[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/testing\/small-change-in-bone-density-test-results-should-you-worry\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/testing\/small-change-in-bone-density-test-results-should-you-worry\/","headline":"Small changes in bone density test results \u2014 should you worry?","name":"Small changes in bone density test results \u2014 should you worry?","description":"Print PDF eBook Facebook Twitter Gmail LinkedIn Pinterest So, you just had a follow-up bone density test, you\u2019re frightened and disheartened. The doctor reports that since your last exam 3 years ago, your bone density test results show that you\u2019ve lost 4% in your spine and 2% in your hip. The doctor says \u2014 forcefully […]","datePublished":"2019-09-04","dateModified":"2026-04-05","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/#Person","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/","identifier":72,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Center for Better Bones","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","width":150,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/bone-density-test-results-BB-Blog-4-20.jpg","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/bone-density-test-results-BB-Blog-4-20.jpg","height":1109,"width":2120},"url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/testing\/small-change-in-bone-density-test-results-should-you-worry\/","video":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"VideoObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nRGIiTKyy7k#VideoObject","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nRGIiTKyy7k","name":"Should you worry about slight changes in bone density?","description":"Dr. Brown interviews one of her male clients, Ken, at the Love Your Bones Love Your Life Retreat. Ken had a unique experience with having his bone density tested several times. \n\u2192 Want to learn everything you need to manage & reverse your osteoporosis\/osteopenia naturally in one inspiring weekend with Dr. Brown? Join our bone health retreat & workshop! Learn more here: https:\/\/shop.betterbones.com\/pages\/love-your-bones-love-your-life-virtual-retreat\n\n\u2192 If you are interested in working with Dr. Brown to develop a personalized natural bone health program, read more about consultations here: https:\/\/www.betterbones.com\/consultations\/help-osteoporosis-osteopenia-fracture-healing-bone-health-concerns\/\n\n\u2192 Would you like your questions answered by Dr. Brown?  Comment below and she may address them in a future video!\n\nCheck out our website! \u2192 http:\/\/ www.betterbones.com\n\nWant to connect with Better Bones on social media?\nLike on Facebook \u2192 http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bFollow on Twitter \u2192 http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/drsusanbrown\n\u200bFollow our Instagram \u2192 http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bCheck out our Pinterest \u2192 http:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\n#osteoporosis #osteopenia #bonemass #bonehealth #weightandbonemass #womenshealth #drsusanbrown #betterbonesbetterbody #preventosteoporosis\n\nTranslation:\nhi everyone dr. Susan Brown director of\nthe Center for better bones today were\nhere in Homestead Pennsylvania and our\nthird love your bones love your true\nlove your life love your bones retreat\nwith Ken welcome Ken glad to have you\nwith us glad to be here you know at the\nretreat I go over every client's case\nand I was very interested in Ken because\nhe had his low bone mass and the doctors\nhave been concerned about it\nhe's been looking at all the different\nthe doctors have been helping him study\nwhat could be the cause of this low bone\nmass but the most interesting thing was\nhis bone density test and that's why I\ntend to be here he had he had a bone\ndensity test let's see he had one in\nJanuary why did they give you the go\nahead City Tuscon well I had had a\nspinal fracture but five years prior but\nthere was never any follow-up until I\ntalked good stuff so you met like you\nsaid a new doctor and he said gee you\nhad a fracture five years ago let's see\nwhat is going on with the bone density\nright so they measured his bone density\nand you know they measure the hip and\nthen they measure the spine and it was\nsort of interesting so they got a kind\nof a little reading and then what did\nthey do well we looked at the results\nand both my doctor and I were surprised\nthat yes exactly yes so we were both a\nlittle skeptical and we thought well\nmaybe we should just try it one more\ntime just in case there was a mistake\nmade so about ten days later we had\nanother test so ten days later they go\nto the same laboratory they have a\ndifferent different technician probably\nwas on duty but the same machine the\nsame laboratory and this test result\nshowed that in the hip\nit was 4% difference just in ten days\nnow the reason I'm bringing this up and\nthis it's very interesting the hip was\n4% lower in 10 days and the spine was 2%\nhigher in 10 days now you know you can't\nchange bone density that quick the point\nof the point of Ken's story to me is\nwe always take the bone density test\nwith a grain of salt that they're not\nreally precise if you remember my\ndiscussion of Susan Atwood put a hundred\npeople on her machine a big researcher\nfamous researcher with well calibrated\nmachines she put those hundred people\nout our machines walked around the room\nand said you need a five or six percent\nchange to be sure it's not placement on\nthe machine now your doctor never told\nyou that when you got the bone density\ntest but ken is a living example the ten\ndays you can see a really significant\ndifference so the gist of it is should\nchemists had stuff to work out he's\ngonna try to figure out why does bone\ndensity might be low I'll give you a tip\nwe know partly because the cannon is a\nvery small man he's like wait he's small\nbones one of my other clients was a\nsmall man he went he came to me and I\nsaid look I don't see anything wrong and\nhe went to many doctors and he finally\nfound a doctor that compared his bone\ndensity ran the bone density like if he\nwere a woman against the woman standard\nwhich are small bone standards and he\nturned out to have normal bone so we\nknow that that's not every case we know\nyou had a fracture so we got to work\nreally hard to find out what if what the\nweakness cause might be but we do know\nfrom Ken's case that take the bone\ndensity with a grain of salt a 4% change\nmight not necessarily be significant and\nit made B and D just how you were placed\non that machine great and as we're\nclosing Ken tell me how did you what did\nyou find useful I retreat here in\nPennsylvania\nwell I thought every day was it was\namazing oh well the staff material the\nvenue exceeded my expectations you know\nand I really appreciate","thumbnailUrl":["https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/nRGIiTKyy7k\/default.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/nRGIiTKyy7k\/mqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/nRGIiTKyy7k\/hqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/nRGIiTKyy7k\/sddefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/nRGIiTKyy7k\/maxresdefault.jpg"],"uploadDate":"2019-05-21T14:14:29+00:00","duration":"PT4M35S","embedUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nRGIiTKyy7k","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw#Organization","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown","description":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD, is a medical anthropologist, a New York State Certified Nutritionist, and the author of Better Bones, Better Body -- the first comprehensive look at natural bone health. Dr. Brown specializes in osteoporosis, osteopenia, bone health regeneration, and auto-immune disease. She is also famous for her natural approach to bone health; check out her Better Bones programs and products.","logo":{"url":"https:\/\/yt3.ggpht.com\/ytc\/AIdro_m0l08uY9k8RO1FbN8-VsYIOa8fiq9BtocNNM_k3xw7a7s=s800-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj","width":800,"height":800,"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nRGIiTKyy7k#VideoObject_publisher_logo_ImageObject"}},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nRGIiTKyy7k#VideoObject_potentialAction","target":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nRGIiTKyy7k&t={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"},"interactionStatistic":[[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nRGIiTKyy7k#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_WatchAction","interactionType":{"@type":"WatchAction"},"userInteractionCount":1270}],{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nRGIiTKyy7k#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_LikeAction","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":10}]},"about":["Testing"],"wordCount":695,"articleBody":" Print PDF eBook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTwitter\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGmail\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedIn\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPinterest\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSo, you just had a follow-up bone density test, you\u2019re frightened and disheartened. The doctor reports that since your last exam 3 years ago, your bone density test results show that you\u2019ve lost 4% in your spine and 2% in your hip. The doctor says \u2014 forcefully \u2014 that you\u2019re in danger of fracturing with this continued bone loss and recommended a bone drug for you to begin taking.If you\u2019re like most of my clients, your mind immediately goes in to self-critical mode: \u201cOh, no! What I\u2019m doing isn\u2019t working. I\u2019m doomed to continue losing bone. I\u2019ll end up fracturing just as the doctor suggests \u2014 perhaps even permanently handicapped!\u201dNearly every day at the Center for Better Bones, I hear from people frightened by small changes in their bone density test. The problem is, they\u2019re being needlessly frightened; in everyday clinical practice, one finds that these tests are not that accurate or reproducible.So, take a deep breath, and let me explain another way to look at small changes in bone density measurements.Table of ContentsToggle     3 Minutes ReadWhat bone density measurements really meanBone density test results: a cautionary taleWhat bone density measurements really meanThe science of bone density testing leaves much to be desired. In the first place, the tests do not actually measure bone density; they simply estimate the mineral content of bone. And they can\u2019t detect bone strength, which matters more than density. The assumption that bone density is the same as bone strength has long since been proven false: many, if not most, low trauma fractures \u2014 the hallmark of osteoporosis \u2014\u00a0do not have an \u201costeoporotic\u201d bone density as defined by a T-score of \u20132.5.\u00a0Also, today\u2019s testing is very influenced by bone area \u2014 which means that lightweight and small-boned people come up with lower bone density readings than heavier folks with larger bones.And then there is the fact that in everyday clinical practice the tests are not highly reproducible. You can put a person on the testing machine, measure them, walk them around the room, then measure them again, only to find a significant difference between the two measurements \u2014 even using the same machine. Dr. Susan Ott, a well-known osteoporosis specialist, did just that \u2014 she placed 300 people on her machine, measured their bone mineral density, had them walk around the room, then did another bone density test. From her analysis, she found that we need to see a change of more than 6% to be certain of a statistically significant change in density.Bone density test results: a cautionary taleConsider Ken\u2019s story. Ken came to the Center for Better Bones seeking to improve his bone health. He had suffered several fractures in the past, but no new fractures in five years. No density tests had been done until recently, when his new doctor suggested they do one. Both Ken and his doctor were very taken aback when Ken\u2019s bone density test results came back extremely low. They both felt it must be a testing error, so Ken underwent a second bone density test just 11 days after the first in the exact same medical facility.Ken\u2019s bone mineral density tests, done less than 2 weeks apart, showed a significant difference:– The spine bone mineral density was 2% higher than on the first test.– The neck of the hip bone density was 4.10% lower than on the first test.It\u2019s obvious that Ken isn\u2019t losing so much bone in his hip and gained noteablebone in his spinein just 11 days. Clearly,\u00a0the difference is built into the test\u2019s error margin. This is not the first case where a medical test appears accurate and reproducible in highly controlled studies, but later is shown to be much less reproducible in real-life clinical practice.And here\u2019s the moral of the story: as far as bone density testing goes, \u201cDon\u2019t sweat the small stuff!\u201dWant to learn more about how to interpret your bone density test results? Take my e-course: How to Understand Your Bone Density Test & What It Means for You. "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Testing","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/testing\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Small changes in bone density test results \u2014 should you worry?","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/testing\/small-change-in-bone-density-test-results-should-you-worry\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]