What happens during an EMG?
During this test, you will be lying on an examination table, next to an EMG machine (which looks like a desktop or laptop computer). The test consists of two parts, though at times one may be done without the other. The first part is called Nerve Conduction Studies. In this part some brief electrical shocks are delivered to your arm or leg in an effort to determine how fast or slowly your nerves are conducting the electrical current and therefore in what state of health or disease they may be. You see, a nerve works something like an electrical wire. If you want to see if the wire is functioning properly, the easiest thing to do is to run electricity through it. If there are any problems along its length, you will know it by a failure of the current to go through. To do this, the doctor will attach small recording electrodes to the surface of one part of your limb, and will touch your skin at another point with a pair of electrodes delivering the shock. When this happens, you will feel
