Seniors, concerning osteoporosis, did you or do you have a bone scan to determine the strength of your bones?

How often should one have this type of test and at what age? I had a bone scan a couple of years ago, but it was due to breaking my hip, and the doctor though my bones may be thinning, but that was not the case. Curious to know if anyone has this bone density test done occasionally. Thank you.

Old guy, I was doing pretty darn good with your answer until you said you told me to ditch the cookies. You really know how to hurt a girl now don't ya? lol

I don't know if my age has anything to do with it, but I had my
second exam in two years done recently. I will turn 65 this
year, and maybe that is why I had another so soon. I would not
be surprised, if they make these an annual exam, due to hearing how common place spinal conditions are appearing
in people. And more are facing surgery at younger ages than
before. I would google to see the recommendation for how
often a bone density test is required, and maybe that will give
you a more precise idea on the regularity of this test.

Yes I have . The first time several years ago and was treated with over the counter and no real results. Have moved and new doctor did a scan a month ago and I am now on prescription meds for the next 3 to 5 years and we will see.
A doctor will make that decision based on your history and family predisposition to the thinning.

Every time I get on one of the machines that are intended to give me a birds-eye view of my innner organs, something goes wrong! The machine stops 1/2 way into it, the wires get disconnnected, the print-outs are blurred or there is not enoung ink left in the printer! I have given up on all of this new "crap". I'll take life as it comes. Just like giving birth to a child...the fun is in waiting to see what comes into the world & finding joy in what others often see as a disappointment. Some things are better left unknown so that a person can live life without having to worry about something that is a normal & natural part of life! These are only my personal views on the subject of scans. I suspect my heart will go long before my bones crumble!

Often community health fairs offer simple screening for free to check whether or not you should have a full bone scan for osteoporosis. When the social service agency I worked for had a booth at a local health fair, we all took advantage of this test.
The results surprised us. The older ladies, myself and one other gal (both 55 at the time) were fine. One of our younger co-workers was found to be at high risk for osteoporosis (at 36).

I had a bone scan done at the insistance of my doctor several years ago, because of my age. It showed the early stages of Osteoporosis in two places. The doctor told me to chew "4" extra strength Tums daily, so it won't interfere with the medication I'm on. Tums are a lot cheaper than the prescribed meds.

I had it done once - about 3 years ago - Bone Density was high - and I was told that I had the bones of a 30 year old - not bad for 66! I do not know if it is recommended very often - I have no plans to have another done - I take plenty of Vit. D and Calcium - plus a bunch of other anti-oxidants! Hope this helps CJ

Yes, I have have them done, and any repeat visits for more scans were because the doctor had asked me to come back for more checking. Then, it was decided that there was no need to return. But, maybe it's something that should be discussed at your next doctor's appointment.

I was supposed to have one done a few years ago, but brushed it off. Now my doctor insists on scheduling one for me in two weeks, especially since I broke my foot and have no idea how I did it.

I'm having a DEXA scan this week.I have spinal stenosis and a neurologist had an xray and an MRI done of my spine.My G.P. noticed something on the xray so he scheduled me.I won't know until later on.I'm only 56.

My wife has& she has it! She takes a lot of extra calcium for it. There are prescription med's. you can take for it,but the side effects are awful. I am OK.myself!

Had one about 7 years ago and seems the bones were extremely healthy, same as those of someone much younger. That was such good news that I haven't wanted to check again in case things weren't that good any longer.

i had one done about 3 years ago. it showed i had osteoporosis. i had to take fosamax for 6 months and am now taking calcium supplements daily.

Had a bone scan done many years ago. Showed my bones to be OK. Was done due to mother having osteoporosis.

If the rest of my bones are as dense as me skull,I'm darn near invincible.
The one bone I really care about is OK,so I'm OK.

Had one about 5 years ago. Showed that I have very strong bones. Doc hasn't mentioned it since.

I've only had one bone density. About six years ago.
(age 59)
I was fine then and my doc hasn't mentioned it since.

nope!!!

Yup. Although osteoporosis is considered predominantly a woman's affliction, I've been diagnosed as having full fledged osteoporosis.

I learned about it by chance a number of years ago. Received a flyer in the mail informing me that I could receive for a hundred bucks or so a number of tests that would help determine whether I was a risk because of clogged arteries and a number of other things including osteoporosis. Because I had a doctor's appointment scheduled in the same time frame, I took the flyer with me as asked him for his thoughts about it. He told me it was OK to get those things checked out if I wanted to and that to his knowledge the flyer wasn't connected to a nationwide scam of any kind.

So, I got the tests and passed them except for the osteoporosis test. I got a negative two (-2) score for some reason. The technician who conducted the test double checked her work, and then asked a senior person to test me again. They never told me I had osteoporosis. They just told me that a doctor would review the results and provide details by mail.

I later brought the results to my doctor's office, and the nurse put the paperwork in my medical folder. The doctor didn't notice it, and I forgot about it. Months later, during another appointment he noticed it, apologized for not noticing it earlier, and scheduled me for a more thorough test. In the end, he told me that they had noticed that xrays taken for other reasons seemed to indicate that I had osteopororis but he had disregarded it because of my age, the fact that I'm a man, and last but not least, the fact that xray technicians sometimes produce xrays that are not of very good quality.

After verifying that I officially had osteoporosis, all the recommended was taking "calcium w/vitamin D" tablets. I bought a bottle of them and after taking just a couple tablets over a few days, I noticed that like most pills, they didn't sit well with me. I started to get symptoms of kidney stones. So I gave the bottle of pills to my neighbor who is one who takes calcium tablets on a regular basis.

Looking back on my life (67 now, and maybe 57 when I saw the doctor) I think my osteoporosis was probably brought about over years of my deliberately avoiding milk and other dairy products because I was told to avoid them by a doctor. The doctor who told me to avoid milk and dairy products (most of which are high in calcium) did so because I was suffering from repeated kidney stone attacks. Avoiding dairy products is supposed to help reduce kidney stone production. This started in my late twenties or early thirties. So by the time I was in my late fifties, I'd deprived my body of milk (a primary source of calcium for me) for about 30 years. If calcium is important to bone health, I'd really deprived my bones and probably deserved osteoporosis. But I was following doctor's advice. Today, I take a doctor's advice with a grain of salt. Especially if he's floundering when I ask why he's giving me that advice.

Incidentally, I found out by chance that the reason I was developing kidney stone was that I had limited water intake. When eating out, people would often comment on my eating my meal without water or any other beverage of some kind. For some reason, I didn't feel thirsty when eating. At some point in life I read about kidney stones forming partly due to a lack of fluids to flush out the crystals that they originate from. So I decided to make it a point to drink fluids every day. After starting to do that, I didn't have another kidney stone incident. It's been at least twenty years now.

To net out my response, I unnecessarily spent a lot of money with doctors because of kidney stones when a simple thing such a water was the real cure. And I could also spend a lot of money (probably unnecessarily) on osteoporosis when no cure exists, or milk (which I'm now drinking again) is probably the cheapest medicine for it. What I've learned (I think) is to take what doctors say with a grain of salt. They are business people, and although they are concerned about your health, they are also interested in making money. And many are interested in making the money as quickly as possible so that they can retire at an early age and live the good life.

If the doctor "thought" your bones "may" be thining, then you don't have anything to worry about. Just have some milk and cookies. Er, on second thought, skip the cookies. Milk has a pretty good reputation; cookies don't.