This week we look at what causes osteoporosis, how to treat it and how a chiropractor doctor diagnoses it. The IOF estimates that over 44 million individuals in the United States presently have osteoporosis.
What is Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis literally translates to porous bone. It is a condition that reduces bone density and quality. The adult skeleton contains 206 bones. Each of these bones are made up of living tissues. As bones become more porous and brittle, fracture risk is significantly increased. Bone loss occurs silently and progressively. There are often no symptoms until the first fracture happens.
What causes osteoporosis?
Our bones are constantly changing tissue. From birth to adulthood, bones are developing and enhancing. Our bones are densest in our early 20s, called maximum bone mass. Some of our bone cells start dissolving bone matrix (resorption) as we age, while fresh bone cells deposit osteoid (formation). This is called remodeling. For individuals with osteoporosis, bone loss outweighs bone growth. Bones become porous, fragile, fracture-prone.
Who is at risk?
Osteoporosis or thinning bones can cause painful fractures. Osteoporosis grows when bone density falls. The body reabsorbs more bone tissue to replace it. People should seek medical assessment once they notice such pain.
1 in 3 females and 1 in 5 males aged 50 are at danger of osteoporotic fracture. In reality, an osteoporotic fracture occurs every 3 seconds. The most prevalent osteoporosis-related fractures happen at the hip, spine, and wrist. The probability of these fractures happening, especially in hip and spine, increases in females and males with age.
Special concern are vertebral (spinal) and hip fractures. Vertebral fractures can have severe implications, including height loss, severe back pain, and deformity (sometimes called Dowager’s Hump).
How to minimize the risk of developing osteoporosis?
Lifestyle factors of minimizing risk consist of avoiding smoking, as this can reduce the development of fresh bone and decrease estrogen concentrations in females, restricting the consumption of alcohol to encourage good bones
How can a chiropractor help?
Many measures can be taken to diagnose and avoid osteoporosis. It’s now a mainly treatable disease and can be prevented with a mixture of lifestyle modifications and suitable medical therapy.
Chiropractic treatment seeks to slow or stop the growth of osteoporosis to preserve good bone mineral density and prevent bone mass from reducing fractures to enhance the capacity of the person to continue their daily lives.
Common treatments a chiropractor (DC) utilizes include modifications (spinal manipulation), relaxation techniques, rehabilitation exercises, and nutritional and dietary supplement counseling. These methods can assist to boost mobility and movement and guard you from falling, a prevalent cause of spinal compression fractures.
What would chiropractic care for osteoporosis look like?
The chiropractor consults your health history and records, conducts a physical exam on your original visit, and he or she may order imaging tests such as x-rays. From there, your chiropractor will create a therapy plan that can integrate a range of chiropractic therapies.
If your osteoporosis is advanced, your chiropractor will approach your pain and other symptoms with gentleness, such as soft tissue methods.
Chiropractic adjustment stimulates bone replacement (osteoblasts) cells. So when one gets a chiropractic adjustment, they not only improve the joint movement and health of their nervous system, they also give a beneficial boost to their bones’ strength. Getting adjusted promotes your bones health and prevents osteoporosis, as well as helps reverse it. Please note that if you have active osteoporosis, some modifications may be altered until the strength of the bones has increased; however, it does not prevent adjustment.
What next?
Do you live in the South Bay/ Santa Clara/San Jose area? Are you concerned about your bones’ health? Know someone with osteoporosis? If you want to increase the functioning of your nervous system, improve your overall health, and strengthen all your bones in one simple action, then consider seeing a chiropractor.
