Weight training with osteoporosis

[Radars]

Hi,I have recently been diagnosed with osteoporosis, it is classed as severe,I am waiting for the hospital to get in touch regards medication, but in the meantime what can I do to help myself, some people say weight training is good some say not,if my back is aching can I still do it,any help please.

[Met00]

There's some information about exercise on the ROS website, which you might find helpful: theros.org.uk/information-a.... If you have a spinal fracture, I assume you would need to wait for it to heal before you do anything with weights. Do you know the cause of your back pain?

[Radars in reply to Met00]

What do you mean it's osteoporosis

[Met00 in reply to Radars]

You only get pain from osteoporosis if you've fractured. It's known as a silent disease, because so often people don't know they have it until they have a fracture. There are lots of causes of back pain, including slipped discs, osteoarthritis, muscle pain etc.

[Fruitandnutcase]

To be honest - if you have been diagnosed with severe osteoporosis then I would see a physiotherapist either privately or on the NHS who is experienced in dealing with your sort of condition and who could devise a safe exercise routine for you (although that could take a while to happen especially as I heard mention that physiotherapists may go out on strike too) I think that’s important if you are planning to use weights.

[Radars in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Thanks, been talking to osteoporosis nurse she said reduce the weight I'm using, till I hear from hospital regarding medication.

[Fruitandnutcase]

I do three 1hr sessions of Pilates every week as well as walking etc and my Pilates teacher who is also a physiotherapist who specialises in osteoporotic patients tells us at the start of every session if anything we do causes pain then to stop it straight away - even if it is something we have done lots of times before and even if it’s something she has told us to do. Effort is one thing - pain is another.

[MWZ3]

You need to know your tscores because severe is subjective. If it’s borderline then it can be managed usually by exercise and diet. You need to check that you are getting enough calcium. Vitamin K2 aims the calcium into your bones. It’s also important to have enough vitamin D and magnesium. There are foods to support your bones as well. Some of these are bony broth, salmon, avocados, cucumber, leafy greens and fruit and vegetables in general. Basically, a good fresh diet.

Find out your tscores. Read everything on here including comments made by people over the years. If you click on a name you can read their history.

All the best and give yourself time to research before you agree to the meds.

[Radars in reply to MWZ3]

Thanks, t score-2.5. -4.1measured in the lumbar spine. The bmd g/cm2 at the femoral neck is 0.593.vfa shows superior end-plate deformity at t12 suspicious for an insufficiency fracture, hope you can understand that.

[walk21]

Lots of exercise such as walking, gentle movement which does not cause you pain is good. Go gently on yourself, and take note of the good food and vitamins that are recommended

[Hidden]

HI Radars, you could give one of the specialist nurses a ring on their free helpline number at the Royal Osteoporosis Society. 0808 800 0035. They can explain about this condition and help with information for you.

[Radars in reply to Hidden]

i,spoke with someone there yesterday,i am waiting to hear from hospital regards medication god knows how long it will be,i dont know if its ok to increase calcium or other things before i hear from hospital which could be a long time.

[Met00 in reply to Radars]

Make sure you get plenty of calcium in your diet, which for most of us is the recommended way of getting it, rather than from supplements. Nearly everyone is advised to take a Vitamin D supplement, apart from a tiny minority with certain medical conditions (for example, high blood calcium). Your doctor should have run blood tests to check for underlying causes of your osteoporosis, including calcium, Vitamin D and parathyroid in the same blood draw, plus thyroid, coeliac and full blood count. If these haven't been done, you can request them. Once they've been done, ask for a copy of your results. Ideally your blood D should be at least 75nmol/litre, many say 100 or even higher (the normal range is 50-150, so 100 is only in the middle of the range), so you need to supplement sufficiently to maintain it at that level. Your GP may consider a blood level of 50 is adequate, but many experts, including rheumatologists, would disagree. On average, 1000iu Vit D supplement will raise blood level by around 25nmol/litre in about 3 months.

[Radars in reply to Met00]

Thanks, I need a full blood count before I start zoledronic acid, I don't know if I am absorbing nutrients calcium etc,I am at the dentist to get fitted for a crown on 11th Jan then have to wait a while till it's ready, I already take 1000iu d3 and k2 mk-7, so I don't know when I will have a bloodiest.

[MWZ3 in reply to Radars]

You can take the K2 and others are checked in your blood tests.

[FearFracture]

Many ppl follow Margaret Martin (MelioGuide.com) for osteoporosis-safe exercises—I was diagnosed at 50 (am now almost 54) and personally found some of the exercises to be too easy for me and opted to join a gym. If I were older and/or fracturing I would feel differently.

I recently emailed the Bone Clinic in Australia—I’m in the US so, unfortunately, I can’t join their program—and I rec’d a very nice reply which included, “We created Onero Online to fill the void for people who can't access our facility or one of our Licensees. Onero Online is a strength, mobility and falls prevention program with an element of safe bone loading - designed to be safe when undertaken unsupervised. Onero Online is intentionally a lower intensity program than Onero and therefore does not target bone as heavily as Onero but is likely to prevent osteoporotic fracture by preventing falls. It's not a perfect solution and may be a little too easy for some people, but it's definitely better than nothing. It is a 2-year low intensity program with 8 different levels progressively delivered that is safe to do unsupervised.  It is very inexpensive - AUD$5/wk and has no joining or cancellation fee so you can try it and not be out of pocket much if it isn't for you. Most people find it very helpful. It would be in addition to an individualised program we create for you via the telehealth consultations. You can learn more about this program here: onero.online/ “ You should check out their website.

Also, you can look up OsteoStrong.me If there were an OsteoStrong within 2 hours of my home, I would join their program.

You mentioned that your osteoporosis is severe—in 2019 my lumbar spine T-score was -3.9. I had a hard time getting medical help in terms of what is and isn’t “safe” exercise-wise. I spent a bit of time watching on-line videos of how to safely do everyday tasks, unload the dishwasher, tie shoes, etc. and the key to protecting your spine is to avoid forward flexion. Practicing bending at the hips is a good thing to do—hip hinges. I held a yard stick to my back and practiced to make sure my head, mid-back, and tail bone all stayed in line.

I have several helpful links posted under my bio. You will need to cut and paste to access and note, one link is to my T-scores w/ a bit of my history.

[Radars in reply to FearFracture]

Thankyou, with being in the uk I will look into exercises here,I will be going on zoledronic acid shortly because mines is severe.

[FearFracture in reply to Radars]

I took alendronate for 1.5 yrs, quit because it caused digestive tract issue, took a 4 month bisphosphonate holiday, and in November 2021, I had my 1st zoledronic acid infusion. I had a DEXA last week (approximately 13 months after the infusion) to see what f my BMD had improved. My numbers are listed here healthunlocked.com/boneheal...

I didn’t see as much of an improvement as I’d hoped for but at least my numbers seem to be improving. Also I have Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism and That might come in to play—I just recently learned that one of the bone turnover markers that generally decreases when taking bisphosphonates is already lower in ppl with hypothyroidism so…

I didn’t have any major issues when I had the infusion—I know it’s a bit of a nerve-racking decision. Do follow the instructions, plenty of water, no NSAIDS, infusion administered over at least 15 minutes, consult your dentist prior to infusion, and have your kidney and calcium labs done prior to getting the infusion.

[mHettyR]

Hi, sorry to hear your news. I am following the advice given here on resistance training, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/289... along with HRT and ADCAL as i wanted to avoid Alendronic acid if possible. (62 yr old female). I had a REM scan in August 22 and will have another in August 23 to see if my actions have improved my bone density. If you could find a PT who specialises in resistance training for osteoporosis that would be safer bearing in mind your diagnosis was severe. Maybe ROS has some advice? Best of luck.