Exeter Massage Therapy hosts bone scan clinic - Owen Sound Sun Times

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Exeter Massage Therapy hosted a bone scan clinic on Fri., Oct. 21 which featured an EchoS device that does bone scans without using radiation. From left are Megan Buhrmester of SonoHealth, Karen Brown of Exeter who received a bone scan, and Exeter Massage Therapy owner Stephanie Vandenbussche, who plans to hold future bone scan clinics. Photo by Scott Nixon /jpg, LA

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EXETER – A recent bone density clinic at Exeter Massage Therapy featured technology that allows bone scans to be done without using radiation.

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The clinic, held Fri., Oct. 21, featured a partnership between Exeter Massage Therapy and SonoHealth, and featured use of an EchoS device for bone density scans.

Exeter Massage Therapy owner and registered massage therapist Stephanie Vandenbussche said 15 clients were scanned during the day, and she was excited to feature the technology at her location. She said she plans to bring back the EchoS device in the future for additional clinics.

The clinic was one of the first to feature the technology in Southwestern Ontario.

Also on hand during the clinic was registered massage therapist Margaret Wallis-Duffy of Georgetown’s Wallis for Wellness, who Vandenbussche said has been a mentor for her. Wallis-Duffy said while most people aren’t eligible for a standard DXA bone scan until they are 65 or if they’ve had a fracture, the EchoS offers the opportunity to provide bone density information to clients of a younger age. As well, the technology uses no radiation, but instead uses REMS technology – Radiofrequency Echographic Multi Spectometry. The device is also mobile.

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Wallis-Duffy said clients who are scanned receive a report and letter to take to their doctor.

“It’s really exciting,” she said of the device, which records bone mass changes and has been used for years in Italy.

Vandenbussche said the EchoS device provides clients with a fragility score and their risk of fracture for the next five years. Wallis-Duffy approached Vandenbussche with the idea to use the technology in Exeter, and the plan is to further expand its use across Canada, Vandenbussche said.

She said the Oct. 21 bone scan clinic at Exeter Massage Therapy went very well, and she said the service “elevates our profession as massage therapists.”

Vandenbussche said the importance of the scan is that if it indicates the client has osteoporosis, there may be ways to slow it down.

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“With diet and exercise and supplements, there are lots of different things you can do to help your bone health. And the cool thing about this is, six months or a year from now you can get another scan and you can actually see your progress … It’s that satisfaction of being able to see if what you’re doing is making changes or is slowing things down.”

She said with herself and Wallis-Duffy, “It’s all about client-centred care. The client is number one.”

Of being a massage therapist, Vandenbussche said, “Eighteen years in and I’m more passionate about my work than ever. It’s exciting to be able to help. We have the opportunity as massage therapists to spend so much time with our clients. You get to know them … We’re one of the regulated health care professionals that gets that real opportunity to connect with the people that are in front of us, and to see things that other people don’t have the opportunity or the time to see.”

While bone scans with the EchoS are not covered by OHIP, they can be claimed on income tax as a medical expense, and some extended health plans do allow for the expense in their coverage.

“Something like this is amazing for our profession,” Vandenbussche said.

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