Does electromyography (EMG/NCV) hurt?
Electromyography and nerve conduction studies are used to evaluate individuals for nerve or muscle problems such as pinched nerves in the neck, carpal tunnel syndrome, nerve diseases, or muscle diseases. There are two parts to the study: 1) Electromyography 2) Nerve conduction studies. The nerve conduction studies consist of stimulating various nerves and recording the responses over a muscle or the skin. The electrical stimulations are very short (milliseconds), but can be felt. While there are no complications to the nerve conduction studies, the electrical stimulations (even though they are very brief) can be briefly uncomfortable. Electromyography consists of placing a very skinny pin into different muscles (one at a time) and recording electrical activity that is occurring in the muscles while they are moving and at rest. The biggest problem with electromyography is more of the thought of it since most everyone has some anxiety to needles, or “needlephobia.” However, there are no
