BeFit’s Edgecliff clinic has a DEXA machine on site, helpful for assessing and tracking your body composition and progress over time. The DEXA machine is used for both bone density assessment and whole body composition analysis.
What Is a DEXA Scan?
DEXA stands for Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry. It uses low-dose X-ray to measure the density of different tissues in the body. It’s quick, painless and non-invasive, with very low radiation exposure. A full body DEXA scan exposes you to roughly the same amount of radiation as a flight from Sydney to Melbourne.
What Is a Whole Body Scan?
A whole body composition scan measures the ratio and distribution of fat, lean tissue and bone mineral content in the body, looking well beyond simple weight or BMI (Body Mass Index) alone.
The body composition report includes your BMI, BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), total body fat percentage, and an estimate of visceral adipose tissue (VAT). It also shows the distribution of lean tissue, fat and bone through each part of the body.
How Is It Useful?
Body composition assessments are useful for people trying to lose weight. While increasing exercise and making dietary changes, people will often see the number on the scale go down, but that change isn’t always just fat. Muscle loss can also occur, due to a lack of strength training, insufficient protein intake, or inadequate recovery time. Muscle loss, or atrophy, carries real consequences, including loss of function and independence, increased falls risk, higher injury risk, and decreased metabolism and quality of life. That’s why it’s important to maintain, or even build, muscle throughout a weight loss journey, not just lose weight in general. A DEXA scan is a useful way to monitor and track body composition to make sure muscle mass is being maintained through weight loss.
A whole body scan can also show the percentage of muscle across different body parts. This is helpful for ensuring balance is achieved when rebuilding muscle after an injury, so you’re not left with a meaningful imbalance between limbs.
Body composition measures are an informative, useful addition to a holistic health assessment. They can help guide and monitor goals for both muscle growth and fat loss, empowering patients, physiotherapists and other health practitioners to achieve effective, measurable results in performance, weight loss and muscle gain.
Who Should Get a DEXA Scan?
DEXA scanning is useful for a wide range of people, not just athletes. It’s a valuable tool if you’re:
- Trying to lose weight and want to make sure you’re losing fat, not muscle
- Working on building strength or muscle mass and want objective data to track progress
- Recovering from an injury and want to check for muscle imbalances between limbs
- Concerned about bone density, particularly if you’re postmenopausal or have a family history of osteoporosis
- Simply after a genuine baseline understanding of your health beyond what the bathroom scale can tell you
If you’re over 50 and interested in strength training, our guide to strength training after 50 covers why maintaining muscle and bone density becomes increasingly important with age, and how a DEXA scan can help track that progress over time.
DEXA and Bone Density
Beyond body composition, DEXA is also the gold-standard method for assessing bone mineral density, making it a key diagnostic tool for identifying osteopenia and osteoporosis. If your scan identifies reduced bone density, our ONERO Osteoporosis Programme, available at our Edgecliff clinic, is a physiotherapist-led, evidence-based programme specifically designed to build bone density through targeted high-intensity resistance and impact training.
How Does DEXA Compare to Other Body Composition Methods?
There are several ways to estimate body composition, including skinfold calipers, bioelectrical impedance scales, and DEXA. Skinfold calipers and impedance scales are convenient and low-cost, but their accuracy can vary significantly depending on hydration levels, technique and the individual being measured. DEXA is widely regarded as the gold standard for body composition assessment, offering a level of precision and reliability that these other methods can’t consistently match, which is why it’s so widely used in research and elite sport settings.
What to Expect During Your Scan
A whole body DEXA scan is quick and simple. You’ll be asked to lie still on the scanning table in light, comfortable clothing, free of any metal, zips or underwire, while the machine passes over your body. The scan itself typically takes just a few minutes, and you won’t feel anything during the process. Avoid taking creatine supplements in the days before your scan, as this can affect hydration-related readings, and try to arrive well hydrated for the most accurate results. Afterwards, one of our physiotherapists will walk you through your results and help translate the data into practical, actionable goals.
Common Questions About DEXA Scans
Do I need a referral for a DEXA scan?
No referral is required. You can book a DEXA scan directly with our team at Edgecliff.
How often should I get a DEXA scan?
This depends on your individual goals. For general body composition tracking, many people find scanning every 3 to 6 months provides meaningful insight into progress without over-testing.
Is a DEXA scan safe?
Yes. The radiation dose is very low, comparable to a short domestic flight, and DEXA is widely used as a routine, safe assessment tool in both clinical and research settings.
How BeFit Can Help
If you’re interested in gaining greater insight into your health, or looking for a baseline assessment to start your fitness journey, book in for a DEXA scan with one of our physiotherapists. They’ll analyse your results and help you develop clear goals and practical changes to your current routine. A DEXA scan can also complement a broader Strength and Conditioning programme, giving you objective data to track alongside your training.
Book your DEXA scan at BeFit Training Physiotherapy Edgecliff today.
Edgecliff: (02) 9327 7749
References
Snijder MB, et al. Cited in: Understanding DEXA Radiation Exposure. 2002.
Australian Physiotherapy Association. Clinical guidelines. physiotherapy.asn.au.
