Has sports medicine changed! As a medical student, I can remember thinking how exciting it was going to be to care for high-level amateur, professional and student athletes. Back then, I certainly did not anticipate the changing face of sports medicine by what is now being called ‘Boomeritis’, the direct result of an aging baby boom generation showing few signs of slowing down.

Boomeritis refers to the growing numbers of chronic hip, knee and shoulder problems such as tendonitis, arthritis and stress fractures that are plaguing both weekend warriors and seasoned athletes alike. It seems the “no pain, no gain” mantra has resulted in a collection of Boomers with bones, muscles and joints that are showing serious signs of overuse and wear.

The first generation to exercise on a regular basis has little intention of breaking stride as they grow older. Unfortunately, many Boomers are finding out the hard way that staying physically active on an aging frame often means an occasional trip to the doctor’s office.

A 2003 survey by National Ambulatory Care cited sports injuries as the number two reason for a doctor’s visit among Boomers, behind the common cold. Sports related injuries rose 33% between 1991-98 according to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, and that number is certain to keep rising. The fact is that many Boomers enjoy their active lifestyles too much and are pushing the physical limits of what their bodies were meant to do.

With the dramatic rise of sports related injuries among Boomers, the medical field is developing new ways to get people back in the game faster. This is where positive outcomes matter most. In my orthopedic practice, we are now routinely completing minimally invasive, arthroscopic repairs on shoulders and knees. Unlike traditional, open surgery, arthroscopic repair can be completed through an incision the size of a button hole. With new techniques and instrumentation, large knee and shoulder tears can now be repaired using minimally invasive, arthroscopic procedures. Hip replacement surgeries can also be done through smaller surgical incisions.

This approach greatly reduces the amount of scarring, pain and potential complications. As a result, patient hospital stays are reduced, sometimes to just one night, and patients bounce back to their daily routines more readily. One patient hosted a dinner party the night he returned home from the hospital and was walking his dog 3 days after surgery!

At the recent International Shoulder Conference in Austria, I presented a seminar on “tips and tricks” for arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff tears, sharing research with 300+ surgeons suggesting that patients undergoing arthroscopic repair for small and large tears report significantly less postoperative pain following surgery than those undergoing open surgery. In fact, while all arthroscopic patients report pain from daily living activities pre-operatively, only a small percentage report pain postoperatively. The vast majority of arthroscopic patients show considerable improvement in function, motion and strength postoperatively.

Combined with fewer complications and far less scarring, patient satisfaction rates are extraordinarily high with arthroscopic techniques. This is important, because outcomes matter to Boomers. All patients want to be able to get back to their lives quicker and feeling better, not worse, after surgery. Advances in medical techniques and equipment are helping to make this a reality.

In many ways, staying active is still one of the best ways to insure long-term health, but moderation is the key. It’s also important to talk with your doctor about any aches and pains you may be experiencing. ‘Working through the pain’ may only spell trouble down the road. As I mentioned before, surgical and non-surgical techniques for repairing knees and shoulders now exist that will get you back in the game faster than you thought.

So, if you’re a boomer and still pushing yourself as hard (or harder) than you did ten years ago, take time to listen to your body. And know that working through the pain may be a prescription for boomeritis, not long-term physical fitness.

Dr. Murray is the Medical Director of the Orthopaedic Surgery Center at Orthopaedic Associates of Portland (OA) and President of the Maine Society of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

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