People often wonder whether what they are experiencing as they age is normal or abnormal. Although people age differently, many changes occur in almost everyone that might be considered "usual" -- or something that happens to most people. Here's a look at some of them:
Eyes/Vision
Normal aging: "Near" vision declines somewhat as the lens in each eye stiffens, often leading to a need for reading glasses. The pupil lets in less light, often leading to a need for more light to see well.
Not-normal aging: Blurred vision and glare (this may mean a cataract) or blind spots (this may indicate a disorder such as glaucoma or macular degeneration).
Ears/Hearing
Normal aging: High-pitched sounds may not be heard quite as well in both ears, often leading to a tendency to ask people with higher-pitched voices to repeat words and sentences.
Not-normal aging: Severe hearing loss (this may mean long-term exposure to noise damage) or hearing loss that is much more noticeable in one ear than the other (this may mean there is damage to the eardrum or the nerve on one side, but not the other).
Skin
Normal aging: Skin becomes thinner, less elastic, dried and finely wrinkled.
Not-normal aging: Itchy, red, flaky skin; blistering rashes; sores; skin growths (some of these changes may indicate presence of an infection or tumor).
Bones
Normal aging: The bones become somewhat less dense.
Not-normal aging: Broken bones, often after very minimal events such as getting bumped or sitting down hard (this may indicate a disorder such as osteoporosis).
Bladder/urination >
