Orthopedic implants — once the dreaded inevitability of our final, fragile years — are now part of the lives of the nation's active baby boomers and their adult children.
Sure, we're living longer and parts wear out. And collectively, we're carrying around more pounds these days — an increased pounds-per-square-inch grinding down on knees and hips.
But then there's this, too: Few of us — to borrow from poet Dylan Thomas — will go gently into retirement.
Instead, we're zig-zagging across tennis courts and knocking out laps at the local pool ...
Twisting and wrenching on hockey rinks and chasing glory on the softball diamond ...
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Pounding out 5Ks and marathons trying to squeeze extra mileage out of joints pounded during the era of high impact, no-pain no-gain racquetball and home video aerobics.
All of this means millions of Americans are in line for replacement parts in the coming few years. In the meantime, they turn to everything from physical therapy to pain pills to chicken shots made from the combs of roosters.
An estimated 45 million have some level of joint pain, according to the Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic, which has ...
