Osteoporosis care

Good bone health is an important part of staying active and independent as you get older. But because osteoporosis is a silent disease in the early stages, you might not know your bones are thinning until you have a fracture.

At Penn Medicine, we work to identify the disease early so that you can adopt strategies and get treatments that help prevent your bones from becoming frail. If you’ve already had a broken bone, we’ll create an osteoporosis care plan that treats your fracture, slows or stops your bone loss, and helps you avoid future breaks.

We take a whole-person approach to osteoporosis management by using a wide range of therapies. Your treatment may include osteoporosis medications, supplements, dietary support, exercise, physical therapy, and education on how to reduce your risk of falls.

As a leading academic medical center, we have a host of skilled specialists across our health system who can diagnose and treat osteoporosis. They include radiologists, rheumatologists, endocrinologists, primary care providers, and orthopaedic surgeons. Often, they work together as a team to provide your treatment. Your care team might also include physical therapists, gynecologists, and other providers.

Our goal is to help you enjoy every aspect of life while reducing your chances of a fracture. We provide:

• Timely osteoporosis screening based on your age and risk factors
• Bone density tests, including DXA (also called DEXA) scans and quantitative computed tomography (QCT) scans
• Advanced tools like trabecular bone score (TBS), which is sometimes used to predict fracture risk
• Osteoporosis treatment plans targeted to your specific needs, which might include pain management, if needed

We also raise awareness about the disease by leading education programs in the community and our medical centers. You benefit from the expertise of our world-renowned osteoporosis specialists at locations close to home.

Osteoporosis prevention and management for women

Your risk of osteoporosis and having a fracture is higher if you were assigned female at birth, especially after menopause when estrogen levels drop. Our women’s health specialists provide osteoporosis care with a focus on your personal risk factors and, if needed, a plan to address bone loss due to hormonal changes. This might include hormone therapy, but your doctor will evaluate the best strategy for you.

We’re also active in osteoporosis research that focuses on treating bone loss after menopause, helping to bring you the treatment options that help you manage the disease for years to come.

The Penn Bone Center

Our dedicated specialists at the Penn Bone Center have extensive expertise in evaluating and treating osteoporosis and other bone disorders. In addition to using DXA scans and TBS, our experts can perform a metabolic bone biopsy in cases of complex osteoporosis disease to help understand the cause of low bone density and guide treatment.

Pharmacists at the center help to optimize your therapy and assess your medication and supplement list, while our physical therapists can create safe activity plans and exercises to improve your bone health. Throughout your treatment, we do everything we can to help strengthen your bones and enhance your quality of life.