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Baby boomers have got “game.” They also have sore shoulders, injured knees, painful hips, aching feet, twitchy elbows, stiff fingers and gnarly backs, often from trying to stay in the game for too long.

“Science has done a great job extending our life span,” says Nicholas DiNubile, an orthopedic surgeon in Havertown, Pa., who invented the term “boomeritis.”

“But we have not extended the warranty on our frame or musculoskeletal system, and things break down,” he says.

Boomers are the first generation to attempt – in droves – to remain active on aging frames, says DiNubile, author of “FrameWork: Your 7-Step Program for Healthy Muscles, Bones and Joints” (Rodale).

“Years of pounding sports, like running, basketball, aggressive skiing and soccer, break down cartilage, making it thinner and thinner until you are bone-on-bone. Then arthritis sets in as a result,” says Dr. Jan Leo, an orthopedic surgeon in Littleton.

How well Rob Phillipe knows that. A commercial real estate developer in Frisco, Phillipe, 57, is one of those people who used to ski all winter and bike all summer.

Until three years ago, that is, when just an hour of his favorite sports caused him pain (precipitated in part by surgery he had when he was 6 years old). His pain level was increasing along with the amount of medication he took until he decided to have his hip replaced.

“Now I am a walking, skiing, and biking miracle,” Phillipe says. “This was a really big lifestyle-changing surgery for me.”

While rehabilitation was largely on his own via a series of strengthening exercises from a physical therapist, he had no problem with being on crutches for a month of nonweight bearing, followed by another month of crutches with gradual weight bearing. “Lack of pain was my rehab. Suddenly I can do what I want again,” he says.

As Phillipe’s case demonstrates, there’s often an initial “mismatch between what the mind wants to do and what the body can do,” says Dr. Ted Parks, a Denver surgeon who specializes in joint replacement.

But that doesn’t mean you have to give up.

Ignoring one doctor’s advice to stop skiing expert slopes, drop her competitive USTA tennis activity and give up golf, Bar Chadwick instead had knee surgery after an injury in 1999.

“I told them I did not want to stop. I wanted it fixed,” says Chadwick, 56, a project manager for the city of Denver.

After eight weeks of rehabilitation following surgery on her anterior cruciate ligament, she was back at full activity. A second surgery was required in June 2006. She was again encouraged to slow down but chose to push herself through a painful 11 months of rehab (done largely on her own after two weeks with a professional).

Her knee is stronger, but she still feels the pain. “Arthritis is a given, but as long as I keep exercising consistently it will stay strong,” Chadwick says.

Aging athletes are able to keep going largely thanks to advancements in the technology of joint replacement, yet nothing beats what Mother Nature originally gave you.

“We are able to push the limits further than we have ever been able to before, but these devices still have serious limitations when it comes to high-

impact activities such as running regularly on hard surfaces,” DiNubile says.

Parks also sounds a cautionary note to people who expect that the replacement knees and hips will function perfectly. “People can regain activities,” Parks says, “but we are still at science, not fiction. The current technology is high-tech enough to allow patients to still be active; it just may be better to cycle or swim instead of running marathons.”

Hollynd Hoskins, 42, is among those who have gone from intense sports including soccer, rugby and football to the less punishing pursuits of cycling and weightlifting – but only after four surgeries that spanned 20 years.

“Surgery in 1982 meant the big zippers (before arthroscopic techniques, large incisions had to be made on the leg), five-day hospitalization and morphine,” she recalls.

Less-invasive and more-advanced procedures followed, including ACL surgery, a patella tendon graft and a cartilage transplant.

“I am trying to hold off on knee replacement with joint lubrication injections and strengthening exercises,” says Hoskins, a lawyer who continues to do long bicycling events like the weeklong Ride the Rockies tour each June.

Parks emphasizes the need to either get into or maintain good physical condition, especially before a surgery. “Rehabilitation takes longer the more deconditioned you are,” he says. “Better shape equals better response to treatment equals a faster rehabilitation and a better and more complete recovery.”

Tobi Watson, 60, a retired accountant, had knee replacement surgery a year ago. She found rehabilitation to be an almost full-time job.

“I really, really worked hard getting myself in shape before the surgery, as well as after the replacement,” Watson says.

She worked out twice a week at the gym with a trainer and worked three times a week with a physical therapist. She continues to do something every day, adding twice-weekly Pilates to her twice-weekly training sessions; and bike riding (or other cardiovascular activity) the other days.

Dr. Andrew Robinson, an internist for Kaiser Permanente, says that complaints about sore joints account for 10-15 percent of all visits to primary-care physicians.

“Many of the problems can be initially diagnosed and treated by general internists, often with the help of physical therapists,” he says. Many injuries can be treated with rest, ice (or in some cases, heat), compression, intermittent elevation, gentle stretching followed by more focused rehabilitative exercises, massage, as well as pain relieving or anti-inflammatory medications.

“Patients can usually return to normal activities anywhere from one to 12 weeks from the onset,” Robinson says.

Leo notes that age can affect the blood supply to the connective tissue, tendons and ligaments, and boomers need to train accordingly. She recommends lifting weights to strengthen the muscles and the bones.

“When you use muscle, the muscle will demand blood supply; this also helps tendons and ligaments get blood supply. Anything that will increase the blood flow without pounding the cartilage is good.” She endorses walking, snowshoeing, bicycling and gliding sports (such as in-line skating) instead of running and skiing.

Joint resolutions

In 2003, according to statistics from the American Association for Orthopaedic Surgeons, baby boomers had: