Staying in the game as sports injuries rise

Jacqueline Stenson MSNBC contributor

With all the preachy messages urging men to get off the couch (some of them, no doubt, from me), it might be perplexing to hear that sometimes guys should take things more slowly.

But that's the advice of sports medicine doctors who are seeing a spate of injuries — strains and sprains, tendonitis, slipped disks and more — among aging men who overdo it on the basketball or tennis court, softball field, gym floor, and, yes, even the golf course.

The problem isn't that men become too old to play (you're never too old to exercise), it's that many don't fully appreciate that they can't always play as hard or long as they did in their teens and 20s.

And if they are able to keep pace with the younger guys on the field, they may need to warm up for longer periods beforehand or take an extra day of rest between games, experts say.

"Your body is more vulnerable as you age," says Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania and consultant to the Philadelphia 76ers. "So things you did before, you might not be able to withstand now."

Men are more than twice as likely to sustain a sports injury as women, according to a nationwide study published in the journal Prevention two years ago. Overall, results showed, about 7 million Americans receive medical treatment or counseling for sports and recreation-related injuries each year.

And those injuries are believed to be on the rise, especially among active baby boomers. From 1991 to 1998, ER visits for sports injuries increased a third among boomers, according to data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Doctors have even coined the term "boomeritis" to describe the trend.

Weak links
In addition to the wear and tear that the joints endure with age, men often have what DiNubile calls "weak links." These could be old sports injuries, a bad back, muscle imbalances or arthritis. Pound your body too hard and you could pay for it later, he says.

But the solution isn't to avoid your favorite sports, it's to modify how you play them so that you don't irritate those weak links, says DiNubile, author of the new book "FrameWork: Your 7-Step Program for Healthy Muscles, Bones and Joints" (Rodale, 2005).

That could mean spending an extra 10 minutes warming up before a basketball game, jogging every other day instead of every day, only playing in one softball league instead of two, or even taking yoga to build your flexibility and balance.

It's essential to listen to your body, says DiNubile. "If it's telling you something, you better pay attention."

Sore muscles or an aching back the day after a hard workout? Take a break to rest up.

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