Comment Reply

Hi, Emmaley. Welcome to EmpowHer, and thank you for your question!

First of all, let me congratulate you for asking for a bone scan when things did not seem right to you. When a person has been in unexplained pain for three months, something is clearly going on.

Here are a few things that may help in the translation:

Anterior -- toward the front
Posterolateral -- toward the back and side
Planar images -- multiple images that, together, make up a whole
Uptake -- in this case, it means how much of the x-ray "tracer" material that the bones take in. The more they take in, the more the area shows up as a "hot spot" on the x-ray.
Shoulder girdles -- the three bones that form the shoulder girdle are the clavicle, the scapula and the humerus
Bilaterally -- both sides
Degenerative change -- a change in density that indicates degeneration, or decline
Lumbar scoliosis -- curvature of the spine
Convex -- a convex curve bulges outward. (a concave curve bulges inward).

So looking at your findings, what it tells me is that the combined images of your shoulder bones and knee bones -- on both sides -- show that there was more "uptake" than normal, meaning there is a decline in the density or strength of the bones.

What this doesn't tell us is why. Has your doctor discussed the results of the scan with you yet? Do you have a history of osteoporosis or scoliosis in your family?