Active Release Technique for Treating Chronic Pain
July 19, 2016Stay Ageless with a PRP Facial
August 2, 2016Injured or compressed nerves can cause muscle spasms, stabbing pain, numbing/tingling and dysfunction. If you think you may have a compromised nerve, advanced nerve testing can diagnose your symptoms and help you receive the treatment you need for recovery. The human body houses millions of neurons that transmit sensations from the skin and organs. 12 pairs of cranial nerves and another 31 pairs of spinal nerves also play a vital role in transmitting/receiving information. When one or more of these nerves becomes damaged or compressed, pain and dysfunction set in. However, there are many other conditions that cause the same symptoms as nerve damage. To determine what is behind your inflammation or chronic pain, nerve testing can reveal the health of your muscles and nerves with precision and ease.
What is Advanced Nerve Testing?
Advanced nerve testing utilizes several diagnostic tests that work to isolate varying types of injuries involving your nerves. The two main tests that are the industry standard are electromyography (EMG) and Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV). They help your care providers understand, with real data, how serious your condition may be. The test results are instantaneous–no need to come back to get your results. A provider at Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center can review your results with you to get you started on healing and recovery as soon as possible.
Understanding Electromyography
Electromyography (EMG) tests the electrical impulses your muscles send to discover if they are functioning correctly. Healthy, intact muscle groups each produce specific signals. Signal variations can flag your provider to a problem and the location of the problem. Electromyography advanced nerve testing can discover if there is disease present that is damaging muscle tissue or any other kind of spinal or nerve problem. To administer this test, a skilled member of our Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center team will insert a very small needle just under your skin–usually with local anesthesia to make you more comfortable–so that the electrical impulses can be captured with precision and accuracy. A technician will ask you to contract and relax certain muscle groups to form the information needed for a correct diagnosis. Advanced nerve testing allows your doctor to determine where your symptoms are stemming from–with the muscle or with the nerves that control the muscle. This distinction is critical to provide you with effective treatment planning. The information gathered by your doctor through advanced nerve testing gives him a powerful view of exactly what is going on inside you; information that can give you peace of mind that your treatment will eliminate your pain and/or dysfunction.
Understanding Nerve Conduction Velocity
While an electromyogram measures the electrical activity of relaxed and contracted muscles, nerve conduction velocity (NCV) testing ascertains the speed at which your nerves are sending electrical signals. Electrical signals, or impulses, are how the nerves control your body’s muscles and movements. Specifically, nerve conduction testing is used to reveal damage to the peripheral nervous system–all the nerves that lead away from the brain and spinal cord and your smaller nerves that branch out from those nerves. Both the EMG and the NCV tests are used together because the data they provide gives a fuller picture of the health of your nerves and muscles. During a nerve conduction test, your technician will place a shock-emitting electrode on top of the nerve that is being evaluated, and then a recording electrode is placed over the muscles supplied by that nerve. The shock-emitting electrode directs consecutive, short electrical pulses to your nerve, while the recording electrode gathers the time it takes for muscle contraction after an electrical pulse is received.
Why Undergo Advanced Nerve Testing?
Approximately 20 million people in the United States have some form of peripheral neuropathy (damage or nerve disease). This condition is a result of damage to your peripheral nervous system — the communications network that sends information between your central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) and the other parts of your body. Neuropathy can cause disabling symptoms and pain that can greatly impact your quality of life. Diagnosing disease or nerve damage early can save you from a lifetime of health and physical challenges. Without the proper diagnostic tools, your doctor is unable to give you the accurate information you need regarding your symptoms and is seriously impaired with planning a successful treatment program for your recovery. You want to have a full picture of what is going on. Advanced nerve testing provides that for you and your doctor so that you can get on the road to healing and recovery. These tests are minimally invasive and don’t require a recovery period or hospital stay. After an EMG, you may experience some temporary, minor bruising at the site where the electrode was inserted into your muscle, but this bruising should fade within a few days.
Call for an Advanced Nerve Testing Consultation
Choosing a state-of-the-art facility for your advanced nerve testing treatment can help put you on the road to success. Texas Spine and Sports Therapy Center provides you with the team approach you need to get to your desired goals safely and efficiently. Conveniently located Near Seton Hospital on 38th Street in Austin, Texas, our team of multidisciplinary providers are trained and skilled at providing advanced nerve testing diagnosing and treatment. Call us at (512) 806-0015 today to make an appointment.