Cupping guides

Osteoporosis: why it isn't felt until something breaks, risk factors and who should have a bone density scan, treatment, training that strengthens the skeleton, calcium, vitamin D and protein, fall prevention, and cupping with caution

Osteoporosis doesn't hurt, doesn't show and isn't felt, until the day a wrist breaks when you catch yourself, a vertebra is compressed when you lift a flower pot or a hip breaks in a fall that ten years ago would only have given a bruise. One in two women and one in four men over 50 in Sweden will have an osteoporotic fracture, among the highest rates in the world, and yet only a fraction of those who should be investigated are. Here is what osteoporosis is and why the skeleton weakens (menopause, age, cortisone, smoking, low weight, heredity, certain diseases), the signs that do exist (lost height, a rounded upper back, back pain after a lift, a fracture from a low fall), who should ask for a bone density scan and how it works, the treatment that halves the fracture risk, and what you do yourself: weight-bearing training and strength training that strengthen the skeleton, balance training that prevents the fall, calcium, vitamin D and protein in the right amounts, and how to adapt cupping and massage when the skeleton is fragile: never hard pressure or suction over the spine and ribs, but light cupping of the muscles is fine and can relieve the back pain that vertebral compressions cause.