Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mass, and because of this, it is associated with bone fractures in severe cases. This may sound scary but even with severe osteoporosis, these fractures are actually quite preventable, we just need to make a few positive lifestyle choices.

 

At age 30, we reach our peak bone mineral density, and this reduces annually for men and women at a rate of 0.3% and 0.5% respectively. Come menopause, this rate is accelerated to 2% annually for the next 6 years. Therefore, osteoporosis is most common for the elderly, specifically women, with the prevalence of white people more than black people. When we go through menopause, we produce less oestrogen, meaning that our bone mass is replaced less often than it is lost. This is a normal process and there’s a lot we can do to slow this process and protect ourselves from the potential consequences of poorly managed low bone density.

 

The key to living well and full life with osteoporosis is to cultivate a functional body. That way, small imbalances in the musculoskeletal system don’t add up into big problems (think posture and mobility!). Couple this with feeding the body with the nutrients it needs to keep itself healthy, and you can add life to your years!

 

Chiropractors use a wide range of techniques and tools that they can use to help everyone from babies, to athletes to the elderly osteoporotic population. From gentle adjustments, to using an activator (that clicky gun thing!), to using blocks or wedges, to touch and hold techniques. We can really do a lot for your body, very safely.

 

What to do to cultivate a functional body:

–       Do regular weight bearing exercise, like walking or lifting light weights

–       Regularly get checked by a chiropractor, so they can improve and maintain how your body moves and help with your posture and gait, so small problems don’t become big problems. Book with me if you’d like: inflowchiro.com/booknow 

–       Calcium in the diet (a glass of milk a day is plenty, or you can use supplements) 

–       Vitamin D in the diet (10 minutes of sun exposure with no sun cream per day is great, you can also use supplements to boost).

 

Here are some key things to avoid if you have osteoporosis:

–       Smoking & drinking

–       Lots of caffeine

–       Low calcium and vitamin D

–       High salt diet

–       Low physical activity

 

I hope you’ve got a few pointers, tips and a healthy dose of knowledge from this read, if you’d like to read the research paper that I got some of the information from, you can read it here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1888612/

 If you’d like to book in online, please do: 

inflowchiro.com/booknow

Best wishes

 

Robin the chiro from in flow