The New Athlete – Grandma and Grandpa

08 Feb The New Athlete – Grandma and Grandpa

Practicing in Boca Raton has exposed me to the new generation of athletes – grandparents. My grandmother never saw the inside of a gym let alone a yoga studio! The over-60 crowd now are passionate about exercise, sports, yoga class and won’t let their age or their ailments slow them down. They are hooked on the fitness craze which poses quite the challenge for us sports medicine docs.

Whether they like it or not most people start to have wear and tear on parts of their body after age 60. Arthritis, rotator cuff tears, and meniscus tears are just some of the many problems that develop with age even without injury. My older patients don’t want to be slowed down. Neck pain, back pain, knee pain they don’t want to miss golf, tennis, spin class! They are enjoying their retirement like no other generation in history.

We as Orthopaedic surgeons are challenged daily by these senior athletes to get them back in the game. I admire them and hope I will be like them someday. You see them on the pickleball courts with braces on every joint. Running marathons. Even hang gliding as one of my 90-year-old patients does every weekend.

Sometimes we can put them back together and sometimes we have to give the bad news that those arthritic hips won’t tolerate 26 miles anymore. Either way, it’s a new exciting challenge for me to keep these motivated seniors on the courts