Do you remember the days when your parents would ask you to drink your milk every day? You should know that they were doing it to help you build strong bones. Bones are essential for movement and protection. If you fail to protect your bones, they can become weak and fragile in the future. One of the most common bone conditions people suffer from today is osteoporosis.
™
What is osteoporosis? It is a condition when your bones become weak and thin. As a result, they easily get fractured or they easily break when faced with huge impacts from accidents. One type of osteoporosis is known as the localized osteoporosis. This type involves neoplasm and infection on the bones. It is easily recognizable because it leaves a patch on the bones and the body.
There are several things that can cause localized osteoporosis. One of them is bone tumor or the abnormal growth of tissues on the surface of the bones. This condition can become malignant therefore it should be diagnosed by doctors immediately. Another cause is osteomyelitis. This is the infection of the bone that may cause the bones to become weak. According to some studies, electrical injuries may also cause localized osteoporosis. X-ray results of patients have shown fracture on the bones because of electrical shocks.
How can you prevent osteoporosis? There are several things that you can do to keep your bones healthy and strong. This is very important to ensure that you will not have serious bone problems when you become older.
The first step in preventing bone diseases is to main a good amount of calcium in the body. You need to understand the important of calcium and its benefits. Calcium is the main nutrient that will make your bones strong. You can find it on dairy products such as milk and egg, as well as in green leafy vegetables. If your diet cannot supply your body sufficient calcium, you may take supplements.
The second step is to maintain a good amount of Vitamin D. Vitamin D is good for the bones for several reasons. The main role of this nutrient is to help the bones absorb calcium better. If the amount is not sufficient, then the calcium you get from food and other sources may just stay on the blood and later on be excreted. Taking in calcium is important but making sure it gets to bones is also essential in preventing osteoporosis.
The third step is to know the statistics. This is important to know the risk factors of having the bone disease. For instance, you need to know that women are more likely to develop weak bones than men. This is because when they reach menopause, the levels of estrogen decreases. You should also know that here are medications that can hinder the body in absorbing calcium.
Whether you have normal or localized osteoporosis, you should not ignore it.
Have you ever wondered if there was something more that you could do to support your child's health?
Osteopathy is a simple approach to healthcare that represents a missing piece in the medical puzzle. It was founded over a hundred years ago by an American doctor named Andrew Taylor Still, who realised that many of his patients' problems were due to simple mechanical issues that affected their bodies' ability to perform the vital functions that are essential to our health.
Gentle osteopathic approaches Osteopathie München like cranial osteopathy and fascial unwinding rely on the fact that the body instinctively knows what it needs to do to heal itself. By supporting this process, osteopaths can help the body to resolve whatever mechanical problems it may have and it is often possible to avoid the need for medication and other medical interventions. This gentle approach is perfectly suited to babies and children and their delicate growing bodies.
Post-natal check-ups for newborn babies
Most paediatric osteopaths believe that every child should receive a post-natal check-up. This is because birth is one of the most common causes of mechanical dysfunction in the body. The strains that often result from the birth process can contribute to colic, reflux and difficulty feeding and may also be a cause of other health problems later on.
Most babies are able to resolve the stresses and strains of birth without too much difficulty but in some cases they need a little extra help. This is especially likely if there has been a long or difficult labour involving medical intervention but sometimes it is just that the baby didn't get its head in quite the right position to navigate the birth canal.
Case study
Poppy was three weeks old when her parents brought her to see me because she was extremely unsettled and struggling to feed. Her birth had seemed relatively straightforward but it was obvious on examining her that she had not been able to bend her head forward enough when it had engaged in her mother's pelvis. As a result she had sustained a neck strain during the labour that was making her extremely uncomfortable, especially when she tried to feed.
Imagine trying to get your mouth to your mother's breast when you have a 'crick-neck' and don't yet have the strength to hold your head up on your own and you will begin to get some idea of why she was so upset. Fortunately, this was a relatively simple matter to sort out and with just one treatment she began to relax. After two treatments she was feeding well and happily gaining weight.
Support for the growing child
As children grow and develop, teething and growth spurts can exacerbate unresolved strains from birth or early injuries leading to anything from a little irritability to the development of new and more serious problems. Persistent teething irritability or growing pains can be early signs that their bodies need help in overcoming these issues. Similarly, areas of apparent weakness in a child's immune system often reflect some compromise to the mechanics that underlie the health of the particular system involved.
Conditions like asthma and recurrent chest infections, eczema, persistent coughs and colds and glue ear can often be resolved if the underlying mechanical problems are addressed. Many developmental problems are also due to simple mechanical issues that are compromising some basic function. It may be that a stiff hip is affecting a child's ability to crawl or walk or an unresolved birth strain is compromising the drainage from their ears resulting in poor hearing and slow development of speech. In such cases, if the original strain is addressed, the body can return to normal function and the child can to begin to catch up.
Osteopathy is not the answer to all of our health problems but, because it helps to restore the body's innate ability to heal itself, there is something that it can do to help in most situations. It is one of the safest and most natural ways to support your health and it works well alongside any other form of medical therapy. Osteopathy is the missing piece in the puzzle that could make all the difference to your family's health.
The names in the case histories above have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals concerned.