Some estimates are that 28 million people in the U.S. are affected.  Approximately a million osteoporosis related bone fractures occur per year with around 50,000 deaths related from post-bone fracture complications.

The traditional ways of treating bone density loss involve medication using pharmaceuticals and calcium supplements.  This approach generally treats the symptoms, rather than the causes.

Holistic therapies tend to treat causes, rather than symptoms, in the belief that by treating the cause, you will effectively remove the symptoms.

Whole body vibration has been used as an effective therapy for osteoporosis because it provides the replacement for load bearing physical activity necessary to maintain bone density and muscle mass.  In layman’s terms, osteoporosis is combated by muscle stimulation exerting stress on the bone.  When normal physical activity proves inadequate due to factors such as inability to exercise, leaching of calcium from bones through diet or hormonal changes, intervention is necessary.

Whole body vibration has been proved to provide safe and effective intervention when properly used.

Some studies indicate that the triangular oscillation type whole body vibration has a more beneficial effect than the linear, or vertical only vibration.

For further details on this you may download a scientific study published by the Journal for Rehabilitation Research and Development  here.  On the home page are videos that also provide anecdotal case history information.

Is a Vibration Platform Right for You?

The vibration platforms originate from research conducted during the 1960s space race. They work on the principle that if muscles are exercised while being shaken, they activate neighboring muscle fibers, hence building mass faster.

I first encountered this whole body vibration (WBV) technology in 2006, at which time I contacted one of the top personal trainers in the Chicago area, Tony Bruno — an expert on muscle activation techniques – for his input on this approach.

Tony felt the technology was great and had been proven to improve proprioception, strength and balance, and decrease sway in the elderly, and found it especially beneficial in rehab to increase circulation.

A vibration platform has also been proven useful for athletes, improving speed and vertical jump height, and cutting your warm-up time by half. However, he indicated that because the platform does cause a temporary decrease in joint stability, you shouldn’t use it before an event, as you’ll need to be in top form. But it would be an excellent addition to the training phase of your program.

WBV training has also been shown to improve and maintain bone mineral density in postmenopausal women and the tactic is being studied for its therapeutic potential, such as increasing older women’s bone mass – a far better alternative than the dangerous osteoporosis drugs currently on the market, for sure.

However, the authors of the study above warn that if you have certain health conditions, such as heart disease or high blood pressure, you may want to avoid WBV until safety concerns have been addressed more fully.

Remarkable Benefits for the Elderly

WBV training has demonstrated significant gains in most measures of muscle performance in sedentary and elderly individuals.

But one study, performed by the University of Liege in Belgium, investigated the effects of controlled whole body vibrations exercises on overall health in elderly patients and found that after 6 weeks (performing 4 one-minute sessions, 3 times a week), the participants experienced:

* 143 percent improvement in physical function
* 77 percent improvement in equilibrium
* 60 percent improvement in vitality
* 57 percent improvement in the quality of walking
* 41 percent reduction in pain
* 23 percent improvement in general health

Not bad for 10 minutes a day!