stone over the last year - and I was not overweight to start with! So I am vanishing all round ......

Oh no! I'm only 5ft 1in to start with, and haven't been measured for years, so hope I haven't shrunk! I recently saw my sister-in-law, not seen her for 8 years, at my nephew's daughter's christening a couple of weeks ago, and she told me she was measured and was 4ft 9in! She was the same height as me! She had a kidney transplant over 15 years ago and is now on dialysis three times a week. Don't know if there is a connection.

Norah

I'm 3 inches shorter than I was at 50.

🤔
If one woman is 55 and is 5ft 7” and her friend is 61 and is 5ft 4”
And they are both married to men who are 70 and 6ft2” tall and they married in the same year 1982 how tall are the two husbands now?

Padstow13

Yes, I'm sure we shrink with the years.

And I wonder if the supermarket CEO's are aware that stacking upper shelves high and even higher puts several lines of items out of reach of the likes of moi - 4ft 11ins.

I know someone will say "well ask staff to reach for it for you!", but can you find a suitably tall member of staff when you need one?

And it's not merely a rare occasion - it's fairly regular. How high can these shelves get?

I am 5ft 5.5 down an inch, but the milk and bread I buy is high up and usually very popular, so the remaining are right at the back.
DH is shorter than me, so I just smile at the nearest lady with a tall hubby and ask if I may borrow him. Nobody has ever refused me.