National Osteoporosis Society - Osteoporosis Forum / Osteoporosis Forums / General Chat

Other interests

Dom — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:27:06 GMT

Hi all, I think it's a great idea to have a General Chat section. To get the ball rolling - what else does everyone on the forum get up to when they're not busy posting? - Work? retired? any interesting hobbies?

Dom

BUPA 10k in London

Jilly Mayhew — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:27:54 GMT

I power walked the 10k in London last month in 1.37.51! anyone want to join me next year, and help raise money for the NOS?? Jill (age 62 and have 2 new hips!):D:);)

Have you tried Complimentary therapy?

Weight and Health queries? — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:04:01 GMT

DELETED

Read any good books lately?

DottyAnn — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:41:59 GMT

What was the last book you read and enjoyed? Mine was a 'Morse' story by Colin Dexter.

At the moment I'm reading My Life in France by Julia Child. (The Julia in the film 'Julie & Julia' starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams)

Clothing tips and advice wanted for new leaflet

Dom — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:49:48 GMT

Hi all, the National Osteoporosis Society is working on a new clothing leaflet and we’d like to ask for your help and input.
Finding both comfortable and stylish clothes can be a problem for people affected by osteoporosis and spinal fractures, because of the height loss, curvature of the spine and widening of the girth that sometimes accompanies these fractures.

If you have any hints and tips or personnel experiences you would like to share, we would love to hear them – that goes for all of the men out there too!

Thanks in advance

Best regards

Dom
--------------
Dom Hall
Senior Communications Officer
National Osteoporosis Society

shoes

Jilly Mayhew — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:16:17 GMT

Saw some shoes in London yeterday, from a shop that also sold the MBT footware. These were an american make, cost about £80 however, extremely good for the posture, made me really stand up straight. Has anyone else worn this type of footware, and received any benifit, or does it not matter what you wear on your feet? Jill

Christmas

James — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:48:58 GMT

Is anyone doing anything nice this Christmas?

It certainly looks like it's going to be a cold one, hopefully there will be a little snow.

Armchair Bike?

boneme — Sun, 16 May 2010 14:23:14 GMT

I am considering getting one of those small bike like contraptions to help with strengthening my leg muscles for days that I don't feel like walking, has anybody used one in the forum or think it would be a bad idea? A normal bike would be a no-no for me the saddle would be too uncomfortable (ha ha)!! I understand that you can use them on a table top to strengthen arm muscles too which would not be a bad idea too for me.

Any comments appreciated.

;)

Boneme

Exercise & sit-ups

SusanR — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:54:33 GMT

Until my osteoporosis diagnosis a couple of months ago I'd always done a lot of sit-ups. I stopped doing them as soon as I read they should be avoided with this condition. However, when I visited the Rheumatologist (only saw young SHO) on Monday she said she didn't see any reason why I should stop so I'm confused.
I'm also considering adding a rowing machine to our little gym at home but again not sure if it would be a good thing?
I do have osteoporosis in my lower spine.
Advice appreciated:)

The Cinnamon Trust - a charity helping to care for the pets of the elderly/terminally ill

snow_drop — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:11:16 GMT

The Cinnamon Trust is a UK national charity caring for the pets of elderly and terminally ill people. Volunteers help with dog walking, feeding, fostering pets, pet food collect etc.) Please see the Cinnamon Trust website for further details. Best wishes.

http://www.cinnamon.org.uk/home.html

Welcome to General Chat

James — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:17:09 GMT

Hello everyone,

We've created this new 'General Chat' forum, as there wasn't anywhere on here before where you could chat about non-osteoporosis-related topics.

Feel free to talk about anything you like, and please let me know via this topic if you have any problems.

Thank you.

Driving Cars

vcj — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 01:57:13 GMT

Hi All

If you have been diagnosed Osteoporosis, are you OK to drive or do you have to inform DVLA and your insurance company???

Kind regards

Expectations of Gym Staff

Kelly Ton — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:48:13 GMT

I've noticed quite a few people comment that gym staff don't seem to know enough to help them so I thought I'd share my experience, as a gym user and from discussions with friends in the fitness industry.

Someone working as a fitness trainer in a gym learns

the purpose of various pieces of equipment, and various exercise, and how to make proper use of them
how to plan an exercise programme
what they need to know about a client
how to build up a relationship with a client in order to motivate them
how to deal with accidents and emergencies during exercise
basic anatomy / physiology and the effects of exercise
health and safety

It's a wide curriculum and for many people it covers the early steps of a progression into leisure management. It prepares gym staff to deal with the majority of gym users, and to identify people who might have problems.

For some of us, that's probably as much as we need but others may need more informed advice specific to osteoporosis. I came across a document http://http://www.csp.org.uk/uploads/documents/OSTEOgl.pdf endorsed by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists and NOS, but for someone not familiar with training techniques there's a fair bit of jargon.

For someone who's never been to a gym, there might be some value in having a session with a physiotherapist beforehand, to discuss what type of exercise and equipment is likely to help. I know I've found physios more knowledgeable than doctors on the subject of exercise - have others found the same?

Exercise and weight gain

DottyAnn — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:32:56 GMT

Having been a regular exerciser for many years I found the weight, accumulated since my fall, difficult to lose. I was in despair then suddenly two weeks ago it began to go.

I am not a medical person so cannot give advice, only tell you that, in my case, returning to gentle exercise, a soon as possible, is working for me.

My only 'problems' are slopes and steps because I've been left with limited movement but, I can walk so limited movement is a small price to pay isn't it?

DottyAnn

1000 posts

James — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:39:22 GMT

As the counter at the bottom of the forum homepage shows, there have now been over 1000 posts made on the forum, in about a year. That's not bad!

So thank you to everyone who has taken part, and also to those of you that read the forum but don't post. Hopefully the forum will continue to grow and more people will join in.

WII Fit and WII Sport

DottyAnn — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:13:16 GMT

Does anyone else use a WII Fit and/or WII Sport?

I've recently bought them and find 'FIT' great for helping improve/regain my balance. My husband (not osteoporosis and not recovering from surgery) is racing through the different games. Having watched him with the penguins, I can't wait to be good enough to 'unlock' them.

If anyone cares to challenge me I'm game for a laugh if you are.

cafe

Feebe D — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:07:05 GMT

Hello

What does everyone think of this. my sister has one on her website and its good. its a cafe where you can eat whatever you fancy and drink with no calories it makes you feel better and does you no harm. see you in there

Feebe

Holiday Insurance

hippo — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:00:54 GMT

Hi
Does anyone know a company that gives reasonable priced holiday insurance? I've tried quite a few including Saga. I'm 64 and was diagnosed with Osteopaenia in November following a broken wrist in February and then Breast Cancer in July. I seem to be stuck with policies which won't insure me for either or both of these pre existing conditions. I sound like a wreck but the cancer is "cured" and the osteopaenia is being treated so I'm looking forward to a good new year with a holiday in Madeira in February.
Thanks
Margaret:)

Charity Auction

Jemma_kay — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:08:29 GMT

Hey

I am organizing a charity auction in my local area - i have contacted celebrities and businesses (both local and non local) and asked them to donate any items at all that we could auction off.

I have received a few items so far so things are looking good.

If anyone works for a company or owns a company who would be willing to donate an item / voucher / experience for our auction i would love to hear from you.

Any tips for running the event would also be appreciated.

Much love and all the best for 2010

Jemma x

Craig Revel Horwood

James — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:13:01 GMT

Some of you may have read on the homepage of the website that Craig Revel Horwood (of Strictly Come Dancing fame) is now a patron of the charity - great news!

Are any of you familiar with him / Strictly come dancing, what do you think of the news that he's become a patron of the charity and will be helping us to raise awareness of osteoporosis?

Exercise

Ann Southend — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:44:12 GMT

Does anybody know of weightbearing exercises which can be done without going to the gym? I do lots of walking and swimming but have recently been told that this does not help build up middle/upper back.

Hope you can help

Ann Southend

Topics, posts and involving more forum members

Annabel Lee — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:44:17 GMT

Hi James,

I'm replying to your post in 'advice for a new member please'.

I know this forum is relatively new and that forums can take some time to get going, but, I do feel that the forum is not very intuitive to use and this may be one of the reasons that it is not used as much as it could be. I am comparing it in particular to the two previous forums where the topics were not divided into separate sections, and therefore when you went on to the forum you got a list of all topics, at least the top page full, and any new posts or any that had new posts added had the word 'new' in bold showing beside it which made it very obvious to anyone that there was a new post. With the current forum, members either have to use the drop down menu to get 'recent posts since last visit' or they have to manually search within each section and it isn't then immediately obvious that there has been a new reply or new post. The trouble is that in this age of lots of forums people will use the easiest one available and they often go to multiple sites rather than trying to make one or two work for them.

I'm not sure how you can change the forum to make things easier, but I can see the template of this forum is similar to two of the diabetes forums I'm on. On one of them though there is a clear line of text at the bottom of the screen which says "show last 10 (or whatever number) posts"., and on the other forum there is a button in another colour text saying "recent posts".

.....just thought, perhaps it would help if you had more headings - Diet, Exercise, Medications, Supplements spring to mind.

Perhaps you're right too that people don't respond when they've asked a specific question and got replies because they have got the information they were after....but I still don't understand why they don't just respond with a simple thanks which is why I think they haven't found the replies.

all the best,
Anne

[quote][b]James (07/10/2009)[/b][hr]I think in some cases people aren't replying because they might have found the information they were after.

If you can suggest ways we can make topics & postsmore obvious then that would be most helpful.

I think it is worth bearing in mind, however, that the forum is relatively new to the charity, and forums in general do take a little while to get going. We've recently placed a more prominent link to the forum on the homepage of the website, along with mentions in Osteoporosis News, so that coupled with other work we are doing should help to bring more posters to the forum and make it better.

With any luck some of the lurkers will come out of the woodwork and join us too! Far more people view the forum than post so it would be great if more of the viewers could get involved.

FYI, I've just made the 'Introduce yourself' forum available for non-registered visitors to post in - in other words, you don't need to register an account if you want to say hello any more.

If anyone has any comments or feedback on the forum please PM or email me, or post it up in an appropriate topic.

Sorry for hijacking your topic SheilB - I'll leave it at that.[/quote]

Meeting Northampton National Osteoporosis Society Group

shashootwiggy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:38:04 GMT

The next group meeting is this Wednesday at the United Reformed Church Rooms, Abington Ave, entry through the side door in Roe Road, 2pm for 2.30pm Registration and refreshments on arrival. Bring & Buy, Home Produce stall.

Wed September 16th Researching your family history - Sue Comont

Do you live near and want an interesting afternoon and a sociable time then please feel free to come to our local group meeting. Admission is £2 which covers refreshments, there are bargains to be had on our small stall and a very interesting lecture to listen to. Come and join the fun!

Deb