Electromyography (EMG) is a diagnostic process that checks the muscles’ health and checks nerve cells that regulate them (motor neurons). This process results show nerve and muscle dysfunction or issues with nerve-to-muscle signal transmission.

Motor neurons forward electrical signals so that muscles can contract. In EMG, several tiny tools called electrodes to use to get these signs into graphs, sounds, or numerical values that need to be interpreted by a specialist.

In a needle EMG, a needle implanted straight into a muscle tape the electrical exercise in that muscle.

A nerve conduction examination is another part of an EMG, uses electrode stickers executed on the skin (surface electrodes) to check the rate and intensity of signals moving between 2 or more points.

Why it’s done

You may require an EMG when you have symptoms or signs that may intimate a tissue or muscle dysfunction. Such signs may include:

• Tingling
• Numbness
• Muscle weakness
• Muscle strain or cramping
• Unusual types of limb pain

EMG outcomes are often needed to help diagnose or rule out many states, such as:

• Muscle ailments, such as muscular dystrophy or polymyositis
• Diseases influencing the link between the nerve and the muscle, such as myasthenia gravis
• Disorders of nerves outside the spinal cord (peripheral nerves), such as carpal tunnel syndrome or peripheral neuropathies
• Disorders that affect the motor neurons in the brain or spinal cord, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or polio
• Disorders that hit the nerve root, such as a herniated disk in the spine.

A nerve conduction velocity (NCV) test — estimates how quick an electrical impulse travel through your nerve, and it also recognizes the damages in nerve.

At the time of the test, your nerve gets stimulated, usually with electrode pieces connected to your skin. Two electrodes are put on the surface, covering your nerve. One electrode stimulates your nerve with a very light electrical impulse. The other electrode reads it. Another electrode shows the resulting electrical activity. And the same process goes on for every nerve.