Types
How We Can Help You for Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a condition that weakens bones, making the spine, hips, and wrists more likely to fracture. The board-certified, highly skilled doctors of Stanford Health Care have the specialized training and extensive experience needed to successfully diagnose and treat osteoporosis.
Our multidisciplinary team develops a complete, compassionate care plan customized to your condition and unique needs. The goal of the plan is to help relieve your symptoms, which may include broken bones, back pain, loss of height, and a severely hunched upper back.
The plan is also designed to help support your overall health and quality of life, to help you enjoy the most active lifestyle possible.
Stanford patients with osteoporosis also may have opportunities to participate in research studies of new treatment approaches not yet available anywhere else.
What We Offer You for Osteoporosis
- Center of Excellence for advanced care of osteoporosis and the full range of other orthopaedic conditions.
- Nationally recognized expertise in treating all cases of osteoporosis, no matter how complex.
- Precise diagnosis including a thorough medical history and physical exam plus use of sophisticated diagnostic tools and the latest imaging technology.
- Team-based treatment planning that brings together orthopaedic specialists, physical therapists, pain management specialists, and others to tailor care to your needs.
- Advanced treatment options emphasizing noninvasive approaches whenever possible, including new drug therapies that prevent bone loss and help new bone grow. We also offer the full range of surgical procedures to treat fractures.
- Comprehensive support services including care coordination from diagnosis to treatment to follow-up.
- Active research program to develop new diagnostic and treatment advances for people with osteoporosis.
Treatment for Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a common condition that weakens the bones, making them porous and more likely to break. The condition commonly leads to fractures, especially in the areas of the hip, spine, and wrist.
Stanford uses leading-edge procedures to treat osteoporosis-related fractures, with new drug therapies that prevent bone loss and grow new bone. In the early stages of osteoporosis, our nonsurgical treatments may help relieve your discomfort and restore bone strength.
If your osteoporosis gets worse, you may require surgical treatment for bone damage. Stanford’s highly skilled orthopaedics surgeons treat osteoporosis-related bone fractures and damage with minimally invasive spinal decompression, joint repair, and joint replacement.
We specialize in new drug therapies and minimally invasive techniques to treat hip, joint, and spine problems caused by osteoporosis.
Nonsurgical Treatments
Surgery
For the early stages of osteoporosis, our specialists work with you to develop a nonsurgical treatment plan focused on strengthening your bones. We offer the latest medications to treat osteoporosis and reduce your risk of fractures. You can also make certain lifestyle changes to support your bone health.
Lifestyle modifications
Treatment for osteoporosis includes making healthy lifestyle changes, such diet and exercise. Things you can do include:
Take supplements
Take calcium and vitamin D to support your bone health.
Exercise
Try weight-bearing and strength training exercises, perhaps as a part of physical therapy.
Drink less
Drink less alcohol and stop smoking. Both alcohol and nicotine have adverse effects on bone growth.
Improve your balance
Do exercises to improve your balance and avoid activities that increase your risk of falling.
Medications
Stanford offers the latest medications to prevent bone loss and build new bone tissue. Pain medications can relieve other symptoms related to changes in your bones. Medications we may prescribe include:
Pain relievers
Pain relievers like acetaminophen may relieve pain related to osteoporosis. NSAIDs, like ibuprofen, also may reduce both pain and swelling.
Hormone therapy
If you have low levels of certain hormones like estrogen (women) or testosterone (men) that are causing osteoporosis, we recommend hormone therapy. Keeping your hormone levels in a normal range helps maintain bone density.
Bone-loss medicine
For postmenopausal women and men over 65, bisphosphonates and monoclonal antibody drugs can help slow or prevent further bone loss. Bisphosphonates also lower the risk of bone fractures.
Bone-building medicine
Teriparatide, abaloparatide, and romosozumab help your body grow new bone. We recommend bone-building medicine for people that have low bone density, cannot take bisphosphonates, or show early markers of bone reabsorption.
Osteoporosis can result in bone fractures, especially hip fractures, wrist fractures, and spinal fractures. Stanford’s orthopaedic surgeons offer conventional and minimally invasive surgeries to treat the fractures in the spine, hips, and wrists, including:
Spine
Spinal decompression
Our specialists offer surgical procedures that treat the vertebrae (bones in the spine), discs (rubbery cushion between the spine bones), and other tissues near the spine. We use various techniques to relieve pain in the spine and pressure on the spinal nerves, includin discectomy, laminotomy, foraminotomy, osteophyte removal, and corpectomy.
Dynamic lumbar spine stabilization
We insert flexible rods that support the spine to stabilize spinal fractures and dislocations.
Vertebroplasty
We inject bone cement into any small fractures in the vertebrae of the spine. Once the cement hardens, it stabilizes the fractures and strengthens the spine.
Kyphoplasty (balloon vertebroplasty)
We surgically insert a small balloon between your vertebrae to create a small cavity. Our surgeons fill the cavity with bone cement, which can both stabilize the spine and restore some of your height.
Hips
Internal fixation (hip repair)
We use hip arthroscopy to realign and stabilize broken hip bones with pins, screws, or plates.
Hemiarthroplasty (partial hip replacement)
Some hip bones are too deteriorated to repair, but don't yet need replacement. In these cases, we can perform a partial hip replacement by surgically inserting an artificial ball that rotates in the natural socket.
Total hip arthroplasty (hip replacement)
During a conventional hip replacement, we completely remove the damaged hip and replace it with an artificial one. This includes replacing both the ball and implanting a protective shield in the socket. We also offer minimally invasive hip replacement, called anterior hip replacement. In this procedure, our specialists implant the prosthesis through the front of the hip rather than the back.
Wrist
Reduction
We realign the broken bone sections in the wrist so that they can knit together properly for complete healing. When necessary, our experienced surgeons perform an open reduction for complex fractures by making an incision and aligning the bones surgically.
Internal fracture fixation
We implant metal rods or pins that permanently hold the wrist bones together.
External fixation
When necessary, our specialists place a metal frame on the outside of the wrist to support the wrist bones. The frame has two surgical pins on each end, which pass through the skin and tissue into bones on each side of the fracture. We usually recommend this option for children, whose bones are still lengthening. We can easily adjust the device to keep the bones in alignment as a child grows and heals. We also use external fixation for severe fractures and when the wrist’s soft tissue is severely damaged.
For the early stages of osteoporosis, our specialists work with you to develop a nonsurgical treatment plan focused on strengthening your bones. We offer the latest medications to treat osteoporosis and reduce your risk of fractures. You can also make certain lifestyle changes to support your bone health.
Lifestyle modifications
Treatment for osteoporosis includes making healthy lifestyle changes, such diet and exercise. Things you can do include:
Take supplements
Take calcium and vitamin D to support your bone health.
Exercise
Try weight-bearing and strength training exercises, perhaps as a part of physical therapy.
Drink less
Drink less alcohol and stop smoking. Both alcohol and nicotine have adverse effects on bone growth.
Improve your balance
Do exercises to improve your balance and avoid activities that increase your risk of falling.
Medications
Stanford offers the latest medications to prevent bone loss and build new bone tissue. Pain medications can relieve other symptoms related to changes in your bones. Medications we may prescribe include:
Pain relievers
Pain relievers like acetaminophen may relieve pain related to osteoporosis. NSAIDs, like ibuprofen, also may reduce both pain and swelling.
Hormone therapy
If you have low levels of certain hormones like estrogen (women) or testosterone (men) that are causing osteoporosis, we recommend hormone therapy. Keeping your hormone levels in a normal range helps maintain bone density.
Bone-loss medicine
For postmenopausal women and men over 65, bisphosphonates and monoclonal antibody drugs can help slow or prevent further bone loss. Bisphosphonates also lower the risk of bone fractures.
Bone-building medicine
Teriparatide, abaloparatide, and romosozumab help your body grow new bone. We recommend bone-building medicine for people that have low bone density, cannot take bisphosphonates, or show early markers of bone reabsorption.
close Nonsurgical Treatments
Osteoporosis can result in bone fractures, especially hip fractures, wrist fractures, and spinal fractures. Stanford’s orthopaedic surgeons offer conventional and minimally invasive surgeries to treat the fractures in the spine, hips, and wrists, including:
Spine
Spinal decompression
Our specialists offer surgical procedures that treat the vertebrae (bones in the spine), discs (rubbery cushion between the spine bones), and other tissues near the spine. We use various techniques to relieve pain in the spine and pressure on the spinal nerves, includin discectomy, laminotomy, foraminotomy, osteophyte removal, and corpectomy.
Dynamic lumbar spine stabilization
We insert flexible rods that support the spine to stabilize spinal fractures and dislocations.
Vertebroplasty
We inject bone cement into any small fractures in the vertebrae of the spine. Once the cement hardens, it stabilizes the fractures and strengthens the spine.
Kyphoplasty (balloon vertebroplasty)
We surgically insert a small balloon between your vertebrae to create a small cavity. Our surgeons fill the cavity with bone cement, which can both stabilize the spine and restore some of your height.
Hips
Internal fixation (hip repair)
We use hip arthroscopy to realign and stabilize broken hip bones with pins, screws, or plates.
Hemiarthroplasty (partial hip replacement)
Some hip bones are too deteriorated to repair, but don't yet need replacement. In these cases, we can perform a partial hip replacement by surgically inserting an artificial ball that rotates in the natural socket.
Total hip arthroplasty (hip replacement)
During a conventional hip replacement, we completely remove the damaged hip and replace it with an artificial one. This includes replacing both the ball and implanting a protective shield in the socket. We also offer minimally invasive hip replacement, called anterior hip replacement. In this procedure, our specialists implant the prosthesis through the front of the hip rather than the back.
Wrist
Reduction
We realign the broken bone sections in the wrist so that they can knit together properly for complete healing. When necessary, our experienced surgeons perform an open reduction for complex fractures by making an incision and aligning the bones surgically.
Internal fracture fixation
We implant metal rods or pins that permanently hold the wrist bones together.
External fixation
When necessary, our specialists place a metal frame on the outside of the wrist to support the wrist bones. The frame has two surgical pins on each end, which pass through the skin and tissue into bones on each side of the fracture. We usually recommend this option for children, whose bones are still lengthening. We can easily adjust the device to keep the bones in alignment as a child grows and heals. We also use external fixation for severe fractures and when the wrist’s soft tissue is severely damaged.
close Surgery
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Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are research studies that evaluate a new medical approach, device, drug, or other treatment. As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may be eligible to participate in open clinical trials.
Open trials refer to studies that are currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future. Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but similar studies may open in the future.
What Is Osteoporosis?
Our Clinics
Stanford’s sports medicine and orthopaedic surgeons specialize in minimally invasive surgery and new drug therapies to treat hip, joint, and spine problems caused by osteoporosis.
450 Broadway Street
450 Broadway StreetRedwood City, CA 94063
Phone: 650-723-5643 Getting Here
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Pleasanton, CA 94588
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Los Gatos, CA 95032
To schedule an appointment, please call: 650-723-5643