DEXA Body Scan Sydney: Discover The Real Story Of Your Bones, Fat & Muscle
The health-conscious train keeps moving! More and more people are doing what they can to stay alive for longer and contribute their time and talents to this world, and we are glad to see it!
One of the more popular health-focused search engine strings in recent times in our region is ‘DEXA Body Scan Sydney’. The volume is impressive enough to get us to prepare this blog, which will educate you all about this wonderful health assessment!
You see, a DEXA Scan is a kind of X-ray, but with a very specific focus: your body weight. You might be worried about how much weight you’re putting on and why all the training programs you’ve adopted to burn fat have not worked. This scan, done with the advanced DEXA technology (Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry), will show you exactly how your body weight is distributed, which in turn provides you with the data you need to train or diet better.
This sounds interesting, doesn’t it? With this groundbreaking medical technology, we finally have a way to help people with their body image problems!
First, let’s learn a little about body weight.
Most people tend to mistake this for the fat stores in their body: the visceral fat that hangs around in their bellies and subcutaneous fat under the skin. Others who know a little, understand that bone density, muscle mass and fat all contribute to the human body composition.
Scales will tell you what you weigh, taking into account the combined weight of every single fibre of your being. This isn’t enough information for someone looking to learn about how their body weight is distributed.
This is where DEXA Body Scan comes in.
This technology, attached to a scanner, fires two low-energy X-ray beams through your body. The scanner then measures exactly how your body weight is distributed between your bones, muscles and tissues. After the procedure, you will get a body composition report that shows you how healthy your bones and muscles are, and exactly how much fat stores you have in your body.
The scan is quick and simple. The process takes only 10 to 25 minutes. When it’s done, you can immediately get up and go. Inside the scanner, once you’re strapped, the beams pass through your body. Your body’s soft tissues absorb one of the beams, and your bones absorb the other. The scanner will then compute the results based on how each beam is absorbed to present your bone mineral densitometry score and body composition report.
You can also get the scan to target whatever you need it to target. People would typically get a DEXA Scan to learn the real truth of their body weight distribution, but you can also use this scan for specifics like bone health evaluation, body fat distribution, and muscle health assessment.
People in the know associated this scan with osteoporosis. And because this is an ailment that affects mostly seniors, they have opted for other ways to figure out their lean muscle mass and bone density.
The DEXA Scan (also called a DXA Scan) is not only for grandma or grandpa, who are at an age where bone mineral density starts to fall off. As long as you’re an adult and are ageing after hitting your growth peak, your doctor can recommend it for you, or you can ask for it in a consultation.
Women in menopause, athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and people who are at risk of osteoporosis due to family history or poor health habits need this scan. People who have thyroid issues also need this scan to see what’s going on with their bone health as they treat themselves.
In fact, if you’re just curious about how your body weight is distributed – something that your scale can never tell you because of its limits – get a DEXA Body Scan. It is proactive care and sometimes, preventive health care, too.
Like any test, you will have to prepare for it as well. Avoid any calcium supplements or foods high in that mineral for 24 hours before your DEXA Scan appointment. Avoid heavy workouts that will stress your muscles and bones as well, before the D-Day. Get enough sleep as well, so that your muscles will relax, and some of the fat in your body can be metabolised.
As stated earlier, the scan takes minutes. You can be in and out of the hospital/clinic in 30 minutes, with the larger part of that time spent preparing you for the scan, powering up the scanner, and interpreting the results for you.
This is an important part of your appointment, even though it takes minutes.
After the scan to see your muscle mass, bone mass, and fat mass in different body regions (arms, legs, trunk), your Total Body Composition Measurement is presented to you.
The team that oversaw the scan will review it with you, pointing out key numbers like:
You may discover that your visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is high, or that there is a ‘lean mass balance’ issue with your limbs, where one is heavier than the other. You will get clear explanations of everything in the report that can guide your health journey.
If it so happens that there is a problem spotted in the report, the medical team will immediately spring into action. You might get some supplement prescriptions, a booking with a dietitian or a physiologist, or even a training program.
In essence, you will not leave the clinic without clear benchmarks so that the next time you scan, you will see reasonable changes.
The changes you seek must come from acting on the interpreted data you get from your DEXA Scan.
If your scan shows you have a worrying amount of belly (visceral) fat, it is up to you to make the necessary adjustments to deal with it. During interpretation, the medical professional who specialises in these issues can recommend several dietary changes to adjust your caloric intake. It is your choice to follow the care plan that they designed for you.
DEXA Scans also estimate your resting energy expenditure. This is because more muscle means that you metabolise food quicker than others and may have to eat more, therefore affecting your caloric intake. The medical professional will create a plan to help you deal with this, so that you can quickly burn off that belly fat or achieve any other health aims that are directly tied to your metabolism and calorie consumption.
At Longevity Clinics, DEXA Body Scan results always translate to a follow-up program. Even if you’re the picture of perfect health, what we want is for you to stay healthier for longer. This is why our team will not only interpret the results for you but also be on hand to guide you through the process of bettering your health.
Our customer service staff will also help schedule appointments and follow-up scans to monitor your progress, while providing you with answers to questions you have as you execute the plan.
At Longevity Clinics, each DEXA Scan must answer three main questions: Where you were (before the need for the scan), where you are (during the scan), and where you should be.
So far, in every section of this blog up until this point, we have pointed out the reasons why ‘DEXA Body Scan Sydney’ is an increasingly popular search item. And it isn’t particular to people in Sydney – everywhere in Australia and in the world, people are learning more about their health and attempting to take control of it, leading to more personal research on DEXA Scans.
In this section, however, we are going to itemise the scan’s two key benefits so that you can have a clearer picture of what you stand to gain if you opt for this scan.
With one DEXA Scan, you will gain two important insights about your health. The first is a deep look into your bone health. The scan will check your lumbar spine and your bone marrow to produce this report. With the report, you will be able to understand what moves to make lest you suffer a fracture in the near future: Should you ask for prescription medications? Do you need more calcium-rich foods or supplements? Are you lacking vitamin D? The team will interpret these results clearly for you. The second insight is a full-body weight distribution report. Being able to tell how much fat you have and where it is in your body is very helpful. This way, you will be able to draw up training programs or diets that will help you manage it. In short, a DEXA Scan will give you hard numbers and facts that you, your trainer and your medical team can work with to improve your overall health.
The scan takes minutes to achieve and is painless. Because of this, people in the know find it easy to pop into a clinic for a scan, get their results, and go out to train, diet and live healthy lives. Then they go back for another scan to validate their efforts. You can do a scan once a month to see the progress between your scans. It even influences your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), which is how your muscles feed on your body’s energy stores. It does this because you will have started making changes to your lifestyle that will affect this rate.
You can walk up to any clinic, like Longevity Clinics, and request a DEXA Scan. When you do, the attendant will sit with you to understand your reasons. If they’re valid, they will set you up, and you will have your scan done.
However, if you’re seeking a Medicare rebate for the scan, you will need a medical referral to qualify. In Australia, seniors aged over 70 automatically get rebates for the bone densitometry portion of the scan. If you’re younger and meet certain qualifying conditions, you can also get rebates.
If you’re simply doing it for fitness, or to find out the real truth of your bones, fat and muscles, you will have to pay out of pocket or with your insurance. Either way, make sure you plan ahead so that the cost of the scan doesn’t overwhelm you.
Body weight issues have been linked with a number of debilitating diseases. This is why people are now taking the gym seriously these days – nobody wants to be kept down at 40 because they feel heavier than a sack of potatoes.
DEXA Scans are great, along with being a quick and painless way to know how your body weight is distributed. It sounds technical, but it is really a full-body photograph with two low-energy X-ray beams to discover what your body is truly made of.
When you reach out to Longevity Clinics for health checks, the scan may be recommended to you because it is a great way to craft a healthcare plan that will ensure you stay healthy. It’s one of the few tests that works for prevention, monitoring and progress all at once.
We are very excited that you have decided to look into this area of your health and wellbeing! Book a Discovery Call today and learn the truth about your body!
We’ve developed a comprehensive six-step process that acts as your personal health roadmap, to follow towards your health goals.
