How Does Exercise Help Osteoporosis?
July 24, 2018
If your senior was recently diagnosed with osteoporosis, her doctor may have also recommended that she start an exercise program. Exercise might seem at first like an odd treatment option for osteoporosis, but it makes a lot of sense when you understand what exercise can do for your senior.
Elderly Care in Menlo Park CA: How Does Exercise Help Osteoporosis?
Helps Your Senior Become Stronger.
The biggest benefit from exercise for an elderly family member with osteoporosis is that it helps her body to become stronger. Muscles develop strength and bones do as well, so it's a win win for your senior's overall strength. This doesn't happen overnight, though, so neither you nor your elderly family member should expect to see big improvements right away.
Improves Her Ability to Avoid a Fall.
Because exercise helps your senior's balance and flexibility, it helps her to avoid a fall. Your elderly family member may find that some activities, such as walking more regularly, help her to improve her overall gait. This improves everything about her ability to walk, especially walking in her own home and avoiding obstacles that might cause her to fall.
Gives Her More Confidence.
Your senior becomes more trusting of her body and how it moves. This is a huge confidence booster. And when your elderly family member is moving through the world with more confidence, she's less likely to fall or to injure herself. For many aging adults, losing confidence in their bodies makes them more prone to injury and to problems that become life-altering.
It Can Help Her to Age in Place.
With that in mind, exercise is an easy way to help your senior to age in place if that is her main goal. Aging in place means that your elderly family member is able to remain at home and continue her life. She may have help from you, from other family members, and from home care providers, but she's still living where she wants to live. That's a big goal for many aging adults and it's doable if your elderly family member is in good enough health to do so.
Exercise isn't the only treatment for osteoporosis, of course, but it can be one important part of your senior's overall treatment plan. You may also want to consider hiring elderly care providers to help ensure that your aging adult has the help she needs at any time of the day, even if you can't be there with her.