Osteoporosis puts you at risk of fractures, particularly in women over the age of 50.
If you’ve done a lot of physical activity, particularly high-impact activity when you were younger, that can protect you against the development of osteoporosis. But what do you do if you’re already 50, and you end up with a fracture for example, just after a very simple fall? You’ll often be investigated to see whether you have osteoporosis already. What do you do though, if you’re already over 50, and you develop a simple fracture with not much of a trauma? A simple little fall, and you end up breaking a bone in your back, or breaking your hip. So what will happen then is that it’s likely to be investigated.
You’ll get a scan that shows whether or not you’ve got osteoporosis. You may be put on specific hormone treatment to try and reverse, or at least prevent, the progression of that osteoporosis. And you’ll also be asked to exercise a little more. So putting weight through your bones, can help slow the further progression of osteoporosis, even more than drinking milk or having other dairy products.
Dr. Jennifer Stevens is a Pain Specialist at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney and Pain Australia
