--I've had numerous EMG/nerve conduction studies over the years, and a lot depends on the skill and experience of the individual doing it; I've had a range of experiences ranging from mild, temporary discomfort, to major sharp stinging pain and bruising. It's a real caveat emptor situation--one wants to try and find someone who does a lot of these and has modern, up to date equipment (and who knows it should be done in a fairly cool room, as heat is the enemy of nerve conduction and a warm room often necessitates more trials to get an accurate reading . . .)

This idea is certainly expandable to other tests--I've certainly had wildly variable experiences with blood draws, to the point at which if I'm going to have one of my annual or so glucose tolerance tests done--the one that involves about ten draws for glucose and insulin over a five hour period--I'll only go to one center on the days I know certain phlebotomists are there.

And I don't even want to tell you about my spinal tap experience. (I've talked about it on Neurotalk before, and it's funny now in retrospect, but I was close to beating the c**p out of the two small Russian female technicians they sent to do it who COULDN'T FIND THE CANAL. I was finally taken to X-ray where they did it in ten minutes under floroscopy--painless--and when I asked why they didn't do them all that way, I was told insurance wouldn't pay for it unless it couldn't be done "conventionally". I almost smacked that person, too.)