Tai Chi for Osteoporosis

Bill Gallagher PT, CMT, CYT

Osteoporosis can feed the spiral into frailty. The knowledge that ones bones are brittle may increase the fear of falling since it is more likely that a osteoporotic bone will fracture during a fall. Fall prevention becomes critical, since if a fracture occurs, this could precipitate a steeper decline. Studies have clearly shown that exercise can help prevent and treat osteoporosis. Tai Chi is a weight bearing exercise with a significant muscle strengthening effect, especially the hip rotators as they drive most rotation in the horizontal plane. This selectively strengthens muscles that work and exert force on bone close to the hip joint. These muscles focus improvement in bone density at this vulnerable site. One study compared longtime practitioners of Tai Chi with an equal number of age matched controls that did not exercise. This study measured bone mineral density of the low back, hip and ankle. They found statistically significant higher bone mineral density in the group that practiced Tai Chi than the control group. Then, they followed these groups for twelve months. They found that bone density in the Tai Chi practitioners declined less than in controls. Combined with evidence that other weight bearing exercise such as walking helps maintain skeletal integrity and an understanding of the process of bone adaptation it makes sense to use Tai Chi Chuan to prevent and treat osteoporosis.

East West Rehab - Harmonizing east & west mind & body

Tai Chi for Osteoporosis