Bone Health, Strength and Healthy Ageing Centre
Helping people remain stronger, more active and more independent throughout every stage of life.
Bone Health, Strength and Healthy Ageing Centre
Assess. Strengthen. Protect.
At Optimal Health Clinic, we believe bone health deserves the same proactive attention as heart health, nutrition and physical fitness.
Our Bone Health, Strength and Healthy Ageing Centre brings together advanced assessment, evidence informed technology and personalised healthcare to help people understand and protect their bones before a fracture changes their life.
We are proud to be introducing Echolight REMS Bone Health Assessment and BioDensity Bone Strength Technology to the North East, supported by Power Plate training, Vitamin D testing, nutritional guidance and personalised lifestyle recommendations.
Healthy bones are influenced by far more than calcium alone. Nutrition, Vitamin D status, muscle strength, hormones, physical activity, balance, sleep, medication, lifestyle and overall health can all play a part.
For this reason, every recommendation begins with understanding the individual.
Healthy Ageing Centre
Strong bones. Strong bodies. Stronger futures.
Our bones provide the framework for everything we do.
They support every step we take, every movement we make and our ability to remain active, independent and confident throughout life. Yet bone health is often overlooked until a fracture occurs.
Bone loss can develop gradually without causing pain or obvious symptoms. For some people, the first sign of reduced bone strength is a fracture following a relatively minor fall.
Our aim is not simply to identify osteopenia or osteoporosis.
It is to help people understand their bone health, take positive action and remain stronger, more active and more independent for longer.
Because strong bones do not just support your body. They support the life you want to live.
Healthy Ageing Centre
Why we created the Bone Health, Strength and Healthy Ageing Centre
The vision behind this centre is deeply personal.
After seeing first hand how unexpected a diagnosis of osteopenia can feel, we recognised how few local options were available for people who wanted to actively understand and support their bone strength.
Being told your bones are becoming weaker is concerning enough without having to travel significant distances to access additional support.
That experience became the inspiration for this centre.
We want people across the North East to have access to advanced bone health assessment, personalised guidance and innovative strengthening technology closer to home.
Our vision also extends beyond supporting people who already have osteopenia or osteoporosis.
Healthy bones are built throughout childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Movement, nutrition, Vitamin D, muscle strength and lifestyle choices made earlier in life can influence bone health for decades to come.
This is more than the introduction of new technology.
It is a commitment to helping people understand their bones earlier, strengthen their bodies and remain active, confident and independent throughout life.
Every person deserves the opportunity not only to live longer, but to live stronger.
Optimal Bone Health
Understanding your bone health
Bone is living tissue that continually responds to nutrition, hormones, movement and the mechanical demands placed upon it.
Throughout life, old bone is broken down and replaced with new bone. When bone is lost more quickly than it can be rebuilt, strength gradually reduces and the likelihood of a fragility fracture may increase.
Because early bone loss often develops without obvious symptoms, assessment can provide an important opportunity to identify changes before a fracture occurs.
Echolight REMS is an advanced ultrasound based technology that assesses bone health without ionising radiation.
It can evaluate Bone Mineral Density and provide additional information relating to bone quality, including a Fragility Score where appropriate. This can help create a broader understanding of bone health and future fracture risk.
Following your assessment, your results will be explained in clear, straightforward language. We will discuss what they may mean for your health and whether any additional investigation, referral or personalised intervention would be appropriate.
Assessment is only the beginning.
Where indicated, your results may inform a programme incorporating BioDensity, Power Plate, Vitamin D support, nutrition, movement and lifestyle recommendations.
Potential benefits of the Healthy Ageing Centre
What may your programme include
Depending upon your assessment and personal goals, your programme may include:
Echolight REMS Bone Health Assessment
BioDensity Bone Strength Training
Power Plate training
Vitamin D testing with personalised feedback
Nutritional and lifestyle guidance
Functional Health Assessment where appropriate
Balance, movement and healthy ageing support
Ongoing reviews and progress monitoring
Pathways
Your Journey at Optimal Health Clinic
Your journey begins with a free 30 minute initial consultation. This gives us the opportunity to discuss your concerns, medical history and personal goals, explain the available services and decide whether an Echolight REMS assessment is the most appropriate next step.
Following your Echolight assessment, we will explain your results and discuss the factors that may influence your bone health, including previous fractures, family history, nutrition, Vitamin D, movement, hormonal health, medication and overall wellbeing.
Where a broader understanding of your health would be beneficial, we may also recommend our Comprehensive Functional Health Assessment and Personalised Recommendations.
If intervention is appropriate, we will work with you to develop an individual programme that may include BioDensity, Power Plate, Vitamin D testing and monitoring, nutritional guidance, weight bearing movement, balance support and additional professional referral where required.
Your progress will be reviewed throughout the programme, allowing recommendations to be adapted as your strength, confidence and needs change.
Because Echolight does not use ionising radiation, repeat assessment may also be considered at clinically appropriate intervals to help monitor changes over time.
Treatment Options & Costs
Developing your personalised bone health programme
No two people have the same bone health history, risks or goals.
Your programme is therefore developed around your assessment findings, current health, lifestyle and priorities.
One of the cornerstones of the programme may be BioDensity.
BioDensity is a supervised, low impact system that uses four controlled movements to allow the body to experience high levels of mechanical loading safely and briefly. Mechanical loading provides an important stimulus for bone and muscle adaptation.
Sessions are short and individually guided, with progress measured over time.
Power Plate may also be incorporated where appropriate.
Power Plate uses Precision Vibration Technology to stimulate rapid muscle contractions. This may support muscle activation, balance, coordination, flexibility and functional movement, which are all important aspects of maintaining mobility and reducing the consequences of falls.
Healthy bones and healthy muscles are closely connected.
Strong muscles support movement, balance and confidence while also placing beneficial mechanical forces through the skeleton.
Your programme may therefore include a combination of bone loading, vibration training, nutrition, Vitamin D support, movement and lifestyle guidance rather than relying upon one intervention alone.
Optimal Bone Health
Vitamin D and bone health
Vitamin D supports normal bone and muscle health by helping the body absorb and utilise calcium.
For this reason, every client joining our Bone Health and Healthy Ageing Programme receives a personalised Vitamin D Assessment.
Our finger prick test provides results during your appointment, enabling us to explain your Vitamin D status and provide individual feedback.
Where supplementation is appropriate, we may also discuss magnesium because it contributes to normal muscle function and is involved in Vitamin D metabolism.
Your assessment includes:
- Finger prick Vitamin D test
- Results during your appointment
- Professional interpretation
- Personalised recommendations
- Guidance regarding repeat testing where appropriate
Testing allows recommendations to be based upon your individual result rather than assumptions.
Bone Centre
Who may benefit from this service?
This service may be appropriate for people who:
- Have concerns about osteopenia or osteoporosis
- Have experienced a previous fragility fracture
- Have a family history of osteoporosis
- Are approaching or have passed the menopause
- Want to maintain strength, balance and independence
- Have been advised to investigate or improve their bone health
- Want to take a proactive approach to healthy ageing
Treatment Options & Costs
Developing Your Personalised Programme
The prices below are provided as a guide to help you understand the likely investment involved. Every person’s needs are different, so the most suitable option may depend on your health goals, current concerns, session frequency and any additional support recommended as part of your wider wellbeing plan.
Where appropriate, we will talk you through the options and help you choose the most suitable route before you commit to a programme.
Complimentary Discovery Consultation
30-minutes
Free
This gives us the opportunity to understand your health concerns, discuss your goals and explain how biofeedback may support your individual circumstances. It also provides you with the opportunity to ask questions and decide whether biofeedback is the right approach for you.
Vitamin D Assessment
1 Session
£40
This includes the finger prick test, interpretation of your result and personalised recommendations.
Echolight assessment, BioDensity programmes
£70 per individual session
or
£600 10 Session Programme
Our Practitioner
Clinical Expertise You Can Trust
Protecting bone health requires more than measuring Bone Mineral Density or recommending general exercise.
It requires an understanding of the many factors that influence bone, muscle, balance and long term mobility.
Our centre brings together Echolight REMS, BioDensity, Power Plate, Vitamin D testing, functional health principles and personalised lifestyle guidance within one coordinated pathway.
We are proud to work alongside Iain Murray of Performance Health MSK and Gary Rhodes of Performance Health MSK and Screen My Bones, whose expertise has supported the introduction of these technologies to the North East.
Where additional insight would benefit your care, we may also work collaboratively with Dr Marisa Matos of Ultivita Health and Sonia O’Donnell of Native Wisdom.
We remain committed to working within our professional scope of practice. Where another healthcare professional or specialist service would be better placed to support part of your care, we will discuss this openly and help you access the most appropriate support.
Our priority is not to recommend the greatest number of services.
It is to help you understand your bone health and receive the care most appropriate for your individual circumstances.
Begin your journey
Bone Centre
Continue your journey
Healthy bones are built through consistency.
Our Bone Health and Healthy Ageing Memberships are being developed to provide ongoing access to supervised BioDensity and Power Plate sessions, progress reviews, Vitamin D monitoring and personalised guidance.
Depending upon the membership selected, support may include:
- BioDensity sessions
- Power Plate training
- Progress reviews
- Vitamin D monitoring
- Nutritional and lifestyle guidance
- Repeat Echolight assessment at clinically appropriate intervals
- Member benefits across selected clinic services
Membership is always optional and any recommendation will be based upon your assessment, goals and personal circumstances.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bone Health, Strength and Healthy Ageing Centre FAQ
Echolight REMS is an ultrasound based technology used to assess Bone Mineral Density without ionising radiation.
It can also provide information relating to bone quality, including a Fragility Score where appropriate.
DXA remains widely used and continues to play an important role in bone health assessment.
Echolight provides a radiation free alternative and offers additional information alongside Bone Mineral Density. Following your assessment, we will discuss whether any further investigation or referral is appropriate.
BioDensity is a supervised bone loading system using four controlled movements.
It is designed to provide a brief, low impact mechanical stimulus that may support bone remodelling, muscle strength and functional movement.
A BioDensity session usually takes approximately 10 minutes.
The programme and level of loading are personalised to the individual.
Power Plate may be included where it is appropriate for your needs and goals.
Optimal Health Clinic has two Power Plate systems, enabling vibration training to be incorporated into personalised bone health and movement programmes.
The service may be appropriate for people who have concerns about osteopenia or osteoporosis, have experienced a previous fragility fracture, have a family history of osteoporosis, are approaching or have passed the menopause, want to maintain strength, balance and independence, have been advised to investigate or improve their bone health, or want to take a proactive approach to healthy ageing.
Where clinically appropriate, yes.
Additional recommendations may include Functional Health Assessment, nutritional guidance, Vitamin D support or selected services available at Optimal Health Clinic.
Any combination is recommended only after appropriate assessment and screening.