Medically reviewed by Mark Strehlow, MD, Medical Director — September 2026
A DEXA scan measures what your body is actually made of: fat, lean tissue and bone, region by region. Your weight and BMI can’t tell those apart. A DEXA scan can.
We use DEXA at Rock Creek Wellness to see where you’re starting from and to track what changes over time. Along with comprehensive blood testing, it’s one of the ways we look for the root cause before we recommend any treatment.
What a DEXA scan measures
DEXA stands for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. You’ll also see it written DXA. It’s the same scan. Ours is a GE Lunar Prodigy.
A whole-body composition scan reports:
- Fat mass, in total and by region, including the fat around your midsection
- Lean mass, which is muscle and other non-fat tissue
- Bone mineral content and bone density
- Body fat percentage
- Regional results for your arms, legs and trunk, so you can see where changes are happening
- Android/gynoid ratio, which compares fat around your midsection with fat around your hips and thighs
A bone density scan is a separate, focused scan of your lower spine and both hips. It’s the test used to check for low bone density, called osteopenia or osteoporosis.
What happens at your scan
You lie on your back on an open table, fully clothed, while the scanner arm passes over you. Nothing closes around you. The whole-body scan takes a few minutes, and the bone density scan takes less. You get a printout of your results, and they become part of your care plan. Our guide to reading your DEXA report (PDF) explains each number on it.
To prepare:
- Wear comfortable clothes with no metal: no zippers, buttons, underwire or belt buckles.
- Skip calcium supplements for 24 hours before a bone density scan.
- Tell us if you’ve had a barium study or a CT or nuclear medicine scan with contrast in the past two weeks. It can affect results, so we may reschedule.
How much radiation is involved
Very little. GE, the scanner’s maker, estimates the dose from a whole-body scan at about 0.5 to 1 microsievert, and from a bone density scan of the spine and both hips at about 2 microsieverts. Natural background radiation gives you about 8 microsieverts every day (about 3 millisieverts a year).
| Exam | Estimated dose (µSv) |
|---|---|
| Whole-body composition scan | 0.5–1 |
| Bone density scan (spine and both hips) | about 2 |
| Natural background radiation, one day | about 8 |
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
DEXA is useful if you want to:
- Know your real body fat, midsection fat and muscle, not an estimate
- Track whether a nutrition, training, weight or hormone plan is changing fat or muscle
- Check your bone density, especially after menopause or with other risk factors your provider identifies
DEXA isn’t for you if you’re pregnant or may be pregnant. The scan table holds up to 350 pounds.
What a DEXA scan costs at Rock Creek Wellness
| Scan | Price |
|---|---|
| Body composition (whole body) | $75 |
| Bone density (lower spine and both hips) | $300 |
New Premier Care patients get a DEXA scan included when they establish care. Other patients can have one at the prices above. After that, Premier Care Executive members get a body composition scan and a bone density scan included every year, and Platinum members get both at a discount.
Scans are for Rock Creek Wellness patients. A DEXA scan is an x-ray exam, so it requires an order from one of our providers.
About insurance: we’re a cash-pay clinic and don’t bill insurance. If you only need a bone density test and meet your insurer’s screening criteria, your primary care doctor can usually order one through your plan. We’ll tell you if that’s the better route for you.
How DEXA compares with other body fat tests
Smart scales and handheld devices estimate body fat by sending a small electrical current through you. Results shift with hydration, meals and exercise. Skinfold calipers depend on who’s measuring. BMI uses only height and weight, so it can’t tell muscle from fat.
DEXA measures fat, lean tissue and bone directly and reports each by region. It’s widely used as a reference method in body composition research, and repeat scans on the same machine are consistent, which is what makes tracking change over time meaningful.
Common questions
Is a DEXA scan a full-body scan?
The body composition scan is. It covers your whole body and breaks results down by region. The bone density scan focuses on your lower spine and hips.
Can a DEXA scan measure visceral fat?
Some DEXA scanners have add-on software that estimates visceral fat. Ours doesn’t report a separate visceral fat number. It reports android (midsection) fat and the android/gynoid ratio, which show how much fat you carry around your middle, where visceral fat builds up.
How often should you get a DEXA scan?
Often enough to see real change, which usually means months, not weeks. New Premier Care patients get a scan included at the start of care. After that, Premier Care Executive members get both scans included once a year, and Platinum members get them at a discount.
Is a DEXA scan worth the money?
It depends on what you’ll do with the numbers. If you want to know whether your plan is building muscle or just losing weight, or you need a baseline for bone health, it gives you information nothing on a bathroom scale can. If you don’t plan to act on the results, it probably isn’t worth it, and we’ll say so.
How to get started
DEXA is part of our medical care, not a stand-alone service. If you want your scan to lead to a plan, request an appointment to establish care. If you’re not sure which of our programs fits, including Premier Care and hormone therapy, start with a free 30-minute consultation. We’ll tell you honestly whether we’re the right fit.
Request an appointment or a free consultation · Learn about Premier Care
Individual results vary.