Numbness, Tingling, or Weakness? How an EMG Finds the Source of Your Nerve Pain

Neuropathy, or nerve pain, affects more than 20 million people in the United States. The pain develops as a result of injured nerves that misfire or exaggerate pain signals to the brain. Various conditions can trigger neuropathy, including:

• Injury
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Shingles
• Autoimmune disease

Frayed and damaged nerve roots can create a number of unpleasant sensations that can lower your quality of life and restrict your movements and activities. Symptoms include shooting pain, a burning sensation, numbness, muscle weakness, and fatigue.

Our expert team at Advanced Medical Care uses a variety of tests to get to the root of your nerve pain so we can bring you relief. One diagnostic test we perform is electromyography (EMG).

How does EMG find the source of your nerve pain? Here are the basics.

What an EMG does

An EMG is an electrodiagnostic test that evaluates your muscle function as well as the function of the nerves that serve your muscles.

Every time you make a movement, your brain sends electrical signals to your nerves, which then transmit them to your muscles. The EMG analyzes the electrical signals that pass between your nerves and muscles. 

This test can detect abnormalities in the signaling process that help pinpoint the nerve that’s at the source of your pain, numbness, or other unsettling symptoms.

How an EMG works

Once your nerves get the signal to move a muscle, it transmits that signal to your muscles, instructing them to contract. Not only is the communication electric, the muscle contraction also produces its own electrical activity. 

The amount of electrical activity a muscle produces depends on how fully it contracts. Muscles at rest don’t produce any electrical activity.

To measure the electrical activity between your nerves and muscles, your doctor inserts electrodes (small needles) at the limb or area where you have pain or unpleasant sensations. The electrodes are connected by wire to a machine that both sends out electrical impulses and records the results. 

Your provider sends an electrical impulse through a needle into one muscle at a time, recording the muscle’s reaction. You feel a small shock during each pulse of electricity. Your provider may ask you to move the muscle in different ways during your EMG.

What an EMG reveals

In about 60-90 minutes of EMG testing, our neurology team gathers enough data to evaluate muscle and nerve communications. Based on how your muscles respond to the electrical impulses sent by the EMG, they can analyze how well the nerves and muscles communicate with each other.

We may conduct an EMG in conjunction with a nerve-conduction study (NCS). Instead of measuring muscular contraction, the NCS measures the intensity of signals that your nerves send.

How we treat your neuropathy

Your neurologist analyzes the results of all testing to pinpoint the location of your nerve pain and to customize a treatment plan to address it. 

Often, underlying conditions contribute to your nerve pain. For instance, neuropathies can arise as a result of diabetes, an infection, or a vitamin-B deficiency. Our first task is addressing the underlying condition through treatment or lifestyle changes.

We also find effective ways to alleviate your current pain, as you begin to heal your nerves. We may use:

• Physical therapy
• Medications
• Acupuncture
• Neurotoxins (e.g., Botox®)

Don’t put up with numbness, fatigue, and pain. Find out what’s causing it with a neuropathy evaluation, including EMG, by reaching out to the experienced providers at Advanced Medical Care. Schedule an appointment today in Queens or Brooklyn, New York.