Nerve Conduction and EMG Follow Up

[hunter13hunter]

I originally had a thread here - but it was locked for further replies.

Going in for first EMG...questions about how they’re doing it?

I’ve been having twitching in various parts of my body for the last year and a half. My doctor has ordered labs and an MRI and everything is normal. I’m pretty young (31) so he doubts it’s anything like ALS, but since I’ve been dealing with twitching for a year, he said he would do an EMG...

www.alsforums.com

I had my test in December 2019 and everything was normal. I’ve noticed weakness in my right arm and I’m nervous because they only did the EMG on both legs.

I’m not sure how the testing works, but if I had weakness in my right arm related to ALS, would the EMG on both legs (right and left) show something abnormal?

I hate to follow up and ask - but I just want to make sure I don’t need to call my doctor back, as he wasn’t very receptive to doing the test the first time.

 

[KarenNWendyn]

Most likely the EMG would have shown changes in your legs if you had ALS. Denervation changes in ALS are fairly widespread even before symptoms are noted, so your normal leg results should reassure you.

 

[hunter13hunter]

Most likely the EMG would have shown changes in your legs if you had ALS. Denervation changes in ALS are fairly widespread even before symptoms are noted, so your normal leg results should reassure you.

Thanks. The reason I ask is because they did the nerve conduction study in both arms and both legs, but only the EMG in the legs.

So from everything you know, a separate EMG of my right arm wouldn’t be needed? If there was something related to ALS, the EMG of the legs would have shown it?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[KarenNWendyn]

Correct to both questions.