Aging Athletes and Joint Replacement

Did you know that Jane Fonda had a hip replacement? Being a former leg warmer-wearing aerobics instructor myself, this information comforted me. She was 67 when she had her hip done, so I , at age 43,didn’t feel THAT much better.

The good news is that the artisit formerly known as
Prince, at age 49, had a recent hip replacement made me feel less alone in the titanium hip world. Throw in tennis legend Jimmy Connors who was back on the courts six weeks later and Tony Award winning dancer BeBe Neuwirth (Remember? Lilith on Cheers) who just had her second hip replaced and now I am feeling less geriatric and more main stream. There’s also a rumor that Martha Stewart had a THR?

A new joint could actually become the Plastic Surgery of this century! The relatively new trend for younger adults to get this radical surgery is closely correlated to the aging baby boomers who have been sweating and exercising over their entire lifetime as opposed to my parent’s generation, where exercise was looked upon as torture.

Running, as a sport, was never heard of until Forrest Gump invented it in 1970 or thereabouts. I am curious about Tom Hanks hips as well? We are the first aging jock population or what I prefer to call Baby Zoomers.

We are not willing to take the antiquated doctor’s advice to wait as long as possible with a painful hip because the new joint won’t last the length of a younger person’s lifetime. This is thankfully no longer true. Hip Replacement surgery and the actual device that they install has become state of the art and better able to endure wear and tear.

So us Baby Zoomers can get back to the sports we love; living our active lifestyle to the hilt, without limping or whining. Anyone who has ever experienced a deteriorated hip socket knows that the pain is excrutiating.

I used to think that when I saw people limping they were just walking off center. Now I know through my own two years spent hobbling around that when someone limps it is because something HURTS. BADLY. Being unable to bear weight on your leg is crippling and I am thankful every morning when I first throw my bedcovers back that my day is not going to be ruined by putting my foot on the floor to go to the bathroom.

Not to mention that I now have something in common with Prince besides high heels. Bring it on.