Making the invisible body visible. Bone scans, osteoporosis and womenʹs bodily experiences

The imaging technology of bone scans allows visualization of the bone structure, and determination of a numerical value. Both these are subjected to professional interpretation according to medical (epidemiological) evidence to estimate the individualʹs risk of fractures. But when bodily experience is challenged by a visual diagnosis, what effect does this have on an individual? The aim of this study was to explore womenʹs bodily experiences after a bone scan and to analyse how the scan affects womenʹs self-awareness, sense of bodily identity and integrity. We interviewed 16 Danish women (aged 61–63) who had had a bone scan for osteoporosis. The analysis was based on Merleau-Pontyʹs perspective of perception as an embodied experience in which bodily experience is understood to be the existential ground of culture and self.