Osteoporosis

Exercise is an important part of managing osteoporosis. Your health professional may recommend physical therapy. Your physical therapist may teach you how to safely do weight-bearing exercises, which can slow bone loss. Exercising will help maintain your muscle strength, which is necessary to avoid falls. You may also learn exercises to help maintain flexibility and improve balance.

Your health professional may recommend that you use hip protectors. Hip protectors look like a girdle or underwear with pads on both sides of the hips to help reduce the force of a fall. When hip protectors are used both day and night by those at high risk of falling, the number of hip fractures is greatly reduced.²⁷

Some women use alternative treatments to try to reduce their risk of osteoporosis. Soy products may help reduce the chance of broken bones due to osteoporosis. One large study showed that postmenopausal women who ate an average of 11 grams of soy protein per day had a lower risk of fracture.²⁸ (As an example, 1 cup of soy milk contains 7 to 11 grams of soy protein.) There is not enough evidence to show if other natural products, such as black cohosh, work to reduce bone loss.