Should you have a DXA scan? I think so.
by
Aisling Grimley.
Bone density, osteoporosis, DXA....these are things that I thought had nothing to do with me until I met Audrey Redmond! I'm very grateful to her for explaining that there are plenty of proactive steps we can take when it comes to our bone health - the first step is to get a read-out on bone density - a DXA scan.
DXA scans measure bone density.
Why have a DXA scan?
While putting this website together I learned from Audrey Redmond, my physio, that osteoporosis is a silent disease that does not show us symptoms until it's well advanced. We need to seek out information on our bone health before our bones speak to us in the form of a fracture. Audrey suggests that all women over 50 should have a DXA scan in order to benchmark their bone density levels for current and future reference. Two years later I’m finally getting round to acting on this advice.
Deciding where to have your scan done
Where and how to have a scan? Various clinics offer scans so I googled some local clinics. It’s best to choose a scanner that’s convenient to you as iti is recommended that you always (every 3-5 years depending on your bone health) attend the same clinic and scanner because these machines are calibrated differently and consistency is key to reliable results. When making a provisional on-line booking in my local clinic one of the first things I needed was a doctor’s referral letter, I don’t have GP so my kind neighbour Dr Jenny Linders stood in as my doctor. Next on my busy list is to find a GP who is on my wavelength so that we can grow old together. If you’re wondering why you need to have a GP, it’s to interpret the scan results. I had planned to take the next steps with Audrey Redmond my physio who is an osteoporosis expert.
‘Do you have your period?’
Having filled out the on-line form and supplied Jenny Linders’ Irish Medical Council number I received a call from the scanners. I was slightly taken aback when the first question the man on the line asked was ‘do you have your period?’ He said that I needed to have a regular cycle to have the scan. I was quite surprised and answered ‘Yes and No’ that I’d had a period last week but they were sporadic. He said that the scan needed to be within the first 12 days of my cycle. So I requested a scan the following week but none was available. He seemed to regard this an impasse, this left me feeling a bit irritated given that the reason for the scan is that I'm perimenopausal and lacking a regular cycle. He said he’d discuss my situation with the radiologist and get back to me. He never did. I contacted them again having learned from my friendly neighbour doctor that the reason for his questions about my cycle was that they couldn’t scan if there’s a risk of pregnancy. Ah! now that makes some sense, he should have explained. The next phone operator said that I could come along for a scan as long as I signed a pregnancy waiver.
Sorry about the long pre-amble but I’m on a research mission and gleaning as much information as I can for you, dear reader.
The scanning process
I arrived for my appointment and filled out the registration form (allow 10 mins for this). The cost of the scan was €100 which I paid myself as my low-cover private health insurance doesn't pay-out on DXAs. There are public hospitals with DXA scanners where medical card patients can usually get scanned for free
The scan was performed by a radiographer called Zoe who explained clearly that it was important that my back be as flat as possible. She warned that the scan could sometimes be slow and frustrating as she had to make sure that my body was properly lined up with the scanner. This can involve some trial and error in positioning. Zoe also explained that as the spine carries the greatest load it is the place that gives the best and most useful indication of true bone density. As I understand it she suggested that the limbs might raise the average density score as they are denser. She mentioned that they do a side-profile scan which is not always available with other machines.
Do you have a family history of osteoporosis?
Zoe said that the most important factor in whether you may have a tendancy to osteoporosis was family history. She said most patients she saw with osteoporosis had a family history while others had been intense athletes or had had eating disorders and been very thin in their earlier lives thereby putting their bones under pressure.
I was heartened to hear from Zoe that she often saw women greatly improve their bone density scan results through diet, weight bearing exercise and medication.
My scan results
My scan results were posted to Jenny Linders who passed them on to me. I had a brief look and understand that I have mild osteopenia (the precursor to osteoporosis) in the fourth lumber verterbra in my spine and there is also minor osteopenia in my right femur (leg bone) with a T-score of -1.3. I was glad not to have a GP as it meant that I got to read the scan report and results which I found interesting.
I discussed my scan results briefly with Audrey Redmond (a full appointment will follow when she returns from maternity leave) she was immediately able to tell me that the reason that my right leg has osteopenia is that I have a lot of tightness in my right pelvis so that I don’t fully weight bear on that side – interesting! Audrey is going to give me a series of exercise to improve mobility in my hip joints to reduce the tightness in my right side and strengthen my right femur and make it more weight bearing so as to avoid developing ostoeoporsis.
Conclusion
I’m very pleased to have undertaken this exercise as I now have a bone density level from which to measure up or down. Audrey’s explanation is completely understandable and logical which makes it easy for me to carry out the exercises that she recommends as they make sense and I know what I’m trying to achieve. I’m off to find myself a great GP next and see what she recommends in terms of treatment also. To be continued….
If you’d like to learn more about weight bearing exercise and the most effective ways to get moving please join us at Meet The Experts with Audrey Redmond on Sunday 18th October 3pm in The Merrion Hotel. Audrey's talk will be informative and inspiratiional - go on, join us!
Audrey Redmond works at Physiofusion. Learn more about Audrey, osteoporosis and Physiiofusion in our symptoms - osteoporosis page.
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