If you're over the age of 30, it's unlikely that you'll be able to increase your bone mass. However, what you can do it make it, so you're less likely to lose bone mass. You can also create a plan that will help you develop your musculature in a way that lessens the impact of your daily activity on your bones and joints. The five ways listed below can help you retain or improve your bone mass.
Get the Recommended Calcium and Vitamin D
One of the easiest ways to avoid further bone loss is to make sure your body has enough of the right minerals and vitamins available to repair and maintain itself. The National Institute on Aging offers a simple chart to help you figure out exactly what nutrients you need, without getting too much or too little for your age.
Avoid Excess Sugar, Carbonated Beverages, Caffeine, and Alcohol
All of the factors mentioned above have been at least loosely correlated to bone loss or low bone mineral density (BMD). Caffeine, in particular, has been linked to low BMD.
Get the Right Kind of Exercise
If you already have significant bone loss or low bone mass, exercising can come with an array of challenges from minor discomfort to fractures and other injuries. To avoid this, there are two types of exercise that you should focus on.
First, make sure you're getting some low-impact movement. This can be as simple as walking around and using resistance bands. Then you may want to try some more comfortable yoga and Pilates. These types of exercises will help develop the small muscles that control your balance while also supporting your joints and lessening the impact your daily activity has on them.
Get Physical Therapy and Professional Advice
Physical Therapists can do more than just help you recover from an injury. They can help you create a plan of sciatic nerve physical therapy exercises to help you reduce pain and then move on to activities that will help you remain flexible and strong, putting less stress on your bones and joints.
Again, physical activity can help your body realize that you need your bones to remain strong by providing feedback to your central nervous system. After 50, periods of bed rest can do more than cause you to rapidly lose muscle, it can also cause your bones to lose density because your body thinks you may not need it.
Even when on bed rest, some activity, even resistance training, can help you prevent this bone loss as well as muscle loss. Visiting a physical therapist can also aid you with your training so you can get the proper treatment needed so you don't suffer from bone or muscle loss. If you are looking for a physical therapist or just advice, there are many physical therapy practices that can help you build up your activity. A quick search online can show you a list of the physical therapy practices in your area, allowing you to visit their website and have a look at what they can offer you.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
If you have weight problems, you're at a higher risk of osteoporosis. The best way to keep your bone density at its best is to keep your weight steady. Osteoporosis is a disease that can cause weakness to the bones, making them more fragile and more likely to break and weight loss can be a big factor in contributing to this disease. Suffering from osteoporosis may also lead to suffering from scoliosis (a curvature that forms in the spine), and in some cases, this could need surgery. That is why it is so important that you control your weight, as it could lead to a number of health-related problems. That means that even if you are currently overweight or obese, losing weight too rapidly (more than 2 pounds a week if you're overweight), may cause you to lose bone density even if you're exercising and eating right.
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