Quote:
Originally Posted by hope4thebest
Has anyone had a nerve conduction test/emg in their RSD foot/limb?
I'm having this done next week .....if I don't run away first...(limp away  )
I'm sure it is different for everyone and there isn't a way to predict or guage the OUCH factor..  but it'll help(I think....  ) to hear about your experience with it..
It might cause a flare, and extreme pain, but we've got to find out what's goin' on with my nerves...are they dead or alive.... 
The injury was in 2006 and the surgery was in 2008 and this has never been done..
thanks for writing about your experience...good or bad!
Hugs from
Hope4thebest oxoxxoxo |
Sure. I've had it done bianually - every two years on average - since 2001. It's not so bad, once you get used to it. And while it doesn't pick up the small fiber neuropathy that this the sine qua non of RSD, it is useful and I'm told necessary for ruling out other problems that may set in over time. Here's a link to a little Wikipedia article on the procedure, and specifically what they are looking for with it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_conduction_study
It consist of two parts, I've forgotten which is which. In one case, extremly thin (accupuncture width) needles are inserted fairly deep into the luscle that don't hurt a bit: certainly not if you have any perepheral neuropathy in the area as I do. Then they just monitor electrical signalling. The only exception in terms of discomfort is if someone manipulates the limb with the needles in the muscles. That can get uncomfortable. On the other hand, when a young hot shot did that to me at Cedars, I had the occassion to then bring the report with me a few months later to the Mayo Clinic Rochester, where a neurologist proclaimed it an "outstanding" study. So this may be an area where you get what you pay for.
The other part of the study sounds scarrier, but it's not so bad. Basically, you're wired for sound and then introduced to the business end of a catttle prod. Not so bad because (1) there are few if any nerves of interest in the feet so they don't usually start that low and (2) because each burst is mercifully short. The most uncomfortable one I had was at the Mayo Clinic, where the neurologist tried to see if he could induce a spasms with a computer controlled firing something between 8 - 12 bursts per second. The good news was that it was over in about 1.5 seconds with no ill effects. That, and for reasons unclear to me, I am told that they can get all the information they need by testing a single leg.
Only one word of caution: if you have any "trick knees" or the like, be sure to tell the neurologist before s/he starts the any manipulation of your leg as part of the procedure.
Hope this is hepful.
Mike