Have the strong bones you want- and need for a lifetime of active living. Building healthy bones is extremely important.
As long as you’re able to do the activities you want, you probably don’t give your bones a second thought. But did you know that after age 30 you start losing bone density? In fact, women will lose up to 20 percent of bone mineral density in the five to seven years after menopause. And by age 65 men and women lose bone density at the same rate. Sadly, loss of bone mass often ends up causing life-changing fractures. The good news is you don’t have to wait for a fall or break to fight the disease.
If not enough bone mass is created during this time or bone loss occurs later in life, you have an increased risk of developing fragile bones that break easily.
The good news is you can prevent bone loss, osteoporosis.
Here are the tips to fight back with OSTEOPOROSIS!
NUTRITION FOR STRONG BONES
If you want to build stronger bones, you need three key elements: calcium, protein, and vitamin D. Bones are largely made up of a protein — collagen — bound together by calcium and other trace minerals). Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium so it can do its job building strong bones.
EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO STRONG BONES
One way to see just how important exercise is to bone health is to look at what happens to bone strength when people don’t exercise.
People who have been put on bed rest, people who undergo limb immobilizations, and astronauts, who have very reduced physical activity because of the minimal actions of gravity and muscles pulling on the bone — they all see a rapid and profound effect on the skeletal system.
People confined to bed rest for even four months lose about 10% of their bone density in critical regions of the skeleton. It takes a very long time to get that back.
Weight-bearing exercise can build about 1% to 3% of bone. That may not sound like a lot, but exercise may also strengthen existing bone in ways that are harder to quantify. Weight-bearing exercises include walking, dancing, jogging, playing tennis. Being physically active, being up on your feet and doing a variety of things.
When the muscles pull against the bones during exercise, it stimulates the bones and tells them that they are needed. Any weight-bearing exercise such as walking, hiking, climbing stairs and weightlifting can increase bone density. As little as 15 to 30 minutes a day can be helpful. Weightlifting does not need to be with heavy weights either, it can be with as little as 2 – 5 pound hand or ankle weights. Or you can use your own body weight and let gravity to do the job. Floor exercises such as leg lifts and sit ups, will work just fine. Exercises such as swimming and cycling though great for muscle strength and fitness are not weight-bearing so aren’t the most beneficial for your bones.
KEEP YOUR STOMACH ACID
Many people are on acid blocking drugs, such as Nexium, Protonix, Prevacid, Tagamet, and Zantac, for problems such as heartburn and hiatal hernia. Stomach acid is necessary to absorb minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and zinc. Blocking stomach acid significantly increases the risk of osteoporosis.
These drugs were meant to be used for six to eight weeks at a time, not for years at a time! In fact, most heartburn symptoms are not due to excess stomach acid. Two thirds of the patients on acid blocking agents have too little stomach acid, not too much!
REDUCE STRESS
Stress raises cortisol levels. If cortisol levels are high for long periods of time it can cause bone loss. Cortisol antagonizes insulin and leads to insulin resistance, eventually raising the blood sugar and causing calcium loss in the urine. As little as 25 teaspoons of sugar can cause calcium to be lost in the urine.
Stress reduction can include specific activities aimed at invoking the “relaxation response” such as yoga, tai chi, meditation, massage and prayer.
PHYSIOTHERAPY
Physical therapy has great benefits to prevent the onset of osteoporosis. Physiotherapy can help you strengthen your bones, as well as your muscles. It can prevent bone thinning, reduce falls, and help you manage any pain. provide appropriate weight-bearing exercises to help improve bone density issues.
Physical therapy is an effective non-surgical treatment for osteoporosis that may help restore healthy movement, function, and bone strength. A physical therapist will teach you exercises for bone health and ways to manage your daily activities so you’ll lessen your chances of having an osteoporosis-related fracture
Folks I hope that I was able to give you helpful insights on how you can better take care of your body.
CUSTOM ORTHOTICS
For me, the best way to eliminate this pain and reduce the risks of surgery are orthotics, which essentially are foot supports designed to reduce the stress on the foot caused by Flat feet.
The most important aspect of orthotic arch supports is the strength at the arch and the heel, these areas must be well supported and strong to help correct the over-pronation and reduce the stress on the joints.
This is why most orthotics don’t work because essentially there is not enough support under the foot, so please don’t waste your time and money on an orthotic that will not offer enough support.
Think of your feet as being like a very highly specialized piece of engineering ,like a car for example.if the tyres were not properly balanced or one of them was underinflated.
This would cause all sorts of problems on the rest of the car over a period of time, the same can be said of our feet, if they are not supported correctly- this can cause all sorts of problems on the rest of the body, as mentioned previously.
We wouldn’t neglect to get our car service so why would we neglect our feet? As Leonardo di Vinci said, the human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.
TREATMENT PLAN
Here at Don Kelly Physiotherapy and Acupuncture clinic we have treated this very common condition very successfully in both our Limerick and Charleville clinics.
Physio exercises and acupressure: This can be an ancient type of treatment that is comparable to acupuncture, but does not use needles. It applies pressure to particular pressure points which encourages blood circulation, relieves muscle tension, and triggers our body natural healing :
I have treated my patients with a 100% success rate. Armed with experience in the last 20 years of providing my physiotherapy services in Limerick and Charleville.
If you experience chronic pain, injuries, or advice for knee surgery and replacement please don’t hesitate to reach out. I have treated thousands of my patients with successful results over the last 20 years of my physio services.
BEFORE YOU SAY YES TO KNEE SURGERY REPLACEMENT– give me a ring for an assessment.
My treatment plan is the result of my experience and knowledge in treating chronic pains and injuries over the last 20 years. This is the holistic plan to guarantee pain relief, prevent recurring pains, and faster recovery.
