How to prevent osteoporosis after hysterectomy?

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It is important for women having hysterectomy to know that they can prevent osteoporosis by taking the right steps. Unfortunately, many women are not aware of how important screening for osteoporosis is after a hysterectomy.

If your ovaries were removed during your hysterectomy, then you can expect to prematurely go into menopause if your age is between 35 and 50 and you haven’t experienced menopause yet.

Premature menopause is associated with a higher risk of getting osteoporosis later in life.

However, this study shows that this may also be true for women with an ovary-sparing hysterectomy.

With the onset of menopause, your ovaries produce less and less estrogen.  Estrogen plays an important role in new bone production and female bone health. Loss of estrogen during menopause will accelerate bone loss.

Osteoporosis is a disease where your bones become porous and weak, and you are at a higher risk of fractures. It is possible that you do not know that you have osteoporosis. This disease is usually without symptoms and is only discovered when the bones are so fragile that fractures occur.

Risk factors that make you more vulnerable to developing osteoporosis are your diet, hormones, genes, and lifestyle.

5 strategies to prevent osteoporosis after hysterectomy

• Start weight-bearing exercises on a regular basis.
• Eat foods rich in bone-forming nutrients and take supplements if needed.
• Stop bad lifestyle habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol.
• Try to keep a healthy weight.
• Check for osteoporosis with a bone density test and get proper treatment if needed.

1. Exercises to prevent osteoporosis

Another benefit of exercising regularly after a hysterectomy is that it can prevent the loss of bone mass over time. The following exercises will help you build stronger bones and muscles, making you more flexible and balanced. This may protect you from future falls and fractures.

Depending on your bones’ strength, you must avoid certain high-impact exercises. Osteoporosis makes bones and joints fragile; this means jumping may not be safe to do if you already have osteoporosis. However, to prevent osteoporosis, weight-bearing exercises are essential. Check with your doctor before starting any of these exercises. He may want to do some tests before recommending which exercises are safe and which are not in your situation.

Now, not all exercises have the same bone-strengthening effect. The best exercises to prevent osteoporosis are weight-bearing exercises. In other words, you must do exercises that support your weight with your feet and legs. The pressure that is put on the bones during these exercises will stimulate them to form new bones and become stronger.

Some excellent weight-bearing exercises are:

• Brisk walking/ Jogging /Running
• Jumping jacks / Jumping rope
• Stair climbing
• Tennis
• Dancing / Aerobics
• Yoga / Pilates

Weight training for osteoporosis

Resistance training is also very beneficial for improving and maintaining bone density. You can do this at the gym with the help of equipment like weight machines, elastic bands, and dumbbells. Make sure that you find a way to exercise that you really enjoy. This makes it a lot easier to stick with it.

Jumping jacks and jumping rope

Yes, jumping and the impact of landing back on your feet are essential for improving the strength of your bones. Jumping can increase bone density because a bone under strain will adjust to that strain by getting stronger. This exercise is great for preventing osteoporosis, but because of the sudden stress put on the bones, this exercise is not suitable for women already suffering from osteoporosis.

Yoga or Pilates for osteoporosis prevention

Yoga and Pilates are exercises recommended for preventing and treating osteoporosis in post-hysterectomy women. Both exercises are beneficial for balance and coordination, and will protect you from fall-related fractures. However, some movements may be risky for women with osteoporosis of the spine as they can cause vertebral fractures. A seated twist of the spine, for instance, or bending from the waist with straight legs to reach your toes, are risky movements.

Dr. Loren Fishman developed a safe Yoga exercise program to reverse osteoporotic bone loss. The program is for all women with adapted exercises for women with osteopenia or osteoporosis. In this video, you can practice 12 yoga poses daily in only 12 minutes by following Dr. Fishman’s instructions.

2. Foods to prevent osteoporosis

What you eat is crucial for maintaining healthy bones. When you don’t get enough calcium from your diet, the body will draw this mineral from your bones. It is usually possible to absorb all the calcium you need through a balanced diet. Mind that consuming high levels of protein and salt will increase the amount of calcium that leaves your body in the urine.

Essential for the body to absorb calcium is vitamin D. Most people do not get enough vitamin D from sun exposure (the skin produces Vitamin D) and from their diet. Vitamin D deficiency also contributes to bone loss.

Another mineral key for bone health is magnesium. Without magnesium, vitamin D cannot convert into its active form, which is needed for calcium absorption. Women with osteoporosis who boost their magnesium intake may be able to prevent or reverse the condition.

So, the correct levels of these minerals are crucial for the best absorption and metabolism of calcium. Focus on eating a well-balanced diet that includes all of these bone-related minerals.

Do you need supplements to prevent osteoporosis after hysterectomy?

Sometimes, women do not get enough calcium, magnesium, or vitamin D from their diet and need to take a supplement. Women under 50 need about 1000mg of calcium per day, and if you’re over 50, about 1200 mg per day. Half of this amount is easily obtained from food. If you believe you are not getting enough calcium this way, you can take a daily supplement. The recommended dose is 500mg to 700mg per day. Don’t go overboard with these supplements. Taking too much calcium is not without risk. Calcium can build up in your arteries and put you at risk of heart disease. It is also a well-known risk of developing kidney stones.

What is the best calcium for osteoporosis?

The most commonly used calcium types are calcium carbonate and calcium citrate. Calcium carbonate is less expensive and may cause constipation, and people with low stomach acid may have difficulty absorbing this.

Where calcium citrate usually costs more, it is also easier to absorb. You can test how easily calcium dissolves by mixing a calcium tablet with vinegar in a glass. Be patient; this may take up to half an hour to dissolve. If it dissolves completely in the vinegar, then it will do the same in your body.

3. Bad lifestyle habits that may cause osteoporosis

Controlling bad lifestyle habits can make all the difference between weak and strong bones. The tiniest changes in your bone mass can immensely affect your overall bone health. It is known that smoking and drinking alcohol negatively affect bone density.

After discussing what you can do to prevent osteoporosis, here are 5 things you absolutely shouldn’t do.

1. A sedentary lifestyle is disastrous for your bones. When you are inactive, you will lose muscle mass and strength. As there is no strain from the muscles on your bones, they will not get the signal that they need to make more bone. This will lead to bone loss and, eventually, osteoporosis.
2. You know that smoking is bad for you, but did you know that it puts you at a higher risk for osteoporosis? Many studies show the relationship between smoking and an increased risk of bone loss and fractures. But these studies also show that once you quit smoking, the rate of bone loss will slow down.
3. Chronic drinking, especially at a younger age, can jeopardize a woman’s bone quality and increase her risk of osteoporosis later in life. Unfortunately, in this case, the harmful effects on the bones cannot be reversed, even if she stops drinking completely. Alcohol also hinders the absorption of calcium and can cause vitamin D deficiency because of its destructive effect on the liver.
4. Eating a diet high in sodium may accelerate bone loss. Too much salt will cause increased calcium loss in the urine, and some of it will be directly drawn from the bones.
5. Kyphosis can be caused by bad posture, such as sitting for extended periods at a desk or bending forward while driving. FHP, or forward head posture, is very common nowadays. There is an increase in the risk of fractures of the spine and a decrease in bone mass associated with this condition. Fortunately, there are exercises you can do that will completely fix this problem.

4. Keep a healthy weight

You may have thought that carrying around some extra weight is a risk factor for bone loss and fractures, but surprisingly, it is not. It is underweight women who have an increased risk. This is, of course, not an excuse for being overweight, as this will raise your risk of many other health conditions.

It is important to maintain a healthy weight after hysterectomy to prevent osteoporosis. Losing weight after a hysterectomy for women who are obese has many health benefits. But losing more than 10 percent of your total body weight may become an issue for your bone integrity.

When you try to lose weight after a hysterectomy, you must include physical activities and an adequate amount of calcium in your diet to protect your bones.

5. Testing for osteoporosis

Women must regularly monitor their bone density after having a hysterectomy. Acting on the early signs of bone loss with the right treatment will help prevent osteoporosis.

A bone density scan, or DEXA, is an easy, painless procedure that takes about twenty minutes. You have to lie still on a padded table while the machine scans your hips and spine and measures your bone mass.

Using a T-score test, you can find out what your bone density is compared to a healthy thirty-year-old. The lower the T-score, the lower your bone density.

• A T-score higher than -0.1 is considered normal.
• A T-score of -2.5 or lower indicates you have osteoporosis.
• Any bone density between these values is considered osteopenia.

Conclusion

Women have four times more chance of low bone density or osteoporosis than men. Postmenopausal women or women who have had a hysterectomy have a one in three chance that they will have a fracture due to osteoporosis.

The most common are vertebral, wrist, and hip fractures. An osteoporosis vertebral fracture, or compression fracture, is extremely painful.

Now it’s up to you. Osteoporosis can be prevented if you follow the steps you learned. Follow these osteoporosis lifestyle tips to keep strong, healthy bones for the rest of your life.