What Every Woman Should Know About Bone Health After Menopause 

May is Osteoporosis Awareness Month, the ideal time to learn more about how bone loss happens — and what you can do to prevent it.

Here at Trusted Women’s Health Center, our talented OB-GYN, Sidiq Aldabbagh, MD, and team of women’s health experts are menopause specialists. We provide comprehensive care for menopause in our Kendall and Miami, Florida, offices, and many women come to us with concerns about bone loss during menopause. It’s true: You lose bone during menopause. In fact, estimates from the Endocrine Society show that women can lose up to one-fifth of their total bone structure during menopause.

This bone loss can sharply increase your risk of health complications, so it’s important to know about the risks. Our May blog explains how bone loss happens during menopause, how you can prevent it, and how you can reduce your risk of complications. 

Bone loss during menopause: Why it happens 

Normally your bones are in a state of constant renewal. As you shed bone, your body quickly replaces it. But, over time, your body can't keep up the bone renewal at the same pace. That’s what leads to bone thinning.

The main reason that you can’t rebuild bone as fast as you once did is hormone changes. Generally, this starts in your 30s. From that time, you gradually make less and less estrogen, the most important female hormone.

In menopause, you lose estrogen even faster. Normally, estrogen helps keep your bones strong and slows bone loss. But with far less estrogen than you once had, your body can start losing bone too quickly without replacing it.

Effects of bone loss during menopause

Bone loss leads to weaker and thinner bones. This sharply increases your risk of osteoporosis. With osteoporosis, the bones develop many small holes, similar to a honeycomb. People with osteoporosis have a far higher risk of bone fractures.

About half of postmenopausal women have osteoporosis. The majority of them experience at least one bone fracture. The most common type of fracture among people with osteoporosis is vertebral compression fractures. These tiny breaks in the spinal bones can occur with routine wear and tear, and they can cause severe back pain.

Other types of fractures can also occur. For instance, a minor fall could cause a broken hip when you have osteoporosis. But, if you have healthy bones, a fall of that type wouldn’t normally cause a break. Hip fractures can be quite serious, with around 22% leading to death within a year due to underlying conditions.

Protecting your bone health after menopause

You don’t have to  experience serious health problems due to menopause. At Trusted Women’s Health Center, we help women move through the menopause transition successfully. This includes treating your symptoms, preventing rapid bone loss, and helping you feel your best.

One effective way to help prevent bone loss involves replacing your missing hormones. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) restores your estrogen levels using plant-derived hormones. They’re structurally identical to your natural hormones, and your body can’t tell the difference.

With balanced estrogen levels, menopause symptoms decrease and you can prevent osteoporosis. Dr. Aldabbagh often prescribes vitamin D and calcium supplements to help encourage healthy bones and reduce fracture risk. 

Our goal is osteoporosis prevention, and we’re here to support you in the most effective ways so you can enjoy life after menopause to the max. But it’s important to know that if you’re diagnosed with osteoporosis, there are treatment options like “bone builder” medications. No matter how severe osteoporosis is, there are always treatment options.

We hope you learned some interesting facts about osteoporosis for Osteoporosis Awareness Month through this blog. Our team is always happy to answer your questions and discuss osteoporosis prevention strategies, so call us at 786-360-4334 or reach out online today.