Breaking bones. Is there anything we can do about it?

Thank you Golden. I really appreciate your advice always.

I'll try to heed it. I do love my dairy. I eat lots of yogurt and I love cheese but try not to eat too much cause it's fattening. If I can locate it I'll eat low fat cheese but have a hard time finding it.

This whole experience with my foot has been eye opening. I'll be more sympathetic to others from now on. Staggering around on my crutches has proven to be a conversation starter. People always say something.

Golden, I do appreciate you thinking of me when starting this thread. Very good info. on here.

I used to be anorexic when I was in my early teens and never have had a healthy relationship with food. If I over indulge one day I'll eat next to nothing the next two days. Very bad I know. I should know better but old habits die hard.

Golden,

Your threads are always the most interesting to read and participate in.

I love your spirit and warmth!

Golden,

I saw where you wrote that your mom laughed when someone fell.

Sometimes, scenarios can be funny looking! Like a scene out of a movie.

One time I was out to eat with a group of friends, during this time of year, for a holiday dinner and gift exchange.

Anyway, we all ordered cocktails before dinner. The restaurant was packed. The waiter was super busy and was rushing to serve our drinks to us. He slipped and all of our drinks went flying in a million different directions.

Well, my friend, Cindy and I started laughing hysterically because it looked so crazy! Another friend started screaming at us that we shouldn’t be laughing because he could be hurt.

The waiter got up and saw Cindy and I laughing and he started cracking up too. He wasn’t hurt, a bit embarrassed and he obviously had a terrific sense of humor.

We gave him a huge tip!

Here is a link to information on the Nymbl app, if anyone is interested in checking it out.

https://nymblscience.com/

Golden,

My daughter learned the hard way how important snow boots are when she moved to Denver.

My crazy southern girl went to get her mail in her slippers! Her first apartment there was a third floor walk up. She went tumbling down three flights of stairs! She made sure that her next apartment had an elevator.

No broken bones but she had blown out her knee when she was on the dance team at school.

She hurt her knee again, along with her neck and back. She has back and neck issues from a car accident that she had in high school in which she totaled my car!

The accident was totally her fault. I told her absolutely ‘NO’ driving with friends in the car until she was a more experienced driver. Did she listen? Nope!

She was covered in blood in the ER from hitting her head on the steering wheel. I was so scared when I saw her like that. She had to be stitched up just above her eye.

She looked up at me from the gurney and said, “Mom, I am so sorry about your car.” Of course, I told her, “Honey, I love you. The car is just a hunk of metal and can be replaced. The main thing is that you are going to be okay.”

No internal bleeding or anything. She was banged up though. Her friends were okay but shaken up.

I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘Is this payback for my rebellious teen behavior. LOL 😆

Youth! We can go through our ‘young and stupid’ days! It’s a good thing that we outgrow our years of thinking we ‘know it all!’

My daughter learned a tough lesson and ended up becoming a very responsible driver.

She’s still very active. My kids have always been super active.

She’s back home in Louisiana now, along with her beautiful Siberian husky. Working remotely with her same job but she is headed back to Colorado for vacation when ski season begins. She is dying to go snowboarding too.

Both of my daughters did gymnastics, dance and volleyball.

So many kids end up in physical therapy from sports injuries! I suppose the worst injuries are with the guys on the football teams.

Okay, I have to tell my thick skull story, since lealonnie brought that up.

We were snow skiing and we got on a very steep, narrow, icy trail. I freaked out, fear of falling off the side of a cliff kicked in and my skiing ability left the mountain.

So, I, somehow, get the front of my skis crossed on top of one another, so I was slingshot over the top of my skis, hitting forehead first on the ice.

My husband comes over and sits me up, a group of skiers that saw it happen come down and ask if I want them to call ski patrol. My dear husband says no, thank you. They ski away and I grab his coat, pull him into me and sob, why did you say no. Now he freaks out, I am NOT a crier and he asks me what I want to do. I tell him, "I just want to get out of the wet grass."

Yeah!

Needless to say, I skied off the run, finished our holiday and had an MRI when I got home. Not the brightest decision but, the room and lift tickets were paid for and I didn't get many vacations.

Now the joke is I am hard headed in more ways then one :-)

Generally, the rule of thumb is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight
Keep in mind that 1 kilogram equals 2.2 pounds. So, for example, a 140-pound person should eat about 51 grams of protein each day. But some people will need more, if physically active

Years ago my boss, an RN, said we are the only mammals that give their kids milk after weaning. My daughter, a Vegan, says also, cows milk that is produced to fatten calves up.

As Geaton said, we need to find our calcium elsewhere. Dark green veggies are one of the ways.

For me, to prevent falls I have stopped wearing flip flops and sandals with no back strap. I do not wear shoes in the house, its either barefoot or stocking feet. I find I maneuver steps better and I have 3 sets.

I stick to Mediterranean style of eating as well, lots of protein from seafood, fish, nuts, beans.
Never eat anything processed, well, almost never.
Sorry about your fall, but, glad you are OK.
Long story short, or not, I had bad one some time ago.
Parking at medical facility for my husband’s appointment, I opened my car door and dinged car next to mine.
This rather big lady jumped out and started at me, demanding insurance info, I asked politely to wait, as I was trying to get my husband’s walker from the trunk, he seeing this lady was ready to physically assault me, was trying to be helpful, so I am getting his walker, he is falling so I tried to stop him, fell with walker and him on top. All for little ding in her car, the size of tip of simple pen.
Nothing happened thankfully.
I do believe in proper eating, never dieting, as it is more harmful than good and exercise and especially lifting weights.

My RN boss said years ago that we r the only Mammals who drink milk after being weaned. Your not even suppose to give adult cats milk and how many of us have. And my Vegan daughter says Cows Milk, is produced to make calves fat.

Geaton is correct that we need to get our calcium from other places and that is dark green things.

Me, I am afraid of breaking something. I no longer wear flip flops or sandals with no back straps. I have 3 sets of steps and do better in bare or stocking feet. Shoes always seem to catch in the carpet. My Mom broke her shoulder coming in the back door with flip flops on. She fell a few times in her AL, but never broke anything and she was in her late 80s.

Has everyone heard of the standing on one leg test and its association with health and longevity? I’ve seen it on news and read about being able to stand on one leg for 20-40 seconds is a sign of good bone mineral health and is a good practice to do daily. So now I look like a flamingo while I brush my teeth!

Golden, so sorry you had this fall but glad you didn't suffer a break. As an Italian-American family we had our Mediterranean diet and consumed much less dairy than most other Americans yet our family seems to have good bone density. We eat a lot of fresh, dark greens, like broccoli rappini, broccoli, chard, spinach, kale, collards, etc. I make large batches of them and eat that as my side "salad" at lunch and dinners more often than romaine and arugula.

Then there's my Swedish-American husband. He grew up on the "typical" American diet of Spaghettio's and Velveta. I like to think it's because of the mediterranean diet I've been feeding him for 40+ years. He broke his femur in high school hockey. At 65 he still plays hockey 3x a week and has taken many falls, with no broken bones. When I was a kid I watched my Italian grandmother stand on a wobbly chair in the kitchen trying to change a lightbulb and fall clean off it onto her hip, then pop up as if nothing happened, She was in her 70s and lived to be 96. She ate very little dairy, took no vitamins and did no "weight bearing" exercises. She gave birth 9 times. Some of our bone density is probably due to heredity, but not all of it.

FYI when I fall, my first thought is, "Did my Mother see that?" because she would start cackling like a hyena.

Wow, Golden!

I am so sorry that you fell. It could have ended up being so much worse.

I loved cycling. It was nothing for me to ride for miles and miles and miles, daily, just for fun. I cycled like that for most of my life, since a young teen.

Anyway, I hopped on my bicycle for my usual ride and there was debris in the road that I didn’t see. Down I went, hard!

I actually saw my open compound fracture occur when I hit the street. I went into shock though and didn’t feel any pain right away.

Fortunately, a guy that was driving right behind me stopped to help and I told him that I was fine! LOL

He looked at me kind of funny and then said, “Lady, you are not fine, I saw you fall. You are in shock and I am going to call 911 for you and wait with you until an ambulance arrives.”

I said to him, “ What about my bike? I can’t leave my bike in the street! This dear man took my bicycle to my home. He called my husband and filled him in about my accident and waited with me until help arrived.

By the time I got into the ambulance the shock had worn off and I was screaming in pain and yelled at the driver to stop hitting so many bumps! LOL 😆

The guy riding in the back with me was trying to calm me down and said he knew that I was in pain but that I couldn’t scream at the driver.

The driver screamed back saying, “I am sorry but I can’t help hitting the bumps and I am trying to get you to the ER as fast as I can.

As soon as I got to the ER I was screaming for meds but they wouldn’t give me any until the doctor came in.

As soon as the surgeon walked in and saw both of my bones broken he screamed at them to give me meds immediately!

I had surgery, steel rods on both bones. My ortho surgeon said after the surgery that I would be paralyzed. I didn’t believe him but he was right.

My parents came to see me in the hospital the next day. Even with the morphine drip I was in pain. The doctor said that with my injury the morphine would only take the edge off. Later on I had intense muscle spasms.

My mom says, “Honey, you don’t look comfortable. Let me adjust your bed.” I said, “Please, Mom don’t touch anything because I just got in a position that I can sort of tolerate the pain.” Of course, she ignored me and started pushing my hospital bed buttons.

I had to ask my dad to make her stop.

At least I waited until I was 44 to break my first bones!

After three months of aggressive physical therapy I made it through. Some permanent damage but most of my range of motion came back. No grip strength though.

My ortho surgeon told me to switch to an exercise bike after my accident because if I broke my arm again he wouldn’t be able to fix it.

I get searched at the airport because of all the metal in me. I tell them ahead of time but they search me anyway.

My poor mom was put on Fosamax and was one of the unfortunate people who had it eat away at her jaw. After suffering many infections and having all the teeth pulled on one side they finally figured it out. By then the damage had been done. I think there is still an ongoing lawsuit re: this drug.

Since breaking these metatarsal bones I'm really going to be extra cognizant of what I eat to protect my bones as much as I can.

There is an app that is available through the Area Agency on Aging here. It is an app to use daily that helps with balance and strength. It is called Nymbl. Wonder if it is available in other places. There is no cost for the app for residents of the area. The app gives instruction to do two different activities at the same time, one is a physical activity, the other one that uses the brain. It is quite effective for many.

And if any of you are taking Boniva, check with your doc on taking a break from it. My mom took it for many years and studies show that it causes very brittle bones that will break easily and the breaks are more shattered so more difficult to fix. After the research mom's doc took her off of it. She never broke any bones, thank goodness.

I've taken a few very bad falls over the past 7 years. Never broke a bone which I feel is a miracle, honestly, considering the force with which I landed on my hip, back and skull each time. But I eat a LOT of protein, so maybe that's why? Either that or it's my incredibly hard thick skull that's saving me 😂🤣

Yep, the old, "Did anyone see me do that?" LOL!

I had 2 lab puppies and they went 2 ways at a fast pace while going down a dirt embankment, I was holding both leashes. I hit hard and ALL I could think of was, "Did anyone see me?" Not "Am I broken or bleeding?"

Such great information. I am a bit obsessive about feeding us enough protein, calcium is easier to get passively with our diet. I believe I have avoided broken bones because of this.

Especially since I was diagnosed and treated for osteopenia in my early 30s.

I've had two falls with broken bones in two years. No osteoporosis. I'm just a klutz. Slid off my own front porch that was icy. Other one I fell at night in my hallway - no reason.

golden23, welcome to the fall in the driveway club !! For me it was fall off my shoes in the office parking lot years ago when in my 60's. I did break my upper arm. And my eye glasses went flying. Never wore those shoes again.

Yet my Mom had many falls but never broke a bone. When I saw her grocery list I knew why, milk... cottage cheese... regular cheese... yogurt... ice cream.

Unfortunately, I am lactose intolerant. I do take 2 Tums every day, those I can tolerate but not calcium tablets.

Golden, good for you that you are strong and hale. This is a timely topic for me for as you know I just broke my two metatarsals. I've been wondering about this while I've been mending the last four weeks. My mom had really bad osteoporosis. She was so fragile. I was afraid to hug her in case she might break. I so hope I have not inherited this. But when I fell and broke my toes it didn't seem like an extremely bad fall so when the doc told me I had fractured something I was shocked.

Now I'm scared that I'm going to do this again. When my foot finally heals and I'm back to walking normal again will I feel as safe? I sure hope so.

I'm not a great eater. When I do eat I make healthy choices but I've always been a picker, not someone who eats big, hearty meals. Given a choice I'd just as soon pop a calcium pill to be honest. I have been eating a lot of chia lately. I've heard that it's a source of protein and I do like my yogurt and cheese. Never was a big meat eater though.

But thx for bringing this up Golden. Perfect timing for me!

My mom fell a few times, but she had a tendency to roll, as she was shaped that way. Never broke anything, and she never had osteoporosis even though she lost five inches from her height over the years.

I don't know what made her so resilient that way, but she just had tough bones, I guess. She also only ever had one cavity, and she never flossed her teeth once. Go figure.

Golden, you simply amaze me! Before I comment on bones, my dad was a instructor his entire career at a two year college. He retired just as computers were taking over the world. When he retired, he retired completely, refused to learn anything new, most especially anything technology or computer related. It was continually frustrating for all. No emails, no sharing pictures or information, etc. So hat’s off to you for your openness to continued learning and growing. It’s a huge example to us all. I’m so glad you weren’t injured in your fall. I’ve had many seniors tell me that falling easily takes over as the big fear in daily life. Neither of my parents ever broke a bone though my dad especially had some nasty falls. Calcium is often discussed but you're smart to think of the protein aspect. I will be checking into this for myself. Already have the creep of arthritis, want to be proactive in preventing whatever I can. Thanks for the info