What are the symptoms of osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is often called the “silent disease” because bone loss occurs without symptoms. People may not know that they have osteoporosis until their bones become so weak that a sudden strain, bump or fall causes a fracture or a vertebra to collapse. Collapsed vertebra may be detected by severe back pain, loss of height, or spinal deformities such as stooped posture.
Osteoporosis has been called the “silent disease”. Most people affected are unaware that their bones are thinning until they experience a break, or notice more gradual signs such as height loss, or curvature of the spine (sometimes known as “dowager’s hump”). The bones most likely to break as a result of osteoporosis are the hip, wrist and the vertebrae of the spine.
Osteoporosis is often called the “silent” disease, because it can progress without symptoms. Without proper screening and diagnosis, a person may not know they have osteoporosis until they break a bone. Fractured bones were once the only way to tell if a person had osteoporosis. Fortunately, there are new methods today that can detect osteoporosis before a fracture occurs.
