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Bone Health Check
All About Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a bone disease found in approximately 54 million people in the United States. While anyone can develop osteoporosis, the risk increases with age and it occurs more often in women. Here’s everything you need to know about osteoporosis.
What Is
osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis technically means porous bone. The condition results in decreased bone mineral density and bone mass. Think of it like this: the inside of a healthy bone looks like a sponge. When osteoporosis occurs, the holes of the sponge become larger, making the overall bone more brittle.
What Causes
osteoporosis?
Bones are living tissue that are constantly regenerating. Your body is in a nonstop process of breaking down old bones and making new bones. Up until about age 30, your body is able to produce bones at a faster rate than breaking them down. However, as you age, your ability to make new bones slows down.
Osteoporosis occurs when your body breaks down bones at a faster rate than it can make them. The resulting loss of bone mass begins to change the actual structure of the bones, making them more porous and therefore weaker.
Postmenopausal women are at a much higher risk of developing osteoporosis due to the hormone changes associated with menopause. The decrease in estrogen, which protects against bone loss, results in rapid bone loss in the first ten years after menopause.
What Are The Symptoms Of
osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is considered a silent disease because it often doesn’t have any symptoms. Some indications you may have osteoporosis include:
- Loss of height by one inch or more.
- New stooped or hunched over posture.
- Back pain.
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What are the risks of
osteoporosis?
The major risk of osteoporosis is a bone fracture. Because bones are weaker and more porous, they are more susceptible to suddenly breaking.
Fractures in the spine, or spinal compression fractures, are the most common. Each year, osteoporosis causes approximately 750,000 spinal compression fractures in the United States. That’s why it’s important to never ignore back pain, especially if you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis.
For more information, check out our Complete Guide to Spinal Compression Fractures.
If you are suffering from acute or chronic back pain, come see us so we can rule out a spinal compression fracture.
Spinal Fracture Relief:
Kyphoplasty
Kyphoplasty is currently the most effective treatment for a spinal compression fracture. The procedure is a minimally invasive and can be completed in the office under light sedation. Many patients experience immediate pain relief.
Spinal compression fractures are extremely painful. If you experience one, we will get you in for treatment within 24 hours.
We are proud to be a Center of Excellence for kyphoplasty. Click here for more information on kyphoplasty as a treatment for spinal compression fracture.
Contact us
Contact us today for more information on treatment of a compression fracture. To schedule an appointment, call 904.593.6101.