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Q: I have been diagnosed as having osteoarthritis in my left hip. I’m 44 years old and have been training and competing in contact sports since I was 10 years old. I still train four to five days a week — weights, cardio, personal-boxing training. I would like to be better informed about what I should do and not do with this ailment. I would welcome any information about diet, stretching and treatment. Can you recommend any books I could read to better understand the problem and options to deal with the long-term effects of this complaint? A: At your tender age you are paying the price for having beaten up your joints in your contact-sports era. Each hit you administered and received put a little dent in your armor, and now you ache. Professional football linemen uniformly suffer achy knees, hips and backs, a direct result of the pummeling their connective tissue takes in the process of making a living. What is
essential with your aching hip is to be sure to properly maintain the mechanism of your
movement. Too often, a person with a rotten joint falls into patterns of motion that
transfer weight to the healthy side of the body. Then, sooner or later, the good joints
get overloaded, and they join in the chorus of aching. Your active exercise program is
commendable because it keeps your muscles, tendons and ligaments tight and thereby
prevents loosening, rattling and further joint deterioration.
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