Osteoporosis Treatment
Low bone density & fracture risk — diagnosis and treatment at Arthritis Care of Texas.
Your bones slowly lose strength and become more likely to break, often with no symptoms until a fracture happens. A quick, painless bone density scan (DEXA) can measure your bone strength. Treatment can slow bone loss and help build stronger bones.
The goal is straightforward: stronger bones and no fractures. Osteoporosis treatment cannot restore a young skeleton, but it can rebuild density, cut fracture risk substantially, and keep you independent. Success looks like a DEXA scan that is stable or improving, year on year — and a life lived without the fracture everyone feared.
Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by brittle bones that are highly susceptible to fractures. Unfortunately, the disease is often "silent" and does not become obvious until it causes a fracture or break. Though osteoporosis can affect any bone, it most frequently causes breaks or fractures in the hips, spine, and wrist.
Did you know? According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, more than 40 million Americans are either currently suffering from osteoporosis or otherwise at high risk for developing the disease. Risk factors include age, family history of osteoporosis, being a Caucasian or Asian female, smoking, excessive alcohol intake, sedentary lifestyle, a diet low in calcium and vitamin D, and the use of certain medications.
Should I seek treatment if I think I may have osteoporosis?
Yes. Osteoporosis left untreated can lead to breaks and fractures, which may require more invasive treatment and hospitalization than treatment for osteoporosis alone. Speak with your local rheumatologist about bone density tests and other screenings that may help you identify osteoporosis before it causes complications.
What should I expect during osteoporosis treatment?
Treatment for osteoporosis is available, though there is no cure for bone loss. Rheumatologists may prescribe bisphosphonate medications to both men and women suffering from osteoporosis, as well as hormone therapy to help maintain bone density.
Is there anything I can do to help prevent complications?
If you have osteoporosis, avoid smoking cigarettes and consuming alcohol, which can complicate the side effects of the disease. In addition, adopting a regular exercise and weight training routine can help build stronger, healthier bones that are more resistant to fracture.
Bone density testing, right here in our office: A DEXA scan is the standard test used to diagnose osteoporosis and to monitor bone density over time. We perform in-house DEXA scans at our Corpus Christi office — a quick, painless scan — so your testing, results, and treatment plan all stay with the team that knows you.
Did you know?
- Your skeleton is not a static frame — it rebuilds itself bit by bit, so roughly every 10 years you are standing on a largely new set of bones.
- Astronauts lose bone in space — around 1–2% a month — because bones need gravity and weight-bearing work to stay strong. Dramatic proof that using your bones keeps them.
- Pound for pound, bone is stronger than concrete — yet light enough to carry around all day.
Common worries
I feel fine — how can my bones be fragile?
That is the nature of osteoporosis: bone is lost silently, with no pain, until the first fracture. The DEXA scan exists precisely because feelings are no guide — it measures density in minutes, painlessly, and tells us whether treatment is needed and whether it is working.
Why a DEXA scan every year or two?
Bone changes slowly, so scanning more often cannot show meaningful change. The interval matches the biology: each scan is compared with the last to prove density is stable or rising on your treatment. It is a progress report, not a formality.
I’m worried the bone medicines are worse than the disease.
The serious-sounding side effects in the news are rare; hip and spine fractures are common, disabling, and sometimes life-changing. For patients at high fracture risk, the benefit of treatment far outweighs the risk — and we choose the medicine, and the monitoring, around your individual history.
Related In-house DEXA scan · Our infusion suite · Steroid tablets (bone-health note) · Request an appointment
Osteoporosis itself does not flare — it has no pain and no warning days. What matters instead are its warning events, and they deserve the same urgency as a flare:
Call promptly at (361) 400-7700 for sudden, severe back pain (which can mean a spine fracture, especially after lifting or a minor fall), any fall onto a hip or wrist with pain that does not settle, or noticing you have lost height.
Do not adjust steroids on your own: if you take steroids for another condition, never stop or change them suddenly because of bone concerns — talk to us; steroid-related bone loss is managed by adding bone treatment, not by destabilising the other condition.
What isn’t urgent: ordinary aches after activity, or stiffness that eases as you move — mention them at your next visit, and keep your DEXA appointments, which are how silent change is caught.
Ready to be seen? New patients are seen within 2–4 weeks.