Osteopenia pain

Osteopenia pain.  No one wants to experience pain and bone pain can be especially irritating. It is important to know that pain does not usually accompany a diagnosis of Osteopenia or Osteoporosis. If you are experiencing pain after your diagnosis, you may want to consider other possible causes of that pain.  Such as....

Some possible causes of Osteopenia pain

Your pain could be caused by inflammation such as that found in arthritis. Still,  if you have significant bone pain and that pain came on quite suddenly, it could be that your pain is caused by a small stress fracture.

If the pain is in your back or ribs and/or radiates, it could be that you have  experienced a 'crush fracture' of one of the vertebra in your spine.  Crush fractures  can be quite painful and the pain can last for some time.

If this is what you are experiencing, you may want to call your healthcare provider and explain the problem. Be sure to say when and how the pain started eg. was it when you were you bending or reaching for something or when you were carrying a heavy package?. Your healthcare provider may want to do an X-ray or some other test in order to check as to whether or not you fractured or chipped a bone.

How to avoid spinal stress fractures

One of the main ways to avoid stress fractures and their resulting pain is to follow a few simple rules any time you are bending or stretching. You can find these rules on this page (Note: they are on the bottom half of the page): Avoid Osteopenia pain of the spine. 

Finally, if you want to avoid fractures, it is imperative that you work to improve your balance (something that begins to deteriorate after age 45). Avoiding falls becomes paramount when we have any bone loss. Since we normally suffer some loss of our natural balance as we age ( and that loss really accelerates after age 80 ), it is important to take a few minutes every day to practice balance exercises. (If you click on the following link, you will find simple, effective  balance exercise. )

Spinal osteopenia pain

Another area for small fractures that will cause Osteopenia pain is your spine. Persons with Osteopenia or Osteoporosis can experience small stress fractures of some of their vertebrae. These fractures usually happen if we bend forward from our waist, rather than bending from the hips.  (It is worth taking a few minutes to stand and bend from your hips - instead of from your waist, just so you know what it feels like to bend from the hips.) The stress fractures caused by improper bends (bending from your waist ) can....and will cause a condition called Kyphosis or Dowagers hump

If you wish to avoid all spinal fractures - kyphosis (dowagers hump) do check out this page about Osteopenia exercises for the spine.

Go to: Index of topics about Osteopenia, Osteoporosis