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Is it safe for a person with osteoporosis to use a stair-stepper?
Is it safe for a person with osteoporosis to use a stair-stepper?
Seems like someone said when I asked that question, NO! I hope they respond again. Seems like if you can hold on to something because you don't want to loose your balance and fall.
Dear Karen;
I wouldn't think it would be a problem insofar as causing fractures. Osteo has been linked to bone mineral density(BMD) using DEXA test results but that does not determine ones fracturabiliy. Have you fractured without impact?
I don't think stair steppers give you enough impact to held build bone strength. You would do better walking or slow jogging on a treadmill. Stair steppers build quad muscle or if done fast enough would help with cardio but not bone strength.
The first question that needs to be answered is the fracture question and then go from there as to what might be appropriate. What is your age? Have you done the FRAX evaluation? Don't rely on DEXA scan results to determine bone strength and your future
Dear Eamenard,
Thank you for responding to my question. I am 62 years old. Was diagnosed with moderately severe osteoporosis in 1997. I took fosamax for 10 years, forteo for 2 years and had a reclast infusion in June '08. The most serious fracture was in '04 when I fell and broke my femur.
I really would like to know which exercises are the best.
Karen698:
Please work with a knowledgeable physical therapist for indivuduallizing your exercise needs. Actually, the stair stepper IS weightbearing exercise, but it would have to be done properly -- in the first place. Strengthening the quads is a fine ambition, but there are various ways to do this. Please read what NOF has to say about exercise in general for OP -- the types needed, etc. BUT proper supervision in the first place is needed. What are your T-scores now?
Sorry!
Did not sign my name.
Lucy Buckley aka Mother Goose
Mother Goose,
My last BMD was in 2007. My numbers are not too bad; spineT -0.9 ; Hip T-1.8. The thing that scares me the most is my surgeon who repaired my femur said I had the softest bones he had ever seen. What is going on here?
Those numbers are not bad at all.
Don't mind what your surgeon said -- this was meant to get your attention -- and it did!
Was this surgery on the upper femur -- in the hip area? This is less dense than the lower femur in normal folks. That is the nature of the femur. It is designed that way on purpose.
Lucy Buckley PT aka Mother Goose
Mother Goose,
My fracture was not at the top of the femur. It was about 1/3 of the way from the hip. I was taking fosamax at the time I am aware of the reports that Fosamax may cause femurs to fracture in some people. Guess I'm one of them. Lucy, I really appreciate your taking the time to let me vent.
Karen Nelson
Karen698, I just want to elaborate on a point MotherGoose made about stairsteppers being weightbearing exercise, but it would have to be done properly. For many years, I used a small, plastic stairstepper with patent pending. It was lightweight and I kept it under an extra bed and moved it to the living room to exercise. It finally broke and when I tried to replace it, I found the company that made it had gone out of business. I bought another small stairstepper made of metal and much heavier. I still moved it around to exercise each day. About two months after I began using it, I developed a herniated spinal disc, several bulging discs, and nerve pain down my left leg. The timing is too close to be coincidental. I'm sure lifting that stairstepper twice daily, possibly not in the proper manner although I did bend my knees to lift, caused or strongly contributed to my back injury.
So be careful with your exercise regimen and the best of luck to you.
Thank you Bone Lady,
My stair-stepper is rather small and I never have to move it. I try to be very careful when it comes to lifting. Do you think walking on the stepper caused any of your spinal problems?
Karen Nelson
karen698, It's possible that using, not just lifting, the metal stepper caused or contributed to my back problems. I say this because the metal stepper gave me a more rigorous workout than the plastic stepper did. I could not adjust the tension on the metal stepper. At first, I could not use it for long without getting very tired. I gradually worked back up to a 30-minute workout. The tension of the plastic stepper was adjustable, and, even at it's highest setting, the tension was not as great as for the metal stepper. I thought that I was just getting a better workout on the metal stepper. I guess I'll never know for sure if working out on the metal stepper injured my back. I'm sure the daily lifting contributed to my spinal problems.
Interesting conversation and, after reading all the posts, I thought I'd "weigh in" with some additional thoughts.
Although stair steppers would appear to be weight-bearing exercise, I'm not aware of any studies that would compare them to getting out and walking and/or climbing real steps. As I know it, the stair steppers have a mechanism that makes it somewhat easier to "climb." Not sure on this, but I've been able to do what I call "ride" the stair stepper--if I can do this I'm not getting true weight-bearing exercise.
Weight-bearing exercise is, by definition, bearing your body weight through your body (read bones here) and is dependent upon something called the ground reaction force which you don't get on a stair stepper.
Also, many people use a treadmill for most of their walking program. When using the treadmill, you also have a muted ground-reaction force AND you miss the all-important push-off phase of gait which strengthens the hip and back extensors.
To me, getting out for a walk and practicing correct technique in ascending and descending stairs would be preferable to treadmills and stair steppers. Save those for rainy days.
One more thought, when doing weight-bearing exercise it's important to impart novel forces on the bones. Hard to do this on treadmills and stair steppers as you are doing repetitive movement over and over. When walking outside, walk backwards, sidewards, on uneven surfaces and also consider walking poles to get weight bearing into the upper body, promote better body alignment and get a better cardiac workout.
Just some thoughts on a rainy day in Gainesville, FL.
P.S. Bone density is not to be disregarded with the new Fracture Risk Assessment. It is now considered a risk factor for fracture and, as such, is still important although not the only factor. Bone quality cannot be measured non-invasively and may account for fracture also.
Thank you Sara for your comments. I was wondering , what, if any, kind of procedure is done to test the strength of bones?
Karen
There is currently no clinically-available technology for measuring bone strength. Bone strength depends upon bond density, architecture and quality and cannot currently be measured non-invasively. There are units being tried out but nothing widely available at this time.
Sara you have some amazing insights. Who would have thought there was a problem with walking on a treadmill. I thought it was better because it forced me to stay at a high pace which I know I would not do if I were outside. Do you know any exercises for the femoral neck? I ask because on my last DEXA I lost 8.7 % in my femoral neck in one year. That's typically a decade's worth of loss and I managed to do it in one year. Every other location was stable. Unbelievable. I am worried. One doctor conjectured that the technician did not position my hip correctly and so the read may have been in error. I can't accept that excuse.
Gloucester
If the doctor speculated the test was done incorrectly, I would ask for another test and expect it be paid for by my insurance. (Good luck on that one :+) !)
When you walk on the treadmill, you miss at least part of the all-important push-off phase of gait--in other words, the motion that strengthens the gluteus maximus muscle, the one you need for hip extension, getting up out of a chair, going up steps etc. If you increase the speed of the treadmill and elevate it and then hang on to keep your balance, you miss weight-bearing forces and also reduce your cardiac output. Better to keep the treadmill level, slow down and swing arms as you walk. Better yet, get outside and use your hip extensors and abductors for stability. With the treadmill what you are doing mostly is flexing the hip to keep up with the moving platform.
I have many exercises designed to strengthen the hip. If you send me a private email sara@sarameekspt.com, indicate that we have discussed this on the discussion group, give me your address and TELEPHONE AREA CODE, I can send you a list of therapists in your area so you could pick a therapist who has had my training to help you with specific exercises. I also do telephone consults and the details are on my website.
Hope this helps.
I have osteo of the spine and a "haywire" sacrum that seperates from the pelvic bone. My hubby and I and the dog walk as often as we can and also camp all summer (we have a travel trailer). Can getting in and out of a fairly high Dodge Ram truck and coming in and out of the trailer steps cause any problems? What do's and don't's do you recommend for me? I was just diagnosed with osteo. a cpl of mos. ago.
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