[Steff]

i had an emg that i waited for 6 weks. the doc put 3 needles in me and that was that. oonly in one leg. that cannot be right. i asked him and he said he had enought info. i was fine-have a pain syndrome.
when my son had an EMG he had something like 20 different muscles points they tested.
what is going on here? now if i question this doc he will stop treatment and i have to go to primary and try to get another neuro and then the insurance wont pay for another emg.
what are your experiences? this guy was suppose to be great!
steff

[dahlek]

For others [like me], it hurt only a little bit.
http://www.medicinenet.com/electromyogram/article.htm
The above explanation should help a bit in explaining the procedure[s]. I've found no problems in having a second opinion where the specialist wanted to do the tests by his/her standards and the quality of testing can vary due to the equipment used or how the test results are interpreted.

I've had the 'few' point tests, and the 'many' point tests..I'd want to get a copy of the test results then do web searches on what it all means - the meaning of it all is the hardest to grasp, but its worth having in hand.

Don't worry yet, wait for the results - j

[BEGLET]

Hi Steff,

I've had a number of NCS/EMGS in the last 7 years - each was different depeding on the doctor and the extent of my symtoms (as the PN spread body wide - so did the testing).... they are probably looking just at the areas they feel are affected - which they did to me at first... the last one was body wide as symtoms are now - but again, seems like depends on your individual symtoms and how widespread any potential damage the neuro may feel is there.....

Hopefully this test will give them the info they need

[Yorkiemom]

Hi Steff:

I had head to toe EMG/Nerve Conduction studies when I first got sick. These were highly abnormal and extremely painful to me. In comparison, the one I had done in the hospital took about 5 minutes and showed nothing...

This is not to say that I would recommend head to toe, because some of us seem very sensitive to this testing.

If your pain is the result of sensory nerve problems though, I think that a punch biopsy (intrapidermal skin biopsy) is more revealing than these tests...

Cathie

[MelodyL]

I can only tell you about my last Nerve Conduction Test. I always get them confused with the EMGs.

I gather that what I had was a nerve conduction test. The nurse came at me with a cattle prod. She shocked me once, I said ouch. She shocked me again, I said ouch a bit louder. She shocked me again and I jumped off the table and threatened to punch her lights out. She just sighed.

Yeah, good old nerve conduction tests. I guess it's all about how sensitive a person is and of course, whether the person is going to get violent on the nurse. lol

Melody

[BEGLET]

The tests can be done separately - but usually together if both are needed... the Nerve Conduction Study is the shocks - and they test areas they feel need too (I've found the amount of pain, if any, varies on doc techniques and just how dead the nerves are that are being tested - no pain on the dead ones).... and EMG portion is needles that are put in strategic places (doc stuff) again anywhere on the body the doc feels necessary and can hurt - but degree also seems to depend on doc technique.... (if it helps, they usually save the most painful location for last stab! so the patient doesnt bolt!)