Well. They tell you. But they don't, like, make a big deal about it.
I'm at high risk for bone loss. My doctor literally told me that with a shrug and said, "No big deal. We'll just do bone scans every two years." I have osteopenia in one of my hips, but it's more of a "Watch and wait" scenario, so nothing to be done about it. I'm not in any kind of pain, I'm not worried about it. I mainline vitamin D every morning and move on with my life.
You know what bone scans don't look at, or at least don't pay much attention to?
Your feet.
Your hands.
Your toes.
Your fingers.
Really anything below the elbows or the knees that isn't a major joint, doesn't get all that thorough of a look. However, in doing some digging, those places are where bone loss is most likely to show up first.
They're concerned about bone loss in the hips, pelvis, ribs, and spine, which I get. Those things breaking sounds unbelievably painful and have a bigger impact on quality of life than, say, your pinky toe. I just wish I had known that before I started agreeing to them so that I could advocate for my whole skeleton to be scanned, because there's absolutely a way to do that.
So two years ago, when I was catapulted off of my front steps by my dog and broke my hand instead of breaking my face, there might have been a reason for that.
Or, the other day when I had a knitting-related accident (and I 100% am sticking to that story simply because it sounds hilarious and is simultaneously true), maybe under different circumstances, my foot wouldn't have broken. But the circumstances are what they are, so I hobble in a boot for the next two weeks. Thankfully it's just a chip off of the outer bone, but it's painful and annoying.
So, if you're a human who has lost hormone-producing organs in a surgical manner, or if you are going through perimenopause or menopause, ask about bone health at your physical. Just do it.
Also, do strength training. I've now heard from three different medical professionals in the last six months that strength training is the key to bone strength. That's the blessing in all of this, if there is one to be had - now I get to get jacked because I can't currently walk very far. So, strength training it is.
