Timeless Women

There are several ways to prevent or manage osteoporosis. Simple changes to your lifestyle can lower your risk of a fracture. They can, and should, be used by everyone, to stay healthy and reduce the risk of a fracture.

Exercise

Healthy living can mean healthy bones: taking regular exercise is the single most important action anyone can take to improve the strength of their bones.

Exercise makes your bones less likely to break during a fall. The sort of exercise that’s beneficial in preventing osteoporosis is weight-bearing, such as walking or aerobics. To complement this, resistance exercises (like lifting weights) and flexibility and balance exercises (like yoga or pilates) will help to prevent fractures.

Exercise also greatly reduces the risk of other diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, and it has positive effects on mental wellbeing too.

Keeping physically active helps your reflexes stay sharp and your muscles stay strong. That can help with coordination and lower your risk of falling. If you’re fit, your balance is better, and that makes you much less likely to suffer a fall.

Why not join an exercise class with family or friends? They will be able to support you with your exercise plan, not to mention making it more fun!

Footwear

Wearing the wrong sort of footwear can increase your risk of falls. You don’t have to be stuck with ’sensible shoes’, just look for low-heeled shoes that offer good support and have rubber soles rather than leather ones.

Wearing shoes, or slippers with grips, inside the house is a good idea: walking around in socks can increase your risk of slipping.

When you’re walking outside, take care of where you walk. When it has been raining or snowing, grass is likely to be less slippery than walking on concrete.

Home Environment Modification

Make sure your home is easy to move around in and remove anything that could make a fall more likely. These modifications don’t have to impact your life: small, simple changes to the way you live can dramatically help to prevent falls:

• Clear all clutter from rooms (e.g. piles of magazines) which could cause you to trip
• If you have polished, or slippery floors, you may consider investing in a carpet, or plastic runners
• Remove any electric cords or phone lines from the floor to prevent trips
• Handrails on stairs can help when moving between floors
• If you need to, install handrails in bathrooms, around the toilet and shower area to make bathing safer
• Put a rubber mat on the floor of your bath or shower

Correct Lighting

Low levels of lighting can mean that you don’t see potential hazards. Ensure your home is brightly lit by:

• Installing overhead lights in all rooms, so you don’t have to stumble around in the dark to find the lamp
• Use nightlights in your bedroom and bathroom in case you need to get up in the middle of the night
• Make sure stairways are well lit
• Keep a flashlight by your bed, in case of emergency

Smoking

There is evidence that suggests that smoking is heavily associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. Giving up smoking should be a priority for anyone interested in enjoying a longer life and keeping away from orthopaedic wards!

Low alcohol consumption

Alcohol not only impairs your judgment, making you more likely to fall, but also affects your health. Excess consumption reduces bone formation and interferes with the body’s ability to absorb calcium. Keep your alcohol intake within safe limits (2-3 units a day – a pint of beer or glass of wine).

Diet

A good calcium intake is essential throughout life for healthy bones. Dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese are good sources of calcium. Talk to your doctor about an appropriate daily allowance of calcium for you.

Be aware of your medications

All medications have side effects, some of which can increase your risk of having a fall. Medications that can cause dizziness or lack of coordination include:

• Sedatives or sleeping pills
• Treatments that lower high blood pressure
• Antidepressants
• Anticonvulsants, which are used to treat epilepsy and some psychological conditions
• Muscle relaxants, which may be used for back pain or other problems
• Some treatments for heart diseases

If you are concerned, speak to your doctor about the medicines you are taking. Take a list of your medicines in to your doctor (including those you have purchased from a pharmacy) so they are aware of everything you take.