That Doctor’s Yacht Is Brought To You By . . . Your Knees

The New York Marathon is making local doctors rich:

The marathon is 11 days away, but city doctors specializing in sports medicine are already seeing a run on appointments. Physicians say strenuous pre-marathon regimens, such as 20-mile training runs, can take a toll on the body.

Knee pain is the most common complaint of long-distance runners, the marathon’s medical director, Lewis Maharam, said. Dr. Maharam, who has a sports medicine practice on West 57th Street, estimates that his business increases by an average of 35% in the two weeks before and one week after the annual 26.2-mile race.

This year’s ING New York City Marathon, sponsored by New York Road Runners, is slated for Sunday, November 5.

On the day after the race, Dr. Maharam schedules no appointments. “People come in, and they get a number,” he said. “It’s like a bakery line, stretching down the hall.”

The director of sports medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia, William Levine, said the marathon is “not very good for your body.”

. . .

Tendonitis and cartilage tears resulting in knee pain are common marathon-related injuries, according to Dr. Levine. “There are patients who don’t really recover, and end up with chronic orthopedic problems,” he said. Earlier this week, Dr. Levine said he treated a patient who ran last year’s marathon and has been experiencing knee pain ever since.

Also seen are more serious problems, such as stress fractures in the hip, thigh, and calf bones, Dr. Levine said. He recalled operating on a marathon entrant who fractured a thighbone in the middle of the race several years ago.