Osteoporosis
What is Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis and osteopenia (a milder form of osteoporosis) are conditions that affect the strength of your bones, which increases susceptibility to bone fracture. Although the conditions are more common in older people and females, males and younger people may also develop osteoporosis or osteopenia. There is a lot you can do to optimise your bone health and minimise fracture risk.
Two-thirds of Australians aged over 50 years have osteoporosis or osteopenia. The vast majority have osteopenia (78 per cent) and as a result, more than half of all fractures occur in people with osteopenia, rather than osteoporosis.
From age 50, about one in three women and one in five men will sustain a fracture due to osteoporosis or osteopenia. Fractures occur most commonly at the hip, spine, wrist, arm and pelvis.

What are the symptoms?
Osteoporosis and osteopenia are considered a ‘silent disease’ until a fracture occurs or your posture changes. Therefore, many people do not know they have the condition, so assessing risk factors is very important. Your physiotherapist can help with risk factor-assessment.
Risk factors for osteoporosis and osteopenia include: a history of a low trauma fracture, family history of poor bone health, early menopause (before age 45), certain medications and health conditions, low body weight, low calcium and vitamin D, and unhelpful lifestyle habits (smoking, excessive alcohol, low physical activity).
Use the Know Your Bones online tool (knowyourbones.org.au) to assess your bone health risk factors.
How can we help?
Your physiotherapist can advise you about ways to optimise your bone health. Specifically, they can guide you in a bone health plan, which may include appropriate physical activity, nutritional information and guidance about smoking and alcohol intake. Physiotherapists can also talk to you about any risk factors you might have for poor bone health and refer you for further assessment and management, if appropriate. Other members of your healthcare team may include your GP, rheumatologist or endocrinologist.
Strategies may include:
• A physical activity or exercise program that safely loads the bones to help keep them strong;
• Exercises to optimise your posture or address postural changes;
• Balance training to minimise your risk of falls;
• Education about bone health and self-management strategies, and assisting in rehabilitation after a fracture is sustained.
We are a team on the Sunshine Coast, combining physiotherapy and exercise physiology. We can’t wait to share our philosophy and help you moving again!

Are you having a joint replacement?
Joint School is a pre-surgical education program that is delivered by one of our Physiotherapists in conjunction with a Nurse Practitioner from the Sunshine Coast Orthopaedic Group.
