Not wanting to get tossed out and have to start over, Hensley told no one. She duct-taped her foot for 26 weeks and forged on. She not only graduated but also captured "most physically fit" honors.

But her determination took its toll. Now, after four reconstructive surgeries, Hensley, 46 this month and a detective in the police department's background investigations unit, deals with foot pain every day. "I don't know if I'll ever be rid of the pain, or if it's something I have to live with. It might slow me down, but it's not keeping me down. It's too easy to dwell on the negative and the things that make you stumble."

Among her age group, Hensley might be an exception.

According to a recent report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, baby boomers appeared to be in poorer health than their counterparts 12 years ago. Boomers indicated they have more pain, more chronic conditions, and more drinking and psychiatric problems than prior groups on the verge of retirement.

That trend doesn't bode well for boomers as they age and bear increasing costs of health care and medications, the report says.

So, what's going on with boomers? Are they really aging poorly, or are they just more willing to admit to their aches and pains?

The answer, according to some local folks: Both.

Aching Joints
Boomers who limp into orthopedic surgeon Sean Hassinger's office at Presbyterian Healthcare Services usually have problems with their knees and hips, and many of them are considering joint replacement surgery.

Hassinger points out a study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery that estimates that by 2030, the demand for knee replacements is projected to surge by more than 600 percent, and hip replacements are expected to increase by 174 percent.

Boomers are more open to replacements because implants are better and last longer than they did years ago, Hassinger explains. "Years ago, surgeons would tell people, 'You're too young. The implant won't last more than 10 years,'" he says. "Now, replacement joints are considered a good option to take people's pain away. I still tell my patients that it's a last resort," he cautions.

He speculates that boomers might be reaching that "last resort" stage at a younger age.

Boomers seem to be suffering more injuries because they're more active, Hassinger says, taking advantage of their free time and perhaps pushing themselves harder than they should. "They're wearing out a little earlier."

Great Expectations
Boomers also are more vocal about their ailments. Their parents' generation has "fewer expectations for perfect health and therefore are sort of less complaining than our boomer generation," offers Carla Herman, chief of the Division of Geriatrics at the University of New Mexico Center on Aging.

Boomers "have an expectation that we're going to be different," says Herman, 56. Members of her generation seem to be undergoing "a very superficial kind of aging," Herman adds, battling the march of time with face-lifts, supplements, Botox and the like.

"I think there is a tendency for the aging boomer to want to take a pill rather than making the kinds of significant lifestyle changes that are going to make a difference," she says.

In addition, the "barrage of pharmaceutical ads" promising restful nights, allergy-free days and everything in between reinforces the notion that there's a cure for every ailment. "The earlier generation just kind of lived with those symptoms and didn't think twice," Herman says.

Herman says she isn't convinced depression and alcoholism are more rampant among boomers; she chalks up the increase in both to the fact that more people are able to identify the symptoms and it's more socially acceptable to admit to either disease.

Herman recently had knee surgery and realized that she, too, needed to make some changes. "For someone who's never been in the hospital or sick, it was my first wakeup call that I need to eat better, lose weight, exercise more, because I don't plan to have my next 25 years full of chronic pain."

No Miracles
Herman's outlook is more pragmatic than that of many people who come to chiropractor Michael Pendleton's Albuquerque office.

Pendleton says that in his experience, boomers who are very active, exercising, taking vitamins and taking control of their lives tend to have fewer pain issues, and they seem better able to tolerate occasional aches and pains.

On the other hand, boomers with the most chronic pain are usually overweight, sedentary and taking numerous medications, he says.

"They kind of want you to fix everything, and I have to tell them, 'You've been in this condition for so long, unfortunately, you can't reverse time.'"

For Hensley, the police detective, reversing time isn't even on her mind. "I look forward to getting a little bit older," she says. "I don't regret what's going on with life and aging."

Hensley says her religious faith and her optimism are what get her through the setbacks of aging. "I do sympathize with those that are discouraged. I loved running when I could, and not being able to run every single day is discouraging for me," she says. "But it's important not to dwell on that. I can hike, bike, do weights. I don't focus on the limits. That's what changes my whole thought process."

Source: Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. Powered by YellowBrix.

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