::::::::::::: Health Report :::::::::::::
Keep Your Knees Healthy
Eleven million men and women over 45 will suffer from knee pain this year.
Here’s how to avoid becoming one of them By GRE TCHEN RE YNOLDS
not abused and receives some basic
preventive maintenance. The right
lifestyle and activity choices can help
make your knees stronger, healthier,
more pliant—and less likely to end your
tennis game or any other sports.
Three years ago Linda Morse tossed a tennis ball gracefully
overhead, reached for it with her racket, planted her left leg on
the hard tennis court for leverage, and felt something snap. “It
was one of those ‘Oh, no’ moments,” says Morse, now 73. “Most
people I know who play tennis have some kind of knee trouble,
and now, I just knew, I did, too.”
In a typical year more than 6 million
men and women 62 and older—and
another 5 million between their mid-
40s and early 60s—will visit a doctor
because of knee pain. Knees are one
of the most commonly injured joints
and the most likely to be afflicted with
arthritis. Strange twinges or clicking
noises are familiar complaints as well,
along with—more dramati-
cally—pain, swelling, and a
tendency for the joint to
seize up.
Thinking of trading in
your old, aching knee
for a new model? Get
the lowdown on knee-
replacement surgery
at aarpmagazine
.org /health.
