What Is A Bone Scan Used For

DEXA Scan (Dual X-ray Absorptiometry) to Measure Os Health

Testing your bone density -- how strong your bones are -- is the only way to know for sure if you take osteoporosis. The most widely used is a browse chosen dual free energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA or DEXA). The test determines bone health and your adventure of fracture due to osteoporosis.

DXA scanning focuses on 2 primary areas -- the hip and the spine. If you can't test those, you tin can get a DXA scan on your forearm. These areas can give your doctor a good thought of whether you lot're likely to get fractures in other basic in your torso.

What Happens During a DXA Scan?

The scan more often than not takes 10 to 20 minutes. It'southward painless, and the corporeality of radiation you become from the X-rays the browse uses is low. Dissimilar another types of tests, like MRIs or CT scans, yous won't have to lie inside a airtight tunnel or ring. Instead, you lot'll lie on an open X-ray tabular array and endeavor to stay still every bit the scanner passes over your body. When the test is over, you'll be able to get domicile.

A DXA scanner is a machine that produces two X-ray beams. One is high energy and the other is depression energy. The machine measures the amount of X-rays that pass through the bone from each beam. This volition vary depending on how thick the bone is. Based on the divergence between the 2 beams, your dr. can measure your bone density.

DXA Browse Results

For the results of your scan, you'll get a T-score. It shows how much higher or lower your os density is than that of a healthy 30-year-old, the age when basic are at their strongest. The lower your score, the weaker your basic are:

T-score of -one.0 or above = normal os density
T-score betwixt -1.0 and -2.5 = low bone density, or osteopenia
T-score of -ii.v or lower = osteoporosis

Sometimes doctors volition give you another DXA scan consequence -- a Z score. It compares your bone density to a normal score for a person of your same age and body size.