When you’re young (and a little naive), it’s normal to feel invincible when it comes to your body. Staying up late, maybe partying too much, working with the wrong form – you may not hear some of these at this point, but boy, do they catch you. While the examples may seem obvious, people in this Reddit thread are sharing things that seemed small at the time but ended up having long-term effects on their bodies. Here’s what others shared:
Note: Some of these answers have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1.“I was a college athlete. We were told the pain was temporary, but the pride was forever. I had three surgeries, one unsuccessful and from septic. I was diagnosed with arthritis before I was. 20. My knees are shot, I have blisters, and it’s harder than people who have 10+ years older than me, the pain is forever the pleasure.”
2.“Acne. I thought it was something that would go away after your puberty, but it’s still destroying my face ten years later, and nothing seems to work. It’s probably genetic as some women in my family still suffer from it. Even if there was a cure, I still have a permanent scar as the skin is dark scarring more than fair skin.”
– butterfly empress
3.“Listening to music WAY too much with headphones at a young age. It leads to hearing loss and hearing loss.”
4.“Obstructive sleep apnea. When you already know that you have some mental problems, you think that it explains your sleep and low mood and ignore other issues. It not only damages your cardiovascular system; it can slowly destroy your life. If you snore at night and/or feel sleepy throughout the day, go see your doctor.”
—cyb_30
5.“I had a mastectomy after decades. It left a slightly crooked area because, over time, the ribs become deformed from the pressure of the implants.”
—SnooFloofs9030
6.“Not getting enough sleep.”
7.“Bad posture, shoulders roll to lower my chest. Now I have neck pain, shoulder pain, and back pain, ugh.”
—Enough-Berry-827
8.“Pregnancy. I had twins. I had a HUGE belly. I had kids, and it left this belly that wouldn’t go. Fast forward; the twins are 8 years old. I’m 7 weeks post-op to give birth my diastasis recti corrected Do you know that line line down the ABS There were 6 to an 8-inch gap down the middle BELLY I kept punishing myself, the baby fat I couldn’t lose was all my digestive organs.
9.“Getting my eyebrows to be the same thin for 20 years”.
—LV4Q
10.“Drinking alcohol freely. I’m 7 months pregnant, and it’s amazing how much weight I’ve lost and how different my face looks in pictures. I’m not going back to drinking after giving birth.”
– Delicious cheesecake
11.“Wearing tight shoes every day gave me bunions, but I didn’t find out why until years later.”
12.“A few years of Crossfit left me with chronic knee and shoulder pain. Heavy weights shouldn’t be lifted for a while; your posture goes to hell, and you set yourself up for joint damage.”
—Mr_Lumbergh
13.“Keeping 100% out of the sun as a child. I wasn’t given vitamin D supplements, so my bones are pretty weak and break easily, and my enamel is thin and wears off when my teeth close too much. My body didn’t process calcium properly when I was young, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” about it as an adult my mother thought she was protecting me from skin cancer, but she was condemning me to a life of broken bones and bad teeth.”
—kyreannightblood
14.“My parents made the kids do a lot of manual labor, starting when I was only 5 or 6 years old. It wasn’t just helping out in the yard but doing real landscaping work. My brother and I used to pick up rocks in these 10lb buckets from the dumpster to the egress windows 300 yards away. To be honest, We didn’t know about posture, lifting with your legs, etc. We all have chronic back, shoulder, and neck pain first signs of arthritis. We are only 21 and 26 now.
15.“The heat. I was so afraid of losing everything that I extended my downfall. Five years later, I still feel the damage to my brain from that time in my life, and I still lost everything and had to start over. .If I could give any advice to people out there – if you are burning with no visible relief, do yourself a favor and know when to cut your losses to use your time and energy to rebuild.”
—AlpharoTheUnlimited
16.“I’ve been smoking for almost 10 years. Obviously I knew that smoking would do nothing but damage my lungs. But it’s been almost two years since I smoked, and I still have very bad lungs. Another thing is not learning how to exercise when I smoke. I was young. I wish I had My parents made me play sports even though I hated it. Now it’s hard for me to breathe while also focusing on moving my body properly.
-thenissancube
17.“Working hours at night changes internal sleep. When your body gets used to it, you get a weak energy that increases at night and the opposite during the daytime hours, even if you are always sleeping.”
—LeagueOfLindemann
18.“Psychiatric drugs. It’s scary how easily they are prescribed and how doctors don’t explain the side effects.”
Is there anything else you would add to this list? If so, share it with me in the comments below!