We provide feedback of your progress.
The primary advantage of DEXA Scan over using a fat estimate device (bioimpedance scales, calipers, tape measure), or displacement estimate device (hydrostatic dunk tank, Bod Pod) is that the DEXA Scan is actually measuring your body fat and giving you a precise measurements.
DEXA Scan also gives you precise measurements of fat and muscle distributed around your body. See muscle asymmetry that you need to correct to reduce injuries. And track potentially dangerous visceral fat around your vital organs.
You get a better sense of where you are now. And you can track the improvement over time.
For example athletes often have more dense bones and more lean muscle, and so estimation techniques tend to incorrectly overstate their bodyfat.
DEXA helps you monitor your weight loss progress. An initial baseline scan lets you see exactly where you are when you start, and then track how much body fat they are actually losing, and how much muscle you are gaining.
Just using scales often hides progress. Dieters combining diet with an exercise program often mistakenly think they are getting minimal results, because they are adding dense muscle at the same time they are losing fat. And dieters on crash diets, are often getting misleading results because they are losing lean muscle and along with fat.
Body builders on a bulk or a cut, want information on how much muscle they are actually gaining during a bulk, or how much muscle they are losing on a cut.
Getting a DEXA scan lets you see how effective a bulk or cut is in adding muscle. Learn what works for your body, and help dial-in your routine and your macros.
Preparing for competition, you can get a more precise measure of your body fat percentage – so you can more precisely time your cut.
Optimize workout intensity.
As well as using a DEXA Scan for basic body fat measurement, athletes often use the scan to pick up muscle asymmetries between their left and right sides. Muscle imbalances asymmetries are often caused when our sport causes us to favor one side, or when we use improper form that makes our dominant side do more work. These asymmetries throw weight distribution off, cause muscle miscoordination, and create unnatural stresses that lead to injury.
Determine the effectiveness of your fitness habits.
Getting a baseline measurement of fat, muscle, and bone lets you see where you are and track changes over time. We often lose muscle and bone mass as we age, particularly in the core, and legs. This puts us at greater risk of injury. Having a baseline measurement and tracking changes over time helps identify concerning trends and lets you take preventative action early.
What type of equipment do you use?
Being a radiology clinic, Radiomedic uses the lastest medical grade DEXA scanner. The device is produced by GE healthcare and the model type is the Lunar Prodigy Advance. This is the same equipment used by the biggest university research centers in the world, including the one used by McGill University.
Why is it better than bioimpedance scales, calipers, tape measure, or other methods?
DEXA is a medical grade test and is considered the gold standard in body composition.
Many fitness centers try to sell you bioimpedance scale tests or other tests to measure body composition but reality is these tests are inaccurate and lack the precision of a DEXA scan. A same person undergoing a bioimpedance scale test twice in the same hour will get different results that are 5 to 10% different. The error margins are also much larger compared to DEXA with some scales showing inaccuracies of 1-2 kg in comparison to 200 grams for DEXA.
Furthermore, bioimpedance scale tests and other tests do not offer an evaluation of your bone mineral density which is a critical body evaluation for anyone trying to improve their health since the skeleton is the structure that holds it all together. Bone evaluation will allow to determine if calcium/vitamin D supplements are beneficial to you or if you should consult a doctor to initiate a medication that helps improve bone density.
This examination is painless and without any side effects.
While lying on your back, the machine’s arm slowly passes over the body and emits low-dose x-rays and records the data. The exam lasts approximately 10 minutes. A report is sent to you and your doctor the same day.
No preparation needed.
Contraindication: Do not undergo this exam if you are pregnant.
If you underwent other exams during the same period, it is essential that you allow time to pass between these and your body composition test.
– Nuclear medicine: wait 7 days
– Fluoroscopy (digestive exam using barium): wait 15 days
– CT scan using iodine: wait 7 days
– If you take calcium supplements: stop 48 hours before the exam
COST
Initial exam 85$
Follow up exam (within 6 months) 75$
Feel free to drop a line to us and choose the best care for youself
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