Over the years, thousands of women have come to me fearing they might break a bone. Often, this fear of fracture has been instilled in them by their doctor looking at their bone density tests and saying things like, “You have the bones of an 80 year old. You’re going to fall, break a hip and end up in a wheelchair unless you take this bone drug.”
Sometimes the fear comes from watching an elderly relative suffer multiple, painful spinal fractures, or seeing a senior friend experience a hip fracture —in other cases there is really no good cause for the fear beyond a doctor’s threatening comment.
The truth is that in most cases, the body heals from fracture spontaneously and there is life after fracture. Even better, we know there are many ways to help fractures heal faster and make weak bones stronger. And it’s part of my mission with Better Bones, Better Body to make sure fewer women spend their time being afraid, and more of them learn how to take action to prevent bone fractures.
At one of our annual Love Your Bones, Love Your Life retreats, my staff and I had the opportunity to become friends with a woman who exemplifies that there is life after fracture—and an exuberant life at that. Lassie is a bright, vivacious, 70-year-young woman who casually revealed to us that she had experienced 30 fractures in her lifetime—yet she’s still joyful and going strong. Why not take a few minutes and be inspired and uplifted by her story?