Since May is Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention month, the subject of this month’s blog should be exactly that. Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones lose their strength and are more likely to break, usually following a minor bump or fall. This condition generally affects people over 50 who have low bone strength. The most commonly affected areas are wrists, hips and spine, but the fractures caused by osteoporosis can in theory happen in other parts of the body as well. Although GPs are often the first port of call when a patient is concerned that they may have osteoporosis, there are a number of reasons why an osteopath is equally or better equipped to inform a patient of the possibility of this condition.

At northlondonosteopaths Alan Nevies and his colleagues are aware that early diagnosis of osteoporosis is an essential part of managing this condition. Prevention is almost always better than cure, and if a patient can be spared breaking one of their bones because of such a diagnosis, the benefit cannot be overstated. In the EU during 2010 there were 43,000 deaths causally related to fractures. The pain and danger associated with loss of mobility is considerable.

At northlondonosteopaths because the length of our appointments is half an hour as opposed to the 10 or 15 minutes often allocated for a GP appointment that may enable us to consider and diagnose a patient before any bone is broken. Alan Nevies and his colleagues may use various resources to achieve this. There are leaflets produced by the National Osteoporosis Society are very informative and available at northlondonosteopaths. We also encourage our associates to do the training (CPD) that enables practitioners to be more effective in discovering this condition and advising and treating our patients accordingly.

All part of the service with a smile at northlondonosteopaths.