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Old 03-18-2013, 05:27 PM
RMS01 RMS01 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 7
10 yr Member
RMS01 RMS01 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 7
10 yr Member
Default Proper way to do a EMG/NCS test

Among numerous other neurologic injuries - which I'll write about elsewhere sometime - I have some damage to my spine. It appeared without trauma one night in 2007 and has been consistent since then, not getting worse nor better. MRI and CAT shows nothing.

If I keep my neck strainght and my shoulders back, I'm fine. If I let either shoulder slump forward, I get parasthesia in the corresponding ring finger and little finger. If I bend my neck forward, I get parasthesia in those two fingers on both sides.
I experience it on one or both sides almost every night because I tend to curl up a bit when I sleep. Based upon comments from my wife, once I get curled up, it takes about 10 minutes to become painful enough to wake me up. It happens once or twice every night. This has been going on nightly since 2007.

I had a EMG/NCS test the other day. I assumed that I should be in a position to provoke the parasthesia. The tech told me that I should just lie down flat on my back on the table. I replied that then the symptoms would not be present to be measured. She assured me that 6 years of nightly parasthesia - over 2000 events - would leave plenty of evidence of the location of the injury, even if it was not an active symptom during the test.

Was she right? If the report comes back saying that no damage was found, should I tell my doc that the testing was faulty?

Thanks
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