ALS (formerly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease).

(Find a doctor at HSS who performs EMG testing.) What is an EMG test used to diagnose?Ĭonditions that EMG testing helps diagnose include: In most cases, your doctor will perform both elements, but in some situations, only one or the other may be done.

Each needle has a microscopic electrode that picks up both the normal and abnormal electrical signals given off by a muscle. Needle exam for muscle testing – Very fine needles are inserted into several muscles.Nerve conduction study – The nerves are stimulated at different points with small electric shocks, artificially activating them so their function can be measured.An EMG nerve test can provide your doctor with specific information about the extent of nerve and/or muscle injury and can also determine the exact location of injury and give some indication whether the damage is reversible. It is commonly performed by a physiatrist or neurologist with special training for this procedure.

What you should know before an EMG test?Įlectromyography (EMG) is a form of electrodiagnostic testing that is used to study nerve and muscle function.What are the side effects of EMG testing?.

Why does my doctor want me to have an EMG test?.And even in the times when your pain is persistent and your test results are normal, there are many things that we as pain medicine physicians can do to provide a patient with significant pain relief. How does it the patient describe the pain? Is it sharp? Is it dull? Is it aching? A good pain physician will be able to take that information, start thinking about how to best treat that patient. Then it's becomes who's the pain physician and the patient to actually extract a very good history as it relates to the pain. Or two, we don't have the adequate testing available to assess a pain. And it may be because it takes time for the test result to change. Their EMG may be normal, but yet they actually have pain. Because there are scenarios when patients, they have absolutely normal testing. And actually, that's the beginning of the time when a person should actually see a pain specialist. They've seen their primary care physician and they're starting to wonder as to whether or not this pain is all in their head, whether they're crazy. — - Question: What If All The Tests Are Normal But I Still Have Pain?Īnswer: There are times when patients will present where all the tests are normal.

Pain after emg test