Managing Osteoporosis with Physical Therapy
Osteoporosis is a bone disease that causes decreased bone mineral density and changes in bone structure, leading to bones that are thin, porous, and brittle, and more susceptible to fractures.
Osteoporosis is often a silent disease, in which the most common symptom is breaking a bone after a small fall or minor accident that wouldn’t normally cause a fracture. These types of breaks are known as fragility fractures, bone fractures that occur from low-trauma forces that wouldn’t normally result in injury, such as breaking your wrist or hip during an everyday situation
Factors, such as hormonal changes, nutritional deficiencies, a sedentary lifestyle, family history, and certain medications and diseases, can contribute to the development of osteoporosis.
Physical therapy plays a critical role in managing osteoporosis, helping those with osteoporosis maintain and build bone density through a customized exercise program. Bone cells become thicker and stronger in response to the beneficial stress of exercise. Exercise also builds up the strength of the muscles surrounding weak joints and helps increase a patient’s flexibility, mobility, posture, proprioception, and balance to reduce the risk of falls and fractures.
A physical therapy osteoporosis exercise program can include:
Weight-bearing aerobic exercise: Weight-bearing aerobic exercise, like walking, stair climbing, squatting, lunging, or doing step-ups, can slow bone loss and improve bone mineral density. Aerobic exercise strengthens muscles to stabilize and support weak osteoporosis-affected joints.
Resistance training: Resistance training targets specific muscle groups, using pushing, pulling, or lifting of weights to place stress on the musculoskeletal system and build muscle. Exercises can involve free weights, resistance bands, or weight machines to build muscle strength and stronger bones.
Flexibility training: Flexibility training involves moving joints through their full range of motion to help keep muscles working well and engaging in targeted stretching of muscle groups such as the hip flexors, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calf muscles.
Balance training: Static and dynamic balance training is essential to reduce the risk of a fall or fracture in those with osteoporosis. Balance training helps muscles work together to maintain stability even on uneven surfaces and enhances the patient’s proprioception, or awareness of their body in space. Balance training can include standing on one leg, side-stepping, backward walking, forward and lateral step-ups, and weight-shifting in different directions.
Posture and body mechanic instruction: Physical therapists provide instruction on proper posture and body mechanics during daily activities to minimize stress on vulnerable joints, reduce fall risk, and support overall joint health by decreasing the stress on joints and bones from poor posture.
