Alternate title… “The Day I Was Electrocuted.”
[Disclaimer - if you don't like needles, there is a needle picture coming! It's teeny tiny though. And no blood.]
(Marking nerve landmarks. Please ignore unfortunate/awkward position of the hand.) Last week I had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of an EMG, or Electromyography. That E_G sequence may look familiar to you, as in ECG (electrocardiogram), EEG (electroencephalogram), EKG (same as ECG). An electrocardiogram is for monitoring your heart, and an electroencephalogram for picking up electrical activity of the brain. (Question for you Dr. Greg or anyone else who can answer… why is an EMG -graphy, and ECG and EEG are -gram?)
So then, what is an EMG?
An EMG, or electromyography, is a diagnostic test used to evaluate the health and functioning of motor neurons and the muscles they stimulate. You can use electrodes placed on the surface of the skin to detect or transmit electrical signals, and/or you can do a needle EMG, in which case a needle is placed directly into the muscle and records electrical activity. I was fortunate enough to do BOTH, because really, who doesn’t want to be shocked and skewered by their doctor?
The electrodes were moved around as he shocked different nerves. A made-me-jump shock at my elbow felt like a finger tap on the medial side of my palm. Hmmmm….)
Your doctor may order an EMG if you are experiencing tingling, numbness, loss of motor control, weakness, pain, or cramping. An EMG may be used for preliminary testing for muscular dystrophy, polymyositis, myasthenia gravis, carpal tunnel syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or a herniated disk in the spine. Putting my sarcasm aside for a minute – I am very thankful that I have none of these are my diagnosis, and honestly and deeply do appreciate my health.
A neurologist typically reads the graphs/charts created during the EMG, and will go over it with your doctor, who will go over it with YOU. There are really only two outcomes: normal tells you you’re fine, but doesn’t solve the question/issue you were trying to solve by doing an EMG in the first place… and abnormal tells you you have more testing to do.
And that, my friends, is more than I’m sure you ever wanted to know about electromyography. 
(Needle EMG! It was honestly the size of an acupuncture needle… teeny!) If you’re wondering why I was getting an EMG in the first place, it’s a long story that I’m about to make really short. A couple Sundays ago, I was in the middle of a pull set (in the pool) when I realized water was flooding through my left hand. No matter how hard I focused on it, I couldn’t keep the fingers on my left hand together. I was only about 1,000m into the workout, and it was a pretty easy swim to begin with, so I was reasonably frustrated and confused. (Imagine trying to kayak with a paddle full of holes!!) No pain, just weakness and lack of motor control. If you have ever come in from a winter run and you can’t coax your fingers to turn a door key or untie a shoelace, that’s exactly how my fingers felt (/feel). Fortunately, I already had an appointment scheduled with my sports med doc anyways for later that week, so I was able to get in and get her (doctor’s) opinion relatively quickly.
However, the issue is still not resolved, as I haven’t been able to successfully swim more than 1000m before losing strength in my left hand. (I know – cry me a river. But even if you don’t love swimming, you’d probably miss it too if you’re used to swimming on a regular schedule!) It’s mostly affecting the extensors and the pinky and ring finger, which to me sounds like an impinged ulnar nerve. The person reading the EMG had the same consensus, and now, I think, it’s just a waiting game.
Reader Qs:
Have you ever had an EMG, ECG, or EEG? If so, why was it ordered, and what did it show?
See … Mondays aren’t really so bad. You get to learn something new, and you don’t even need to sit through a whole semester of PHAR 5201! Make the start of the week a good one!
-E
On the second day of the sale, a neighbor lady stopped by who works with 
But finally – after so many years – I think I’ve found “the one”…
