Osteoporosis, which literally translates to “porous bone,” is a bone disease that happens when the body loses too much or produces too little bone. As a result of osteoporosis, bones become weak and can break far too easily—sometimes just from a minor bump.
Fortunately, there are proactive things you can do to prevent osteoporosis from burdening your lifestyle.
First, as with everything else in life, the benefits of exercise when talking about osteoporosis prevention are significant. It is recommended that adults get at least 30 minutes of exercise each day to strengthen bones to prevent osteoporosis. In particular, weight-bearing exercises are helpful because they force the body to resist gravity and in doing so, they stimulate cells to create new bone.
In addition, strength training causes muscles to pull on bone, resulting in increased bone strength. It also increases flexibility, reducing your chance of falling and damaging bones.
Examples of weight-bearing and strength training exercises include: aerobics, dancing, jogging, running, tai-chi, walking, water aerobics and yoga. Also, any lifting, whether it be heavy groceries, free weights or even young children, can increase your bone strength. Using weight machines and working out with barbells within your limits are also good ideas.
On top of exercise, making sure your body has enough calcium is also a way to prevent the onset of osteoporosis. If your body does not get adequate calcium via either diet or supplements, it will start to break down your bones, increasing bone loss. Women are particularly susceptible to this problem due to other hormone changes that take place throughout their lifetime.
Foods that are rich in calcium include: low-fat or fat-free dairy products, calcium-fortified juices and food, certain vegetables and soy products. You can also take calcium supplements.
Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium into the bloodstream. You can get Vitamin D through spending about 10 minutes in the sun each day and from your diet.
Finally, there are a few things you should avoid in order to prevent yourself from osteoporosis. Excessive alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and soft drinks all contribute to bone loss.
At Advantage Chiropractic Clinic, we can use a non-surgical approach to helping our patients prevent osteoporosis from getting worse and for treating an osteoporosis-related injury.
Common treatments for patients with osteoporosis include adjustments, relaxation techniques, rehabilitative exercises and nutrition counseling.
Learn more by making an appointment with us today. Contact Advantage Chiropractic Clinic today!