Osteoporosis causes the bones in your body to grow more weak and brittle over time. This increases the risk of fractures in the bones from falls or impacts. Osteoporosis has no cure, but there are treatments that help. One treatment that is making a difference in the lives of many who have osteoporosis is physical therapy.
Treating osteoporosis with physical therapy may come as a shock to some. Because the condition affects the bones, you might think some form of internal treatment is necessary. While many physicians do prescribe medications as part of treatment, a complete treatment usually includes physical therapy. This is because physical therapists can help improve the structure of your bones and your soft tissue surrounding the bones to reduce the chances of fractures.
Treating osteoporosis with physical therapy
Physical therapy treatments are noninvasive, which means there are no incisions involved or use of needles in your treatment. Instead, physical therapy focuses on empowering your body’s own ability to improve its condition with exercises, hands-on techniques and other methods.
At Advent Physical Therapy in Jenison, Michigan, we personalize our treatments for each of our patients to ensure everyone improves their condition at a pace right for them. Osteoporosis treatments look different for each person, but a typical osteoporosis treatment at our clinic will include:
- Therapeutic exercises — Your physical therapist can guide you through gentle exercises designed to help build bone tissue and slow the loss of bone mass. Therapeutic exercise also improves the condition of your muscles and soft tissue, which helps support the bones and reduce the chances of fracture.
- Manual therapy — Physical therapists may use soft tissue mobilization and joint mobilization techniques to improve the condition of your muscles, ligaments and tendons around your bones. This can help improve the strength and flexibility of these muscles to support the bones.
- Balance exercises — With osteoporosis, a fall can be more harmful and result in a fracture. Physical therapists can guide you through balance exercises designed to help prevent falls.
- Posture guidance — Poor posture can increase strain on your spine and other bones in your body, which is more painful with osteoporosis and may result in fracture. Physical therapists can identify areas of your posture that require improvement and show you how to correct them.
Visit Advent Physical Therapy in Jenison, MI, for osteoporosis treatment
Osteoporosis may have no cure, but treatment from a physical therapist helps improve your quality of life. Contact our team today for more information about osteoporosis treatment or to schedule an initial appointment.