 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
I am nearly 75 and ski fast and steep off piste for 4 weeks per year. Should I be tested for osteoporosis? I have no particular reason to think I have it. I broke my leg 9 years ago, hitting a bank in flat light (one ski released, one leg broke) with forward release 8.5 (now changed to 6.75 approx). My GP says they only test if you have a break or other reason to suggest I might have it, so I would need to go private.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
@snowball, my previous surgery had a self test machine in the waiting room, but sounds like private might be your only option if you really want to have a test
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
Bone density test involves xrays.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
I have 2 conflicting thoughts:
1. If you have Osteoporosis, you should probably know
2. If it is shown that you do have it, even if not too bad - that then should be declared to an Insurance company when going on holiday. It is hard enough getting Insurance at over 70 - so this could either put up the premium even further, or see coverage refused for Osteoporosis.
FWIW. I am not giving advice as to what you should do.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
@Hells Bells, well that's odd to have a machine in the waiting room. You just had to stick your arm in and probably press a button. I had a similar test but can't remember when, where or why
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
@holidayloverxx, the one like that in our surgery measures blood pressure not bone density. You wouldn't have an xray machine in a waiting room. Sounds odd indeed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@Hells Bells, I seem to recall it had a sign, hence I knew what it was....or thought I did
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I am only 43 and have osteopenia (did have osteoporosis). I find it difficult to find insurance and it does bump it up even at my age. I only found out as the doctor was worried about how diet and pregnancy had effected it and they were right too. Not sure it’s made much difference to my skiing - maybe a little more cautious.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
@snowball, do you do any weights/walking/running which would help bone strength? What makes you think you need to be tested?
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Wed 29-03-23 21:48; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Osteoporosis is a lot less common in men than women.
Why do you want to be tested?
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
One incident, eleven years ago, which would have been likely to cause someone young and without osteoporosis to break a leg? Despite your brilliance as a skier, you've presumably fallen a few times since then and not broken anything? If that's the case, why would you want to be tested?
I'm 76 and have fallen heavily - so as to cause extensive bruising - lots of times, but never broken anything, so I judge that I don't need to be tested. (I'm not counting the incident in a bar, and the possible hairline fracture of the knee onto which I fell, the x-ray was inconclusive.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
Yes
My Dad is 75+
My partner mum is 75-
Both tested for other reasons, but both at risk of Osteo.
If you can get wangle a test, then do it.
Better to know than learn.
May be OK, but can always investigate supplements
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks all. Well, I don't want to find out when I break something and have to stop doing what I love at the level I like to do it. Better to know now that I need to start taking supplements or whatever and do more weight bearing exercise. I do like to walk with my wife on Hampstead Heath or occasionally in the country but she has slowed up and can't walk so far now (the legacy of Polio when she was young). I also cycle a bit (and up the amount considerably the last couple of months before skiing, and go to the gym for an hour, once or twice a week. Though not weights. And it is quite difficult to persuade myself to do most of this (except the walking). If I knew I had to it would provide more incentive. However I have been ill quite a lot recently with lung infections so not doing so much.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
@snowball, There was a male snowHead in his early 70s on this year's Birthday Bash who fell as he was getting off a chairlift (so not a big fall) but he broke his hip and had to have a hip replacement operation (in Bruneck hospital I think). It turns out he had osteoporosis unbeknownst to himself, he subsequently said it was as a consequence of medication he takes for another condition.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
As you say .. Take your supplements and do weight bearing exercise. Someone telling you you have osteoporosis and saying you need to take supplements and do weight bearing exercise and you then doing it is a waste of beneficial conditioning time ..resistance exercise for someone who wants to ski...especially at your age is non negotiable. You should be doing it anyways as a lifestyle choice ... Sounds like a head thing going on ... Focus on the benefits. Get a programme set where you go in and do what you need to do without thinking about it and leave. 30 to 40 mins max . Youll feel so much better once you do it and more so a few months in ... Health is wealth . Ski safe ..
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Well yes, it is "a head thing". I dislike cycling up hills in London but I do some of it, especially before the skiing season (about 40 mins circuit) because I know it will help my skiing stamina and strength. Similarly the gym, where I call my (young female) trainer my outsourced will-power. It is a matter of whether I should be considering bone mass in particular (and doing more of what I don't like, and for all the year, with my eye on 9 months time). I don't like skinning either, but am (fairly) happy to walk for an hour to ski a special slope. But the reward is immediate. (As you will have noticed I am temperamentally lazy, unfortunately.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
@snowball, Skiing is a power sport, adding some weights to your gym routine will help with it as well as your bone density.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
@snowball, I'm not a doctor, but my thinking would be that given your age and liking for skiing steep slopes quite quickly (  ), you probably should be considering bone mass. That might mean thinking about calcium intake, maybe some vitamin D tablets in winter, and yes, weights. The weights in particular will probably be beneficial anyway... (It is though super-boring, unfortunately. If you have a strict gym routine that might help, but I can't say I enjoy it overly.) Whether getting a diagnosis of osteoporosis (or osteopaenia) is important, I'm not sure. Insurance could be a problem, would be my main concern.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
@ShakiraShakira,
| Quote: |
Whether getting a diagnosis of osteoporosis (or osteopaenia) is important, I'm not sure. Insurance could be a problem, would be my main concern.
|
Agreed. Trying to do the right things to avoid the problem is obviously sensible. I think and hope that my advanced, very weight-bearing Pilates three times a week, is helping me. Plus a somewhat random multivit a day and a decent diet. Also, if I do break something skiing, it's not going to be in super-gnarly territory, so I'm a bit fatalistic about it. Possibly not very sensible, I don't know...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
I am 66. I have broken a lot of bones over the years as I used to race and train horses. My physio wanted me to have a bone density scan so I did. It told me that I had normal bone density in my femur and slight osteopenia in my spine. Most DEXA scans use those two measures. I declare it to my insurers and they loaded £15 on the premium but I think that is because i had two 'non-declarable' conditions, rather than any risk related to the osteopenia. As a result of doing the scan, I now make sure I do weight training at the gym and I run 5K every Saturday. I hate running. I tell myself that I have to do this to keep my bone density up, and it is non-negotiable. Not doing it is not an option, so I just get on with it. Every week, all weathers.
We (My 74 year old husband and I) train all year so we are fit for our 8 weeks skiing. I see it as my job - I am retired, and my job is to stay healthy. My trainer at the gym says she trains people decades younger than me and they couldn't get near what I lift and for strength generally, so I think it is effective. I won't go for another scan, as I don't think I need any more information, but that is a personal choice. I take calcium and Vit D3. The DEXA tech told me that small, light people have a greater risk so that is something to keep in mind. I am 155 cm and weigh 55kg.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Thanks all. I will consider how I change my regimen.
One thing I didn't mention is that I have had repeated back problems and this weakness to some extent modifies my exercise. If I am away from home I always take a roll of memory foam, as an unsuitable bed can ruin a holiday with back ache. I was glad of this on the Off-piste bash.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@snowball, have you chatted with your GP and explained your concerns and that a test would help alleviate your worries?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@kitenski, yes, she wasn't sympathetic. I think she thought this was a privileged person's worry.
Actually I have never been outside the NHS, even when I had cancer (but with waiting times I experienced even then I think I'd go private for cancer now - the tests and waiting for surgery stretched over so many months it could easily have spread.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
@snowball, worth asking for another GP? I've one non sympathetic GP and a second one at the surgery who is a lot more understanding!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Possibly
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
@snowball, I think GPs should be helping you to stay active, likely to save the NHS money in the long term.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
