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Sacramento · Guide · DEXA scan

DEXA scan in Sacramento

A low-dose X-ray scan of your bones, muscle and fat.

Time
10 to 30 minutes Lying still on a table
What you do
Lie still while it scans No injection, no tunnel
You get
Bone density scores Often with a body composition report
Sacramento photograph by Leo_Visions · Unsplash

A DEXA scan, in plain English

A DEXA scan uses a very low dose of X-rays to measure your bone density. You lie still on a padded table in everyday clothes, as long as nothing has metal in it, while a scanning arm passes slowly over you.

Bone density scanning is established care for osteoporosis screening at the ages guidelines set. The same scan can also split your weight into fat, lean tissue and bone, and many people use that part as a baseline to track as they train or change how they eat.

Physical activity in Sacramento, by the numbers

The rate of physical inactivity in Sacramento is lower than the national rate. About 1 in 5 adults in Sacramento did no physical activity outside work in the past month, compared with about 1 in 4 nationally. That adds up to roughly 400,000 adults across four counties.

21.0%of adults in Sacramento did no physical activity outside work in the past monthUS: 25.1%
400,000adults in Sacramento did no physical activity outside work in the past monthEstimated from CDC county figures
0Sacramento clinics list DEXA scans
Sacramento does better than the US on all 3 measures
Share of adults, 2023. Lower is better.
No exercise outside work
Obesity
Serious difficulty walking
↓ Data
By county
CountyNo exercise outside workObesitySerious difficulty walking
Sacramento21.5%29.6%14.0%
Placer19.1%27.3%12.2%
Yolo22.4%25.7%11.7%
El Dorado19.5%27.7%13.9%
Sacramento21.0%28.7%13.5%
United States25.1%33.2%13.8%

Source: CDC PLACES, 2023 county estimates. Sacramento = Sacramento, Placer, Yolo and El Dorado counties, weighted by adult population.

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Your regular doctor is the place to start, especially before a big change in how active you are. The tests above show where you're starting from, so progress is easier to see later.

We have not yet profiled a Sacramento clinic that lists this. That is a statement about our guide and about what clinics put on their own pages, not a finding that nobody here offers it.

How a DEXA scan usually goes

  1. Book and prepare

    Wear clothes with no metal. Skip calcium supplements beforehand, as the clinic advises.

  2. The scan

    You lie still on a padded table for 10 to 30 minutes while the arm passes over you.

  3. Your results, explained

    Bone density scores, and often a breakdown of fat, muscle and bone.

  4. A plan and a date

    What to work on, and when a repeat scan would show real change.

If you've had a fracture from a minor fall, talk to your doctor first. That needs a medical bone density test, which the same scan can do.

Go deeper

Common questions

How do I prepare for a DEXA scan?

Skip calcium supplements for at least a day beforehand and wear clothes with no metal zips or buttons. Each clinic sends its own instructions.

What do the T-score and Z-score mean?

A T-score compares your bone density with a healthy young adult. A Z-score compares it with people of your own age and size. Your report usually shows both.

How much radiation is it?

Very little: less than a tenth of a standard chest X-ray, and less than a day of natural background radiation.

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