Anytime we unexpectedly stray from the straight and narrow path of good health, we’re bound to experience some anxiety. A simple mental exercise can help you move beyond stress to positive action.

Here you are, a perfectly healthy woman – or so you thought – suddenly handed a diagnosis of osteopenia. 

What?! I exercise, don’t smoke, eat healthy… how can this be? 

Bone loss isn’t limited to old women. It can occur at any age – even infancy. Granted, you’re much more likely to experience bone loss after the age of 30; and the pace of loss accelerates steeply after menopause, once the production of estrogen (with its positive effect on bones) falters.

Still, for most women, the decline in bone health is both gradual, and inevitable. It’s a part of growing old – and not much more dangerous than gray hair or crow’s feet.

For some, however, a baseline DEXA scan may reveal T-scores that have dropped into the zone signaling osteopenia: pre-osteoporosis. 

There’s controversy among physicians and researchers over whether osteopenia should even be labeled a condition; many now think that certain women experience a greater degree of bone loss than “normal;” in fact, those “low” T-scores are normal for them, and not dangerous.

Still, none of us likes to hear our body parts are deteriorating, right? It reminds us of our eventual mortality – and that’s scary. 

What do you do if you’ve been told you have osteopenia?

First, don’t panic. It’s eminently treatable. Lifestyle changes, an improved diet and exercise regimen, and drugs (as a last resort) can all help slow or even halt bone loss in many women. Chances are excellent a diagnosis of osteopenia will never lead to osteoporosis, with its severe risk of bone fracture.

Still, you find your mind going there, don’t you? “What if…” The yogurt smoothies, weight-lifting, and even Boniva don’t work? What if I end up crippled and immobilized – at age 55?

Absolutely, the possibility exists. And small as it is, you’re going to worry about it – just a little, or maybe a lot.

The trick is to readjust your attitude; to believe that yes, you’ll be among the significant majority of women who never experience an osteoporotic fracture. 

So how do you manage that?

Go down the “and then what” path. Here’s how it works:

You’re going to have a mental conversation, in which you play two roles: your anxious self, and your practical self. Your anxious self starts by voicing a fear:

“I’m afraid my bones are getting thin.”

Your practical self responds, “And then what?”

Anxious: “I might get osteoporosis.”