Natural Treatments for Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is defined as “thinning of the bones” and as the definition suggests, the condition causes bones to become thin, brittle, and easily broken. Symptoms of the disease can often go unnoticed, and consequently, untreated until the bone breaks.

Research suggests that due to hormonal changes, 25% of women over the age of 50 suffer from menopausal osteoporosis. Drugs and surgery are often promoted by pharmaceutical companies, but less risky approaches such as alternative medicine and lifestyle changes are also worth considering. Continue reading to learn about the different ways of preventing osteoporosis.

Lifestyle Changes

It is never too early or too late to treat osteoporosis and natural remedies are often the best way of starting this process. Below is a list of questions regarding various lifestyle factors. The answers you provide will help direct the lifestyle changes you should make in order to prevent bone disorder:

• Are you getting enough calcium?
• Are you getting enough vitamins (particularly vitamins D and K₂)?
• Do you consume enough magnesium?
• Do you exercise regularly?

In addition to altering lifestyles choices based on your answers to the questions above, quitting smoking and reducing alcohol intake can significantly reduce your risk of osteoporosis. However, there are factors such as genetics, race, age, and sex which can't be treated or prevented. For this reason, some women may be more prone to osteoporosis than others.

However, alongside lifestyle changes, women can also consider alternative remedies as they involve little or no risk and are consequently deemed the safest treatment option for osteoporosis.

Alternative Medicines 

Herbal remedies and acupuncture are well established as the best natural treatments for osteoporosis. The latter being an excellent treatment that focuses on using “energy pathways” to heal the body. The procedures downsides however, include expense and the fact that it can be a complicated regime to follow.

Therefore, most women when looking for natural treatments, opt for less complicated herbal remedies. There are two types of herbs used for treating osteoporosis: phytoestrogenic and hormone-regulating supplements. The former category includes things like black cohosh and dong quai, which contain estrogenic components to boost hormone levels.

The downside of using these however, is that they can cause your body to produce less of its own estrogen.Hormone-regulating supplement, on the other hand, don't contain any estrogen and nourish your hormonal glands to produce natural hormones more effectively. Because of this, they can be considered as one of the safes natural treatments for osteoporosis