Warm up before exercising
While many baby boomers -- people between the ages of 37 and 55 -- are exercising more, many end up in hospital emergency rooms suffering from sports-related injuries, according to Dr. Robert A. Stanton, a Yale orthopaedic surgeon who wants to raise awareness about this growing problem and offer preventative strategies.
Statistics show that most sports-related injuries in this age group come from bicycling, running, skiing and in-line skating. Although the injuries were relatively minor, Stanton says the bruises and sprains added up to nearly 90,000 injuries in one year -- a 42% increase in the past decade.
"The majority of these injuries are preventable," says Stanton, clinical instructor of orthopaedics at the School of Medicine. "By following preventative steps, such as warming up, wearing bike helmets and knee pads, and increasing the rate of activity by only 10% per week, baby boomers will have fewer injuries."
Stanton says warming up is especially important, since muscle tissue becomes less flexible with age. He suggests taking a few minutes to walk before slowly stretching the back and the legs. Depending on the sport, wearing a bike helmet is also key, he says, because adults are twice as likely to die from a head injury as kids are. Only 43% of baby boomers wear bike helmets.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that between 1991 and 1998, golf and swimming injuries increased 110%; ice hockey and weightlifting injuries, 75%; soccer injuries, 55%; bicycling, 45%; volleyball, 44%; and football 43%.
To increase awareness about this growing problem, Stanton is involved in Boomeritis; a public education program aimed at reducing the number of sports-related injuries among baby boomers. The program is run by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and consists of a brochure and a web site, www.boomer-itis.org, that provides information on common injuries, injury treatment and sport-specific injury prevention tips.
"The goal is to help people in this age group educate themselves about the possible injuries and ways they can protect themselves," says Stanton.
-- By Karen N. Peart
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