How is a bone density test done
Bone Density Testing
come on in Nancy this is the bone
density room my name is Kathy I'm going
to be doing the procedure on you today
in this room we do bone densitometry
which is called DEXA and that just
stands for dual energy x-ray
absorptiometry which means what we're
going to do is we're going to put you on
this table and we're going to do the
simplest easiest task that there is now
this test is only going to take a couple
of minutes so I'm going to have you
bring your legs right up all the way up
it's a very low dose of radiation so you
don't have to worry about that
it's a preventive test we want to know
how strong your bones are so that you
don't fracture later on in life it is a
test for osteoporosis or what they call
osteopenia which is low bone density and
based on the scores from this particular
test your doctors would advise you
whether or not you need to be on
medication for low bone density
and I'm just going to make sure I have
your position correctly usually about
menopause women tend to need to have
this test done if they have risk factors
prior to menopause sometimes they have
the test done before menopause
okay Nancy we're finished with the first
part of the task sometimes when the
patients come in they're a little bit
unsure or a little uneasy about this
particular task and it's such an easy
test we only scan a couple of areas I'm
going to set you up for the next part of
the test which is only going to take a
few seconds we scan your spine in your
hips
sometimes a forearm but usually it's the
spine in the hip we've already done your
spine and we're going to do both of your
hips one at a time it's very quick the
amount of time that they're on the table
is just very short a couple of minutes
we're going to take a couple of scans
and we're going to get what we call T
scores and those T scores are numbers
that it's considered a quantitative
measurement so that the numbers that the
doctors are looking at they're going to
make a diagnosis based on the numbers
now the doctors Nancy are going to write
a report and send it out to your doctors
you could get low numbers and the low
numbers mean that maybe you need to sit
down and talk to your doctor about
specific things that you can do to help
prevent your bones from getting lower
there are medications that you can take
or things that you can do to help
prevent your bones from getting lower
than they are with some of the
medications that are out there today you
can actually rebuild the bones that you
have and make them stronger and if you
make your bones stronger you're really
choosing to improve the quality of your
life it may prevent a fracture down
all righty is that the easiest test
you've ever had in your whole life I
really like working with people I like
putting their mind at ease and just
letting them know that this is one of
the best tests the easiest test that you
can actually have
