When we have brittle bones we are much more at risk of fractures so we need to preserve and care for our bone wellness as much as possible. This makes it very important to do exercises that can strengthen our skeleton rather than doing those that could put our wellbeing in danger – so which activities may suit us more?
Combating brittle bones
Millions of us have osteoporosis, which is the medical term for when we lose so many bone cells that we can get fractures much more easily. Although broken bones can heal, they’re harder to recover from if we have this condition, with some researchers raising their concerns about the reduced survival rate following hip fractures in older women. As women we’re more at risk due to hormones that protect our bones dropping after the menopause. But men can be at risk too, if they’re over 70, or have drank/smoked excessively or experienced problems with their testosterone levels. Both men and women can experience the effects of poor nutrition and sedentary lifestyles on bone wellness, which is why doctors encourage us to get more active to build our bone mineral density (BMD).
Choosing our activities
When we’re in our teens and 20s we’re still building bone mass, but this declines in our 30s and carries on decreasing throughout our lives. Strength training can help us boost our BMD when we’re young and also preserves it when we’re older. But some exercises may put our brittle bones at risk if we have osteoporosis. As our spine can become much weaker, some clinicians advise us against doing activities where it can be compressed or twisted too much, which may happen with sit-ups for example. On the other hand, exercises that involve pilates could help ease symptoms of brittle bones. This is because the activity concentrates on building core strength and gently helping posture problems that can accompany osteoporosis. Checking activities with our GPs can shed more light on what exercises can be safely included in our brittle bone treatment plan.
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