Patient Resources

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Patient Resources

THIS SITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE

The contents of this site are for informational purposes only. This is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this site or any of the sites that are linked here. Disclaimer and Hyperlink Notification Information

Before you have your nerve conduction study and needle EMG examination make sure they are being performed by a trained physician!

You have the right to demand that your tests be performed by a doctor who is qualified to do these tests and who knows how to intrepret them.

Only a trained doctor can evaluate your problem, design the test, perform it, and interpret the results to determine the correct diagnosis explaining what is causing your problem.

EMGs and Nerve Conduction Studies

EMGs and nerve conduction studies are used to diagnose diseases such as carpal tunnel syndrome, pinched back nerves, Lou Gehrig's disease, and more. It is imperative that a physician trained in electrodiagnostic medicine perform the study to ensure that the final diagnosis is the correct one. Before your study, tell the physician if you are taking aspirin or blood thinners (like Coumadin®), have a pacemaker, or have hemophilia. Take a bath or shower to remove oil from your skin. Do not use body lotion on the day of the test. Read more about EMGs

Disorders That Affect Muscles and/or Nerves

This area of the AANEM website contains short, general definitions of several disorders that affect the muscles and/or nerves. In most cases, links to more specialized websites are provided for each disorder so that more in-depth information can be accessed.

Listed below are five general categories of symptoms that muscle and/or nerve disorders fall into that you can explore. Otherwise click on a specific disorder from the list.

Select a Disorder for More Information
Acute Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculopathy (AIDP)	Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSH)	Peroneal Neuropathy
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)	Guillain-Barré Syndrome	Pinched Nerve
Arthyrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC)	Hemifacial Spasm	Polymyositis
Autonomic Disorders	Hereditary Motor Sensory Neuropathy (HMSN)	Polyneuropathy
Becker Muscular Dystrophy	Inclusion Body Myositis	Pompe
Bell's Palsy	Kugelberg-Welander Disease	Post-polio Syndrome
Blepharospasm	Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome	Posterior Interosseous Neuropathy
Botulism	Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy	Radial Nerve Palsy
Brachial Plexopathy	Low Back Pain	Radiculopathy
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome	Lumbar Radiculopathy	Restless Legs Syndrome
Cervical Radiculopathy	Malignant Hyperthermia	Rhabdomyolysis
Charcot-Marie-Tooth	Mononeuropathy Multiplex	Sciatica
Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculopathy (CIDP)	Motor Neuron Disease	Spasmodic Dysphonia
Congenital Myasthenia Gravis	Multifocal Motor Neuropathy	Spasmodic Torticollis
Congenital Myopathy	Multiple Sclerosis	Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Critical Illness Myopathy	Muscular Dystrophy	Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome
Critical Illness Neuropathy	Myasthenia Gravis	Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
Dermatomyositis	Myopathy	Tremor
Diabetic Amyotrophy	Myositis	Trigeminal Neuralgia
Diabetic Neuropathy	Myotonia Congenita	Ulnar Neuropathy
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)	Myotonic Dystrophy	Werdnig-Hoffman Disease
Dystonia	Neck Pain	Writer's Cramp
Erb's Palsy	Neuromuscular Junction Defect