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Good Vibrations: New Method for Getting Stronger Bones

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May 7, 2010
	Dr. Tim McCrossen : Head Fitness Ego

In my last post, Osteoporosis Drugs Cause Fractures of the Hip, I wrote on the effects of some of the leading osteoporosis drugs having a long term detrimental effect on bone density and strength, causing an increase in hip fractures in those that took the drugs longer than 4 years.

Researchers revealed that the bone “strengthening” drugs worked well for the first four years or so and then the bones became increasingly more brittle with long term use.

So what are the alternatives to using these drugs if they are causing more harm than good in the long run? 

Dr. Huber can educate you on supplementation and nutrition for stronger bones as this will help. Today I am here to educate you on a cutting edge method that has been shown in some of the research articles to actually strengthen bones in key areas of the body that tend to be susceptible to fractures. The method? Vibration! Actually Whole Body Vibration!

What is WBV? It is a controlled vibration set through a platform that you can stand on.  I personally have been using WBV with my patients and athletes for over the past three years and was one of the first in the Cincinnati area to own a vibration platform. It is very popular on the coasts and as we know, being in the Midwest the cutting edge stuff tends to roll here years later. I had heard about it at an athlete performance seminar in Long Beach California four years ago and was so taken by it that I bought a WBV platform the next week.

Whole body vibration explained:
The history as I know it started in the 1950’s with Russian Cosmonauts who spent months in space. When in space for long periods of time, the human body loses .01% bone mass per month…ie osteoporosis. They found that using WBV on the cosmonauts helped to minimize this bone loss.

There are several research articles showing that standing on a vibration platform can help to increase bone mass in the hips and lumbar spine. How does it do this? Standing on a vibrating platform places more of a “resistance” on the bones themselves causing an increase in osteoblast activity (bone making cells) causing them to lay down more bone in those areas. 

Most of the studies consisted of participants standing on a vibration platform ten minutes a day performing simple exercises 3-5 times a week over a six month period. Strengthening bones is only one of the many benefits of whole body vibration.

In my next article I will explain the mechanisms of how whole body vibration works and the many therapeutic uses as well as use for athletic training. For more information you can contact me at drmccrossen@healthyalterego.com