Bone Health and Your Spine

Bone is living tissue that rebuilds itself continuously. When the rebuilding falls behind the breakdown, the inside of a vertebra thins and can compress under loads it used to handle easily, sometimes during something as ordinary as lifting a suitcase.

Because that thinning is painless, the first sign is often a fracture, a loss of height, or a gradual forward curve of the upper back. A bone density scan identifies the risk long before that point.

Protection comes from weight-bearing movement, resistance work for the muscles along the spine and hips, enough calcium and vitamin D, and avoiding smoking and heavy alcohol use. Balance training belongs on the list too, because a fracture needs both weak bone and a fall.

If a density scan shows low bone mass, treatment decisions depend on your numbers, your age, and your fracture history. Ask what your score means in plain terms and what the plan is to recheck it.