No Symptoms – until a Fracture happens

The reduced bone strength alone shows no or little symptoms – that’s the insidiousness of this disorder. The symptoms appear late, as a result of the fractures. Fractures can cause pain, lasting disability, deformity, and diminished quality of life, leading to loss of independence and nursing care.

If you have one or more spine fractures, you may suffer from

• chronic back pain
• loss of height
• deformity of the spine
• respiratory problems
• an unsteady gait because your body centre has shifted forward

Osteoporotic fractures occur at the spine, the hip (femur), the distal forearm, the humerus, and at many other sites. They are a major cause of morbidity in elder people. A spine fracture can cause pain, but it does not necessarily. So you may suffer a vertebral fracture without realising it. But if you get more vertebral fractures, you may feel back pain, and you may get disabled. However, if you experience a fracture at the hip, the distal forearm, or the humerus, you will feel acute pain and a loss of function in this body region. Fractures of the hip or the humerus nearly always lead to hospitalisation.