This site is education. It is not medical care, and I am not your doctor.
No patient relationship
Reading this site, downloading anything from it, or subscribing to updates does not make you my patient and does not create a physician-patient relationship. I write here as an author. I am not practicing medicine through this website, and I am not available to manage anyone's care through it.
General information, not individual advice
Everything here is written for a general audience of people living with osteopenia or osteoporosis. It cannot account for your bone density numbers, your fracture history, your kidney function, your other diagnoses, your medications, or your pregnancy status. Any of those can change what the right answer is for you.
Use what you read here to ask your own clinician better questions. Do not use it to start, stop, change, or skip a medication, a supplement, or an exercise program on your own.
Talk to your own clinician first
Before you act on anything you read here, talk with the clinician who knows your history. That is especially true for prescription osteoporosis medications, for calcium and vitamin D dosing, and for exercise after a fracture, where the wrong movement can cause real harm.
If your clinician's advice differs from what you read here, follow your clinician. They have information about you that I do not.
Get help now if this is an emergency
Do not use this site for an emergency. In the United States, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department. Sudden severe back pain after a fall, pain with new numbness or weakness, loss of bladder or bowel control, or an inability to bear weight on a limb all need to be evaluated the same day, not researched.
Medications and dosing
Drug information on this site is a plain-language summary, not a prescribing reference, and it is not a substitute for the FDA-approved label or your pharmacist. Labels change. Doses differ by product, by route, and by kidney function. I name specific medications because readers deserve to understand what they have been prescribed, not because any of them is right for you.
I have no relationship with any pharmaceutical company, and no manufacturer reviews or approves anything written here. How I source and check these articles is described on the editorial policy page.
Exercise
The exercise content here assumes a reader who has been cleared to exercise. If you have had a vertebral fracture, a recent hip fracture, spinal surgery, a balance disorder, or unexplained pain, get clearance before you start, and consider working with a physical therapist who has experience with low bone density. Forward bending and spinal twisting under load are risky with fragile vertebrae, and a person who can watch you move is worth more than an article.
Accuracy and limits
I work hard to keep this site accurate and current, and I correct errors when I find them or when a reader points one out. Even so, medicine moves, and no website can promise it is complete or up to date for every reader on every day. I do not accept liability for decisions made based on what you read here, and links to other sites are offered for convenience rather than as an endorsement of everything on them.
The book
These same limits apply to my book and to any download or companion material from this site. They are patient education written to help you have a better conversation with your own clinician.
If you spot something here that looks wrong, please tell me through the mybone.health Facebook page.