Osteomalacia is a common condition affecting both children and adults, and it affects people all over the world – although it’s far more commonly seen in parts of the world where people don’t get enough exposure to natural sunlight, and aren’t able to supplement their diets with enough vitamins and minerals such as calcium and Vitamins E and D.
The condition can be caused by these deficiencies directly, but can also be caused by a range of different health conditions which cause these deficiencies such as celiac disease or stomach ulcers by interfering with how your body absorbs essential nutrients.
Osteomalacia can cause a wide variety of different health conditions in turn, including muscle weakness, radiating pain in the bones, pain during exercise that wouldn’t normally hurt or worsening pain from what would otherwise be considered slight injuries.
Here are the 8 essential symptoms that you should be looking out for.
1. Muscle Weakness
Muscle weakness is one of the most common symptoms of developing osteomalacia because of the fact that the deficiencies that cause the softness of the bones will also inevitably cause weakness of the muscles that gets progressively worse over time if it’s left untreated.
There are also other conditions that can potentially lead to muscle weakness, and it’s an extremely wide range of disorders at the same time – dietary issues, high blood pressure, and anemia are just some of the conditions that can cause chronic muscle weakness. It’s vital that these are eliminated as potential causes, so mention any symptoms that you experience to your doctor during your next appointment.
Pay attention if you experience muscle weakness together with any of the other symptoms mentioned on this list including fractures in the bone or increased muscle stiffness not due to exercise or other conditions. Make an appointment with your doctor.