Wrinkles, Grey Hair & Aging are unavoidable, but are Osteoporotic Fractures too?
Well, Osteoporotic fractures can be prevented, managed & rehabilitated to their best.
Let's see a Physio's intervention to it, we’ve all been forced to drink a full glass of milk in the morning before going to school unless you'd be ready to face the wrath of your mother.
While drinking milk wasn't an option, we were taught how our bones need their strength & how permission to play in the evening was our only reward!
But now, what if this milk & play in the evening is eliminated from our schedule? Wouldn't it hamper our very own calcium powerhouses?
Osteoporosis is one such silent killer, decreasing the bone's mineral quantity, it begins to weaken it, making it vulnerable to fractures.
Our bones are the living connective tissue factories, that need continual & equal replacement of the Osteoblastic & Osteoclastic cells.
The former is a builder of bones & latter is an extractor that resorbs calcium from the bone when it's insufficient in diet or to fulfill a body function. By the third decade of life, this cycle shifts more towards the extractor, making our bones fragile and prone to fractures.
Exercises providing muscle contraction & mechanical loading have proven to stimulate osteoblastic activity & thereby increase bone mineral density.
The International Osteoporosis Foundation said, "Worldwide, 1 in 3 women & 1 in 5 men, above aged 50 years & over will sustain a fragility fracture due to osteoporosis in their remaining lifetimes." This calls for stern actions that step up our bone health by ensuring these 5 steps:
- Early awareness of risk factors such as older age, height loss, low BMI, family history & long-term use of glucocorticoids among various others.
- Compliance to Early Physiotherapy Intervention has suggested prevention & enhanced health.
- Seeking management methods of osteoporosis that vary from pharmacological to physiotherapy, diet & nutrition counseling.
- A nutrition-enriched diet & Vitamin D adequacy.
- Eliminating health abuse addictions.
The 2022 WOD Campaign reinforces the benefits from a targeted exercise plan of weight bearing & strength training by trained physical therapists.
The 30-40 minutes assessed & prescribed routine by physiotherapists up to 3/4 times a week tailors maximal improvisation in balance & fall prevention, posture, and resistance training along with cardiovascular fitness.
Common Osteoporotic Fractures occur in the spine, hip & wrist that demand intensive rehabilitation ranging from back extension exercises, muscle strengthening, posture correction & proprioceptive - balance & Gait re-training.
Weight-bearing exercises that bring lower, moderate, & high impact of loading encompass a spectrum from walking to jogging, to playing basketball!
A key to how physiotherapy tackles osteoporosis is not by performing a one prescription fits all individual routines, but by following a target program that is customized and curated to your goals, the one that's safe, effective & appropriate for you!
In a nutshell, the role of physiotherapy in osteoporosis is vital amongst other medical interventions. Following in the footsteps of "Better Safe than Sorry," we can wholeheartedly conclude that appropriate physiotherapy management is the mother's glass of milk every elder ought to gulp.
References & Citations:
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260936033
- https://www.worldosteoporosisday.org/about-osteoporosis
- https://www.worldosteoporosisday.org/resources
- Therapeutic Exercise: Foundation & Techniques/ Carolyn Kisner, Lynn Allen Colby - 5ed.