Dr. White recommends that women at menopause discuss the pros and cons of estrogen treatment with their physicians. If they choose not to take estrogen, they should be regularly monitored because they will lose bone, she said. Women cannot prevent postmenopausal bone loss through exercise and calcium supplementation alone. In fact, my Mom thought she was in pretty good shape because she was taking plenty of calcium for years. According to Dr. White, another common myth is that osteoporosis causes symptoms.
Many people believe hip pain or low back pain is because of bone loss.
The pain may be from bursitis, arthritis or some other condition, but there is no pain from osteoporosis until a fracture occurs. If you have three or more risk factors, Dr. White recommends patients to consider having their bone density measured. The Women's Center offers the DEXA scans and performs them on a referral basis from other physicians.