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Nerve conduction study
This is the test people are most often not warned about properly — so we will be straight with you. It is not painless. It is uncomfortable in short bursts, it lasts about twenty minutes, and it leaves nothing behind.
What people worry about
Electric shocks will damage my nerves.
The pulses are tiny and they change nothing.
The current is very small — enough to make the nerve fire so the machine can time it. It does not injure the nerve, and there is no cumulative effect.
You may feel a little tender afterwards. That is all.
Is it painful?
It is uncomfortable, not painful — and it comes in short bursts.
Each pulse feels like a sharp tap or a static shock, and makes the muscle twitch. Each one lasts a fraction of a second, with pauses in between.
You can ask for a break at any point and you can stop altogether. Most people find the anticipation harder than the test.
They put needles in the muscle. That must be terrible.
Not every study includes that part, and when it does, it is a fine needle.
The second half — the EMG — uses a fine needle in the muscle to listen to its electrical activity. It aches rather than stings, and only a few muscles are tested.
Ask beforehand whether your study includes it, so nothing is a surprise.
What actually happens
Small sticky pads are placed on the skin 5 minutes
Over the nerve and the muscle it supplies.
Short pulses are given 10–20 minutes
A sharp tap, the muscle twitches, and the machine times how fast the signal travels. Repeated at several points along the nerve.
The needle part, if included 10 minutes
A fine needle into a few muscles. You are asked to relax, then to tense gently. It aches.
Done —
Pads removed. You go home and carry on as normal.
Ready when you are.
Call either clinic during consulting hours, or send a WhatsApp message any time.