Thank you for your post. I’m sorry to hear about the problems your mother is having with her rounded back and neck. This forward curvature is sometimes called a ‘Dowager’s hump’ but the medical term is a kyphosis. It’s caused by compression fractures of the spine and these can also result in significant height loss.

The Helpline is often asked if a back or neck brace would help to lessen the curvature, and it is natural to hope that something might relieve some of the discomfort and difficulties associated with a kyphosis that your mother is experiencing. Unfortunately there are problems with wearing a brace or posture-correcting corset as they tend to encourage weakening of the back and neck muscles when strengthening of the muscles is the better approach. They also tend to be awkward to take on and off and as a result it’s tempting to wear them for longer periods than recommended. Although health professionals in osteoporosis do not usually advocate their use it may be felt that a brace might still be helpful in certain circumstances. They need to be specially made or adapted to ensure a close fit. Referral by the doctor to an Appliance or Orthotics department at the local hospital would be needed. For more information click http://www.nos.org.uk/~/document.doc?id=805 for the leaflet ‘Clothing, body image and osteoporosis’ (page 29). More information on spinal compression fractures is in the charity's booklet 'All about osteoporosis'. Click http://www.nos.org.uk/page.aspx?pid=854&doctitle=All About Osteoporosis&docid=380 to access.

Using other approaches to manage some of the difficulties may also be useful. Your mother might benefit by seeing a physiotherapist to assess and advise on her walking and to recommend exercises to provide a little extra strength to back muscles to improve her posture. Eating smaller meals more frequently may help when curvature and height loss has reduced appetite and the amount of food that can be comfortably eaten in one sitting. Nutritional food supplements, such as Complan or Build Up drinks, between meals (or instead of a meal if appetite is poor) may be useful. Pacing the day and ensuring regular rest periods between activities can help to reduce breathlessness. Pacing is a method of spacing out activities over the day and breaking everyday tasks into smaller chunks and doing them ‘little and often’ over the day. If you would like to discuss your mother’s problems in more depth with one of the nurses do feel free to contact the Helpline on 0845 450 0230.


Best wishes

Helpline Nurses
National Osteoporosis Society