Tips to Strengthen Your Bones

Sure, most of those signs are par for the course. However chances are you’ll not notice that a few of them truly stem from menopause—a life transition marked by the top of menstruation.

Probably the most talked-about menopause symptoms are usually temper swings, hot flashes, and vaginal dryness—all largely resulting from shifts in hormones—however do you know your bones could be affected, too? Extra particularly, your bone density can decline throughout menopause, and like different signs, there isn’t any telling how long it will last.

Fortunately, there are methods to keep your bones healthy and robust throughout menopause, a few of which could be began lengthy earlier than you even enter this post-menses interval. Learn on to study extra from an OB/GYN knowledgeable.

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Why your bone density modifications throughout menopause

Your bone density begins to lower when estrogen ranges dip throughout menopause, says Lauren Streicher, MD, an OB/GYN and founding father of the Northwestern Medication Heart for Sexual Medication and Menopause.

“Your bones are loaded with hormone receptors and are depending on estrogen to each construct new bone and forestall the breakdown of previous bone,” she says. “When estrogen ranges decline, that course of will get disrupted. The result’s bone that is decrease in density, extra fragile, and extra prone to fracture.”

As much as 20 p.c of this bone loss occurs inside the first 5 years of menopause, per the Cleveland Clinic, which frequently begins between the ages of 45 and 55. Although some folks can undergo it earlier (age 40 or youthful) resulting from genetics, a hysterectomy, or different types of medically induced menopause, per The North American Menopause Society.

“When estrogen ranges decline, and bone constructing is disrupted, the result’s bone that has a decrease density, is extra fragile, and is extra prone to fracture.”—Lauren Streicher, MD, OB/GYN

How menopause can negatively have an effect on bone well being

The hormone fluctuations that occur throughout menopause can result in a situation known as osteoporosis—a illness the slowly weakens your bones, placing them in danger for fracture and breaks, per Penn Medicine.

Anybody can get osteoporosis, however “the lack of estrogen makes girls 5 occasions extra seemingly than males to have osteoporosis,” says Dr. Streicher. “It’s because males’s bones proceed to be protected by testosterone.”

Over time, osteoporosis could make your bones weaker, extra fragile, and extra vulnerable to breaks. It additionally usually goes undetected till you may have a sudden fracture—often in your again or hips—which is why it is typically known as a “silent illness,” in line with Dr. Streicher. And simply because it is common (affecting about 10 million girls within the U.S. alone, per Dr. Streicher), doesn’t suggest it comes with out threat.

“If osteoporosis is superior, chances are you’ll discover a loss in top or again ache, however most individuals with low bone mass or osteoporosis don’t know they’re in danger for a probably life-changing or deadly fracture,” says Dr. Streicher.

Deaths from hip fractures alone are uncommon nowadays, particularly with all of the technological developments in drugs, however one February 2014 overview in Acta Otrhopaedica (which collected knowledge from 30 years’ price of randomized managed trials) discovered that the one-year dying charge after a surgically handled hip fracture nonetheless sits at about 21 p.c.

One of the best ways you may decide your threat? Get a bone density evaluation—also referred to as a DEXA scan.

“A DEXA scan measures bone density in your hips, backbone, and typically your forearm,” says Dr. Streicher. “To find out your true threat of fracture, it is also essential to maintain different threat elements in thoughts, comparable to age, smoking, steroid use, arthritis, and household historical past.”

The very best time to get your first DEXA screening will largely rely in your threat elements, however ought to occur no later than age 65, provides Dr. Streicher.

4 methods to make your bones stronger throughout menopause

There is not any assure you may utterly skirt the results of bone density loss throughout menopause. However there are steps you may take (both throughout or nicely earlier than you attain menopause) to assist preserve your bones as wholesome and robust as doable. Listed here are some methods to strive, in line with Dr. Streicher:

1. Do weight-bearing workout routines

Any type of train that places wholesome quantities of stress on our bones and muscle tissues will help gradual bone loss, and even spur the expansion of recent bone, per Harvard Health Publishing. That is known as weight-bearing train, and it entails utilizing your physique weight and/or exterior weights (like dumbbells) to instantly work the bones in your legs, hips, and decrease backbone, per the Mayo Clinic.

Some examples of those bone-strengthening exercises embody strolling, dancing, jogging, strength training, and resistance coaching. These workout routines produce other well being advantages, too, like bettering blood circulation and heart health, in line with the Mayo Clinic.

A very good rule of thumb: Goal to get a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity train per week, together with two days of muscle-strengthening exercise, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

2. Eat meals excessive in calcium and vitamin D

The phrase, “you’re what you eat” exists for a motive. For instance, in order for you robust, wholesome bones, your food plan ought to embody meals to replicate that. Top-of-the-line vitamins for bone well being is calcium—a necessary micronutrient to maintain your bones, coronary heart, and muscle tissues wholesome, per the Mayo Clinic.

Calcium is very essential for folks going by means of menopause when your threat of bone loss will increase. That is why Dr. Streicher recommends increasing your calcium intake throughout this time—to take care of bone well being and assist construct new bone. Whereas adults underneath 50 want about 1,000 milligrams of calcium per day, adults 50 and older want about 1,200 milligrams, per the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

As a result of our our bodies can’t produce calcium on their very own, it is essential to be sure you’re getting sufficient by means of the meals you eat. Some meals excessive in calcium embody the next:

• Milk or fortified soy milk
• Cheese
• Yogurt
• Dark leafy greens, like kale or spinach
• Soybeans
• Calcium-fortified tofu
• Beans

Sure, calcium is the principle bone-building nutrient, however there are others you may (and may) incorporate, too. Vitamin D, for instance, helps your physique soak up calcium and regulates blood ranges of calcium and phosphorus, each of that are wanted to construct bone, in line with Harvard Health Publishing.

Bother is, it may be powerful to get sufficient vitamin D from meals alone (there aren’t many good sources on the market). And whereas your physique could make the nutrient from solar publicity, absorbing too many UV rays places you in danger for pores and skin most cancers. With all that in thoughts, think about taking a vitamin D complement, says Dr. Streicher.

And naturally, when you’re not sure how a lot calcium and vitamin D you want per day, speak to your physician, who can provide some steerage and advocate high quality dietary supplements.

3. Stop smoking and restrict alcohol

Tobacco and alcohol negatively have an effect on our our bodies in some ways—bone well being included. Each substances can improve your threat of growing osteoporosis.

A January 2022 meta-analysis within the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health discovered that heavy alcohol use was related to osteoporosis. Researchers additionally discovered that extreme alcohol interfered with individuals’ skill to soak up calcium, induced hormone deficiencies, and elevated the danger of falling (which may result in fractures and breaks). Heavy ingesting, on this case, usually means greater than eight to fifteen drinks per week, in line with the CDC.

Smoking or use of any tobacco merchandise can even negatively have an effect on your bone well being by decreasing your bone density and contributing to bone loss, says Dr. Streicher. Smoking may even contribute to early menopause, dashing up bone loss and resulting in osteoporosis, in line with an August 2017 research within the American Journal of Epidemiology.

When you need assistance quitting, attain out to your physician, or search for smoking cessation and alcohol reduction applications on-line and in your native space. Organizations just like the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism additionally provide an inventory of locations to search out and get assist.

4. Strive drugs or hormone remedy

In case your physician considers you “excessive threat” for osteoporosis, and the approach to life modifications you have made aren’t serving to, remedies like remedy or hormone remedy could possibly be good choices for you.

“Hormone remedy or remedy with a SERM (selective estrogen receptor modulator) will assist preserve low bone density from progressing to osteoporosis,” says Dr. Streicher. “As soon as somebody has osteoporosis, there are additionally quite a lot of drugs that can lower fracture threat.”

Widespread remedy choices for bone loss throughout menopause embody the next, per Dr. Streicher:

• Raloxifene: A non-hormonal remedy that treats low bone mass
• Bisphosphonates: Remedy prescribed to decelerate bone loss
• Injectable drugs

It’s possible you’ll bear in mind that hormone remedy will help ease hot flashes throughout menopause, however chances are you’ll not have recognized it might probably profit your bones, too, provides Dr. Streicher. In reality, “hormone remedy is a confirmed technique to deal with low bone mass and forestall osteoporosis, and its use could improve bone density by as a lot as 5 p.c.”

When to see a health care provider

It is pure to have slight modifications in your bone density throughout menopause and as you age. But when it is affecting your high quality of life, it should not be ignored.

For this reason Dr. Streicher recommends getting a bone density take a look at (DEXA scan) out of your physician earlier than you attain menopause, or a minimum of previous to noticeable modifications in your bone well being—like sudden fractures.

Discuss to your physician about the very best time to get this take a look at. It’s possible you’ll want one sooner than age 65 relying in your threat elements, whether or not you are in menopause, and when you have signs like ache and soreness.