Oprah.com—November 7, 2013
Dr. Sabrina Strickland, an orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery, gives her expert advice on building bone mass before the age of 30. Dr. Strickland is board-certified in sports medicine and orthopaedic surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery, where she treats orthopedic conditions of the shoulder, knee, and elbow.
Before we tell you, let's go over a few things...
What you know: Your bones get weaker as you get older.
What you probably don't know: Before they get weaker, they get stronger: Up to 90 percent of peak bone mass is acquired by age 18 in girls (age 20 in boys), and bone mass keeps growing until around 30. Once you hit menopause, that's when you start losing bone mass—rapidly at first, and then at a slower rate. So seizing the opportunity to build your bones during peak growing season (i.e., your 20s) fortifies them against fractures, breaks and a stooped posture, says Sabrina Strickland, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery. If you're over 30, it's not too late: you can still protect your already-fully-grown bones against thinning.
Read the full story at oprah.com.
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