[jon mark]

What medical conditions and neuropathies would normal emg/ ncv test rule out.. Six years ago I went to a neuro because of burning on my torso and then feet and hands.. He gave me a ncv test told me I had mild neuropathy and sent me home with an rx for elavil and temazepan .. I couldn't tolerate the elavil and the temazepan resulted in a long nightmarish withdrawal ... But that is another story... My neuropathy seemed to improve and didn't worsen until last winter.. Now I'm getting more burning and numbness in feet.. Which I never had before I changed health care providers and went to a new neuro.. Unfortunately I couldn't access
my old records because my former neuro passed away... Needles to say I was surprised when the test results came back normal ... Which leads me to believe The original neuro read the Test wrong, or the original neuropathy improved .. Yet my symptoms got worse... Anyway o just requested a skin biopsy to check for sfn... I'm kind of surprised the neuro didnt order it himself.. He ordered all kinds of blood work all of which came back normal except for slightly elevated B6... Sorry for the digression, but back to the original question what type of neuropathies or or other maladies does the normal emg/ncv test rule out... Thanks

[Ragtop262]

Hi jon mark, I'm surprised no one has jumped in on this one yet. In all honesty, from everything I have seen and heard, I'm not sure normal EMG/NCS results by themselves will 100% rule out anything out, its just a piece of the diagnostic puzzle. However, those tests are generally looking at large nerve fibers that control muscles, so normal results tend to point away from motor neuron diseases, or other large fiber injuries or neuropathies (ie: things that affect your muscle strength). They generally do not tell you much about small fiber neuropathies (ierimarily things that affect your sense of touch, or autonomic function).

Since you are experiencing widespread burning sensations which are more typical of small fiber neuropathies, the skin biopsy is the route to go from a diagnosic standpoint. But for some reason, doctors do tend to be hesitant to order that test.