What can I do to raise bone density?

Owl
Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭
edited October 2020 in General Health

I was diagnosed with osteopenia a decade ago and I’m afraid I’ve cracked a rib just leaning on a concrete block wall to work on the other side. I’m hesitant to even go get it x-rayed, not knowing what I might be exposed to and knowing that they can’t do anything to help it anyway but, if it was that easy to injure myself, I better address the underlying issue.

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Comments

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    Thank you both! I’m growing comfrey and have some tinctured so I will start on that. I have supplemented vitamin d for many years. Thanks for the articles too!

  • Gail H
    Gail H Posts: 359 ✭✭✭✭

    It sounds weird, but prunes are really good for bones. They used to say it was an all or nothing effect and you needed a minimum of ten per day, but I think anything is helpful. I try for four or five per day. Start slowly and work up if you're going for ten.

    I recently heard that prunes have a lot of boron. That could be what makes them effective for helping bones. From what I've read, prunes are a mystery to scientists. They can't figure out what makes them so different from plums. It's not just that they're more concentrated; there is something unique about prunes. Sorry- I meant "Dried plums" !

  • dianne.misspooz
    dianne.misspooz Posts: 105 ✭✭✭

    I just received an article in my email about just the topic! Egg shells. They are loaded in calcium. Here's what you do:

    1. Save your egg shells.
    2. Clean them by either boiling for 5 minutes or put them in the oven with low heat for 15 minutes.
    3. Afterward, grind them up with a pestle or a food processor or whatever you have.
    4. Store in a clean, dry, glass jar in a dark area.
    5. Eat 1 tsp daily by mixing it in whatever you like.

    I'm trying to find the article because I just read it an hour ago... I hope I didn't delete it! If I find it, I will post here.

  • tomandcara
    tomandcara Posts: 712 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020

    @Owl I agree with @torey's recommendation of Susun Weed and herbal infusions and @kbmbillups1 about horsetail. Boron is another important component of strong bones. If possible get you vitamin D tested, there are a lot of online resources just search google for "at home vitamin d test" I have heard various recommendations for optimal Vit D levels. Personally I go for the 80-100 ng/ml (200-250 nmol/l) for people with osteoporosis Make certain you have a good source of Vit K as @foodherbshealth suggested. Judicious weight bearing exercises simulate the bones to get stronger and be patient. It took decades to loose the bone structure and get osteoporosis, they won't rebuild that structure over night

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    I just ordered horsetail plants for my garden. I will incorporate a piece into my daily routine. Thanks everyone! The rib is broken, I noticed last night that it can be separated freely, if painfully, just pushing it a little.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin
    edited August 2020

    @Owl You could do an external poultice of comfrey leaves over the broken rib. I would do that repeatedly.

    In addition to the herbs mentioned above for bone health, there are other herbs and foods high in calcium with a balance of other minerals. Pigweed (aka lamb's quarters or goosefoot) is one of the highest sources of calcium in garden veggies (or weeds). The bitter herbs such as dandelion, arugula, turnip greens, etc., are high in calcium.

    Just a bit of caution on the egg shells. Make sure they are well cleaned and boiled as egg shells could be carrying bacteria such as Salmonella. And you need other vitamins and minerals to help you absorb the calcium.

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    I didn’t think of the comfrey! Mine is in full bloom! Can I still use it?

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin
    edited August 2020

    @Owl Yes! Start using it right away. Once your comfrey blooms you can cut it back almost to the ground and it will regrow. I am in a northern climate and I could get 3 full growths out of mine.

  • tomandcara
    tomandcara Posts: 712 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020

    @Owl so sorry to hear that your rib is definitely broken. Use the information you have already gotten plus the more that is certain to come and heal well.

  • frogvalley
    frogvalley Posts: 675 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020

    @Owl Have you tried Cell Salts? It's a little different from homeopathy, but can be very effective. Silicea, Calc Flour, Magnesium etc. can all be researched and added to your daily routine easily and inexpensively. Some of us that can't easily assimilate magnesium supplements for instance, find the cell salts work.

  • Johanna
    Johanna Posts: 8 ✭✭✭

    Besides taking supplements do some weight bearing exercise. Start with the pink dumbells of humiliation. It is the lightest. After my broken neck, I started my exercise with the lightest weights. You can add more weight, but not too much or you'll do more damage then good. If you have PBS start with the "sit and be fit" program. Use light weights on your ankles. Don't forget to take them off when you're finished working out.

    Take it slow and easy. If it hurts reduce the weight, even if it means just moving the arms through the exercise with out any weight. Your arms weigh enough on their own to give you a workout. It's the same with your legs. Avoid the flexible bands. They put a lot of pressure on your bones, and can snap them. Right now just do your legs. When the rib has healed you can try to work your arms. If it still hurts, give the injury more time to heal.

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    Thanks everyone! I work in my garden every day. I have a small homestead and do weight lifting by carrying feed for the animals, buckets of various things. It’s hard to find time to “exercise” with so much that has to be done.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Be sure to care for your kidneys. Healthy kidneys and vit D are essential.

  • dipat2005
    dipat2005 Posts: 1,290 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Owl I appreciate the question about osteopenia. I have had it for a long time and recently had my Dexa scan. I have always wondered what to take naturally. All of these comments have helped. Thank you to all who have contributed and will contribute.

  • moreyshadypines
    moreyshadypines Posts: 72 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2020

    @Owl my sincere sympathy for your injury. It can be a bit overwhelming when you still have a homestead to run with those challenges. The support here on TGN is very encouraging. Follow what suggestions noted that are available to you, anything you do is better than just accepting mediocre health. :)

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    I actually have a genetic defect called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Its result is defective collagen and collagen is the most prevalent tissue in the body. There are a bunch of different types but mine results in joints that pull apart too easily because my tendons and ligaments stretch out and do not retract like normal people. I’ve had a whole bunch of surgeries but they have put me back together like Humpty Dumpty and I’m still going in spite of spending a handful of years almost bed bound. I am so very blessed to be able to garden and play on the farm again! Every day is a miraculous gift!

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @Owl All of the herbs listed above are great for collagen tissue as well as bone tissue so I hope you get some assistance with both your bones and collagen. I read recently that ginseng may also help with collagen production but not quite sure what components of the ginseng are doing the job.

    Do you take a collagen supplement of any kind?

    I am also in agreement with @frogvalley's suggestion of cell salts. They can be found at most health food stores or ordered online.

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    I just ordered hydrolized collagen and will look into cell salts. I do take a magnesium supplement that contains 7 different types of magnesium and it has been a game changer for my sleep. I’m sleeping well after 3 years of horrible sleep so I know there was something there I needed badly.

  • Nicoleburba
    Nicoleburba Posts: 58 ✭✭✭

    @Owl all the advices are excellent. I am doing almost all above: Magnesium, Nettle infusions, egg shell calcium, making sure l get enough vitamin D. But the main thing I am eating Japanese food natto. I buy it in Oriental market. One little portion has 100 percent of daily dose of vitamin K2. It took effort for me to start eating it, though. It is fermented soybeans. All this work for me perfectly. Maybe it would help you too.

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    After reading about natto, I don’t think I could get there from here...although I do eat a bunch of other fermented foods and beverages. I make yogurt, kombucha and water kefir and ferment a huge variety of the harvest from my garden and the local grocery store’s organic produce section. I’m currently enjoying okra, green beans and asparagus fermented with garlic and dill. Yummy, yummy, I love summer! I do take a D3 &K2 supplement every day.

  • norabelehcim
    norabelehcim Posts: 58 ✭✭✭

    Nourishment as above, but also exercise... Check with physician for your individual precautions, though

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    You are absolutely right about that! I went from a full time bed to active, gardening and running my household again and it took months for my muscles to stop screaming all day! I was once a nationally ranked martial artist and have worked hard at regaining even part of the strength and balance I once enjoyed.

  • andrea745
    andrea745 Posts: 89 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2020

    I would add that you probably need to check to see what you are eating in your diet. Sometimes it is a matter of eliminating some foods that are contributing to our loss of bone and are you eating enough healthy sources of protein? Your bones need protein to repair. And I am a full time yoga teacher and there are many safe yoga moves that help with osteporosis and osteopenia. A great pose is called bird/dog. You are on your hands and knees and you lift one leg off the floor at a time. Draw in your belly from the pubic bone to your naval to support your back and work your way to lifting the opposite arm at the same time. Change sides. Make sure you are feeling like you are wearing a corset to protect your spine, but continue to breath. I will take a picture of me doing the pose for you if my directions are confusing. Namaste

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Weight bearing exercises and hold yoga poses for several minutes are said to help with bone density.

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    Ouch, that sounds terribly painful, @Owl. I hope you are starting to feel better!

    Magnesium seems to be very important for osteoporosis.@Owl Someone here, I think @LaurieLovesLearning , mentioned The Magnesium Miracle and it gives advice about osteoporosis in chapter 11.

    -Most people are defiecient in magnesium,

    -Magnesium is fundamental to bone health,

    -supplementing with calcium increases the need for magnesium (!!)

    -diet and lifestyle can have an enormous impact

    -taking large amounts of magnesium can stop osteoporosis (and have many other benefits).

    I highly recommend the book.

    Also bone broth has all the minerals needed for bones. I recall a lightbulb going on in my head when a doctor mentioned that. Unless, of course, you are vegetarian in which case things are more complicated.

    And for EDS, check out the Cusack Protocol. It seems to help. We only have it a bit so haven't really gotten onto the protocol but I've heard it can be very helpful.

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    I just read Susun's article. Thanks for posting that. It sounds like great advice. My mother had sever osteoporosis and I have been diagnosed with Osteopenia. I have been on Hormone replacement therapy. That was a no go. I was already in menopause and I ended up having bad uterine bleeding. So bad I was passing huge clots. I got off that and found a clinical trial of Denosimab ( now marketed as Prolia I believe) It improved my bone density, but after I was through with the study, I couldn't afford to buy the medicine. I have read that silica is imperative to good bone strength, and have started taking a supplement containing horsetail. Not sure how effective it will be. I would rather be wildcrafting it. But I am leery of anything that grows close to me. Also adding the many other minerals would be necessary.

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    Sounds like you are already getting a lot of weight bearing exercise!