{"id":251848,"date":"2026-08-20T13:46:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=251848"},"modified":"2026-08-20T13:46:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:46:30","slug":"helping-women-stay-active-at-every-stage-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/08\/helping-women-stay-active-at-every-stage-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping Women Stay Active at Every Stage of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ann Franczyk has never been someone who was content to sit on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

A longtime runner, cyclist, swimmer and triathlete, she has spent much of her life in motion. Now in her 70s, that hasn\u2019t changed. She still wants to ride her bike, challenge herself and remain active for years to come.<\/p>\n

So when a right total knee replacement in May 2023 left her with persistent pain, stiffness and severely limited range of motion, being told that there was nothing obviously wrong with the implant wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an athlete,\u201d Franczyk says. \u201cI\u2019m extremely active still, and I wanted to continue to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the next two years, she searched for answers. She sought multiple opinions, including consultations with specialists in New York and Massachusetts. Imaging did not reveal an obvious mechanical problem with the knee replacement, yet Franczyk continued to experience lateral knee discomfort and significant difficulty bending her knee.<\/p>\n

Her limited flexion made even cycling, one of the activities she loved most, difficult. At one point, her knee flexion measured approximately 87 degrees. To complete a pedal stroke, she had to compensate by lifting her hip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was back to cycling a little bit, but it was very painful,\u201d she says. \u201cI had very limited flexion.\u201d<\/p>\n

What frustrated Anne almost as much as the physical limitations was the feeling that her goals were no longer being taken seriously.<\/p>\n

Then, while searching online for another option, she discovered UConn Health\u2019s Women\u2019s Center for Motion & Performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole idea was that the goal is to keep women active through their lifetime,\u201d Anne recalls. \u201cI thought, \u2018That kind of feels like me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

More Than Treating a Knee<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Headshot
Katherine J. Coyner, MD, is an orthopaedic surgeon at UConn Health and Director of the Women’s Center for Motion and Performance. (UConn Health photo)\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That philosophy is precisely what Dr. Kathrine Coyner, director, envisioned for the Women\u2019s Center for Motion & Performance at UConn Health.<\/p>\n

The Center serves women across ages and activity levels from competitive high school and collegiate athletes to women returning to exercise after having children, navigating changes associated with perimenopause and menopause, or simply trying to remain active as they age.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just treating the college and professional athletes of the world,\u201d says Coyner, an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon at UConn Health. \u201cIt\u2019s really anybody who wants to be active or wants to get active.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Center focuses on women experiencing musculoskeletal problems who may benefit from more than a single appointment or specialty. Its coordinated model connects patients with services that can include orthopedics, physical therapy, sports psychology, nutrition, endocrinology and other expertise depending on the individual.<\/p>\n

Nurse navigator, Kayla Callanan, helps patients move through that system, rather than leaving them to figure out the next step on their own.<\/p>\n

Coyner says that distinction can make an enormous difference. A patient with hip pain, for example, may need physical therapy, help with weight management and other services before surgery would ever be considered. Simply giving that patient several recommendations and expecting her to navigate separate appointments on her own can mean that weeks later, little has changed.<\/p>\n

The Center is designed to close those gaps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a coordinated care model,\u201d Coyner says. \u201cI think that\u2019s what makes us successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

And surgery isn’t necessarily the goal.<\/p>\n

Coyner says one of the lessons she has learned through the Center is how many women benefit from having someone look at the larger picture, connect them with the right resources and understand what they are trying to get back to doing.<\/p>\n

Finding Someone Who Listened<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Olga Solovyova, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in total hip and knee replacements.\u00a0 (Photo by Tina Encarnacion)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Franczyk\u2019s first appointment at UConn Health was with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Olga Solovyova in April 2025.<\/p>\n

Franczyk\u00a0came prepared with a complicated history and plenty of questions after seeing several other specialists. Rather than being discouraged by that history, she says Solovyova took the time to listen.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe gave me a lot of time. She was very understanding,\u201d\u00a0Franczyk\u00a0says. \u201cShe said, \u2018I\u2019m here for you. Ask me any questions you want to ask.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At that point,\u00a0Franczyk\u00a0was not interested in another major operation, and Solovyova did not believe revision knee replacement was appropriate. Instead, the team continued looking for other ways to improve her function.<\/p>\n

Franczyk\u00a0was referred to additional specialists within UConn Health, including Dr. Allison Schafer, medical director, Women\u2019s Center for Motion and Performance and eventually to Coyner to discuss whether arthroscopic surgery might offer another option.<\/p>\n

What Franczyk appreciated was that Coyner didn’t promise a perfect outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was very honest,\u201d\u00a0Franczyk\u00a0says. \u201cShe said, \u2018I cannot guarantee you that I can completely eliminate your discomfort. But I feel very confident that I can give you improved flexion.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For Franczyk, that mattered.<\/p>\n

Coyner also understood something equally important:\u00a0Franczyk\u00a0wasn’t asking to simply get through her daily activities without pain. She wanted to keep cycling and challenging herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re clearly a very active lady and continue to want to be,\u201d\u00a0Franczyk\u00a0remembers Coyner telling her.<\/p>\n

It was a simple acknowledgment, but after years of searching for answers, it meant a great deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt like, for the first time, I was seen and heard,\u201d\u00a0Franczyk\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

A Commitment to Getting Back in Motion<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Jan. 19, 2026, Coyner performed a knee arthroscopy procedure, removing scar tissue that was contributing to Franczyk\u2019s restricted motion.<\/p>\n

But Coyner made clear beforehand that surgery would only be one part of the process.<\/p>\n

Franczyk\u00a0would need to make a significant commitment to rehabilitation: physical therapy at UConn Health five days a week for the first three weeks, followed by at least three days a week for another three weeks.<\/p>\n

Franczyk\u00a0and her husband didn’t hesitate.<\/p>\n

With his support, she committed to the rehabilitation program, working closely with UConn Health physical therapist Greg\u00a0Gomlinski\u00a0and the rest of the rehabilitation team.<\/p>\n

\"Woman
Ann Franczyk at triatlon (provided by Ann)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The work paid off.<\/p>\n

Franczyk\u00a0says her knee flexion has improved from approximately 87 degrees before surgery to roughly 115 to 120 degrees. She still experiences some discomfort and recognizes there are limits to how hard she wants to push her knee, but the improvement has allowed her to return more comfortably to something that matters deeply to her: cycling.<\/p>\n

Recently, she completed a 35-mile ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can more comfortably ride my bike now than I could before,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0Franczyk\u00a0however, the numbers only tell part of the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger thing was the fact that I really felt like I was seen,\u201d she says. \u201cI was really seen as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Understanding What Women Want to Get Back To<\/strong><\/p>\n

That philosophy is central to the\u00a0approach\u00a0at the Women’s Center for Motion and Performance.<\/p>\n

Women can experience musculoskeletal conditions differently and may have different concerns about how an injury affects everyday life. A shoulder problem, for example, isn’t simply about range-of-motion measurements; it can affect whether someone can fasten a bra, lift a child or perform other daily activities.<\/p>\n

Coyner believes listening to those details and understanding what matters to an individual patient is essential.<\/p>\n

The Center’s broader approach also reflects a changing understanding of women’s musculoskeletal health across the lifespan. For younger athletes, that might mean addressing an injury while considering nutrition, mental health, and safe return to sport. For women in their 40s and 50s, it may include understanding how hormonal changes associated with perimenopause and menopause can intersect with musculoskeletal health. For older women like Franczyk, it can mean recognizing that aging does not erase the desire to remain athletic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to be active,\u201d Coyner says. \u201cThey want to stay active.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coyner knows that personally. A former Division I basketball player herself, she understands the mindset of athletes who don’t necessarily define success as simply being able to walk without pain.<\/p>\n

That connection resonated with Franczyk.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s an athlete, so she understands athletes,\u201d Franczyk says of Coyner.<\/p>\n

Today,\u00a0Franczyk\u00a0isn’t expecting her knee to feel exactly as it did decades ago. She knows there are hills she may choose not to climb and limits she needs to respect.<\/p>\n

But she is riding.<\/p>\n

She points to friends in their 80s who are still cycling, not casually pedaling a few miles, but getting out on the road and continuing to challenge themselves.<\/p>\n

That’s the future she wants for herself.<\/p>\n

And it’s exactly the kind of goal the Women\u2019s Center for Motion & Performance was created to support not defining what women should be capable of at a particular age but listening to what they want to keep doing and helping them find the safest path to continue doing it.<\/p>\n

For Franczyk, finding that kind of care made all the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to continue to be active,\u201d she says. \u201cAt least now, I can more comfortably ride my bike. And that is very much attributed back to Dr. Coyner.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After years of knee pain threatened to limit the active life she loved, Anne found a team at UConn Health\u2019s Women\u2019s Center for Motion & Performance that listened to what she wanted and helped her get moving again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":251850,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2231,2287,179,2295],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2209],"class_list":["post-251848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-well-being","category-orthopedics","category-uconn-health","category-womens-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-27 18:24:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251848"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251860,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251848\/revisions\/251860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/251850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251848"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=251848"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=251848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}