Patients
Regardless of whether you choose to pursue pharmacological treatment, our strategies and lifestyle interventions are here to help you thrive beyond your osteoporosis.
Our goals are to help you:
- Strengthen your muscles
- Strengthen your bones
- Maintain good posture and prevent being stooped over
- Prevent falls
This website primarily focuses on three areas:
This website is designed to support you at every stage of your osteoporosis self-care journey*! As your provider may suggest, osteoporosis medications are the first line of defence and may be beneficial in preventing fractures and strengthening bones. However, this is only part of the journey. You may improve your health outcomes by ensuring bone-healthy nutrition and by engaging in exercises that focus on mechanical loading of the bones. Find examples of this on our exercise tab. (exercise tab)
In addition to helping you strengthen your bones, our website aims to help you prevent falls. We plan to do this by providing guidance on how to remove fall safety hazards in your own home, how to improve your balance, and other ways to reduce your risk of falling. We hope that you'll find the Build Better Bones website easy to use and helpful in your journey to prevent fractures and combat bone loss.
* this website is not medical advice and is not intended to replace the advice of a licensed health care provider. We intend for it to supplement medical advice and treatment given by your health care provider.
Patient Exercises
Exercise is an essential ingredient for bone health at all ages. By doing targeted exercises you can improve your balance and strength to build better bones. Practicing balance exercises, function-based exercises, strengthening exercises, and bone loading exercises will help keep you mobile, prevent falls, and ultimately help you maintain your independence!
Start your journeySo, you've been diagnosed with osteoporosis which means that your bones are weakening and diminishing. Whether your bone loss is slight or severe, it can be a devastating, sad, and confusing report to hear. You may react with shock, fear, dismay, or remorse and ask yourself these types of questions:
Didn't I exercise enough? Has my diet been that poor? Why didn't I understand the urgency, the importance, the absolute necessity of prevention?
For your journey toward better bone health, we've developed specific exercises and nutrition guidelines that will absolutely help; take a look!
Courage
It is absolutely justified to feel fear when you first receive your osteoporosis diagnosis. You may feel older all of a sudden or afraid of losing your independence. However, it’s okay to ask for help, and upon developing the strength and tools to manage your osteoporosis, you can take control of your body and your life.
Some of you may have never needed to take medication regularly or have never felt the burden of a chronic health condition. The potential side effects of medication may seem daunting, but if managed carefully, pharmacological treatment can be an excellent steppingstone towards better bone health. However, it is not the only course of action. This website is here to help you claim agency in your healthcare by making simple lifestyle adjustments.
Commitment
You may feel as though these exercises aren’t making a difference. You may feel that this will be a very long road until you see noticeable improvements in your bone health.
However, we assure you that these exercises have an even more useful application than improving bone health. They will help you grow stronger and improve your balance. These are the tangible rewards you will gain before you see a difference in your DEXA scans. Feeling comfortable and strong in your own body is your best defense against falling – and furthermore, fractures...
Since your muscles and bones communicate, your bone health will eventually follow suit. 50% of the battle lies in medical interventions, but the other 50% is in your hands. It is up to you to grow stronger and improve your balance to avoid falls entirely.
Confidence
Don't blame yourself. There are many factors that contribute to bone loss, including a family history of low peak bone mass, menopause, and more. These are not all under our control. Your osteoporosis diagnosis is not necessarily a result of your previous lifestyle decisions. You may not have had control over the onset of your osteoporosis, but you do have control over how you will manage it now.
Evaluation
Many different types of doctors can evaluate and treat osteoporosis. Your first step should be visiting a primary care physician. They will likely be able to perform a risk assessment and may then refer you to a specialist, such as an endocrinologist or rheumatologist. Among other things, the doctor will ask about your medical history and lifestyle to determine if you present any risk factors for osteoporosis. It's best to show up for this appointment with a prepared medical record that you've created. Your doctor may order blood or urine tests and suggest a bone mineral density (BMD) test, a quick and painless assessment to determine your bone strength. The most accurate way to measure BMD is the dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), which can detect changes in bone density with great precision. This provides a metric that may be used to monitor progress during treatment and over time.
Treatment
Several medications are available that may prevent and treat osteoporosis. These products have been proven to effectively minimize bone loss associated with osteoporosis and reduce fracture risk. Your physician should explain the benefits and risks of each medication in great detail and help you decide which is right for you. If you are using a caregiver, they may help educate you on medication options as well. For your information, there are two classes of medication your provider may recommend to you:
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Antiresorptive medication – drugs that slow the rate of bone loss
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Anabolic medication – drugs that increase the rate of bone formation
In addition to pharmacological treatment, many non-pharmacological interventions are available and have been shown to manage osteoporosis efficiently. See the tabs regarding Exercises, Nutrition, and Home Safety
You can be your own advocate! If you have any questions regarding medications and alternative treatments, ask your provider and they can help determine the best treatment to fit your needs.