EMG Test for incontinence

My neurologist is ordering a EMG test, has any one had one Before and what exactly is it?

It's a simple test to make sure your muscles are all firing on all cylinders- and in the right order. It is not necessarily linked to incontinence by any means, but any abnormalities would be a sign of underlying neurological problems. Of which "could" indicate incontinence.

I personally have neurogenic dyssynergia bladder, neurogenic dyssynergia sphincter, and a neurogenic dyssynergia cough (not to mention all the other untested possibilities). All related to a really bad car crash that should have killed me but just fried my nervous system instead. And yet, my emg (and ekg) test all come back perfectly fine. It just another test to rule some things out. That's all.

I've had an EMG before, on my lower body. They take really thin needles on leads and fire electrical impulses through them to see if your nerves are firing right.

That was how I found out my nerves there are firing only on 80% and dropping. We think it's the fibromyalgia.

Ehorton said:

My neurologist is ordering a EMG test, has any one had one Before and what exactly is it?

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It really depends on what your neurologist wants to know from the EMG. The nerves of the pelvic floor can be examined by stimulating them with small electrical currents which usually does not involve needles. It might however be necessary to examine the sfincter muscle by placing a very small needle in it.

This is how a typical examination will be (just randomly picked from the internet): http://www.neurobergen.com/handouts/Pelvic Floor EMG Handout.pdf

This may however not completely apply to you since there is no standard 'recipe' for an EMG.
You could also call your clinical neurophysiology department and ask them for information.

I have had bazillion EMG and each one was more invasive and painfull then the last, The average run of the mill EMG is no biggie .

Most EMG'S done for bladder problems or incontinence show little or nothing remarkable as to the problem , but it is one of the first steps always taken in ruling things in or out .

I have "flunked" every EMG i have had just as i flunk most test of reflexes i dont have them .

EMG'S are much like spinal xrays , you can have a "perfect" x ray but the patient is in legitamate excruciating pain or have an x ray that looks like all major wars were fought on your spine and doctors are shocked at your x ray and think holy crap this guy must hurt and they don't have any complaints.

There is much more we don't know in medicine, than we know or can grasp, so if your EMG shows nothing of value don't be surprized.but expect more tests .

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Odd question, what’s the average cost for this test? I’ve sewn anything from 500 to 15000. OMG

Well it really varies by who does it and where, my last one cost out the butthole because I was transfered by ambulance to the hospital in the city as a direct admit to neurology so the base ambulance charge was $1700 plus 25 cents per mile call that 300 miles the ICU bed was $1800 Not including drugs , then I had the most painfull thorough EMG in a special electricaly isolated room on a special table done by the foremost expert in rare disease neurology basicly every test I had ever had done came out on paper as unremarkable , they pulled out all the stops in redoing every scan every poke prod EMG was redone in very controlled environment because unremarkable just means who ever did it could very well chalk up an anomaly to a stray signal picked up by lead or an electrode malfunction or as this doctor did pushed the pins into muscles till he hit bone , and by doing this kinda stuff all over with me he could see for himself, all the little differences that took me from confirming the mis diagnosis that it was the end of november and i wouldnt live to see next christmas, to you have longer to live but its going to be mighty unpleasant , I never actually saw the bill For that stay but i have another stay that was in excess of 3 million .but getting a doctor to fly in and dedicate 2 weeks to me night and day redoing every test I had had over the last 3 years but done personally by this doctor I mean what's it cost to charter a jet from Finland to USA and his hotel and meals and all the special facilities to test one guy me , that had to be the mother of all bills .
Normally EMGS are done by some low level technician who has about maybe the level of an associates degree .so I have probably had the most expensive EMG in history, but it does matter inpatient ICU with that special "dungeon room" , finding out what was wrong with me was huge pain in ass for the hospital. But knowing hospitals they turned a healthy profit off of me ( I can see the bean counters thinking how do we get that dude back with that enormous bill, that's was the most profitable quarter in the history of money )

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Ehorton said:

My neurologist is ordering a EMG test, has any one had one Before and what exactly is it?

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They stick you with needles and electrify them. It's no fun.

I had this done. It doesn’t hurt but as others have said they put long thin needles into muscles and send an electrical current through. They measure reflexes and all that. They found that my left leg is under average for response and my right leg is just under the normal reading. They didn’t find anything that could be related to my nuerogenic bladder. Oh the tests I’ve been through...

Nope...

Not going to endure this type of invasive exam, and I don't care what others might think/say about it.

Diapers are a bane to my life, but one I cannot ignore. I'll deal with the superficial crutch (wearing the damned things), rather than submit to being probed and shocked.

B.

The test wasn’t so bad, the results showed nothing to be wrong. Good news yes but frustrating that I still don’t have any answers for what’s causing the incontinence. They want to run more test but I’m at my witts end with test and money spent. Diapers might just be here for good.

Bucephalus said:

Nope...

Not going to endure this type of invasive exam, and I don't care what others might think/say about it.

Diapers are a bane to my life, but one I cannot ignore. I'll deal with the superficial crutch (wearing the damned things), rather than submit to being probed and shocked.

B.

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And now try to think how bad it's going to be if/when you get even worse. Ignoring a problem is NOT going to make it go away- and is a sure way to make sure it will never get better.

The exam isn't invasive either. A urodynamics study is way worse. It's no more uncomfortable than getting a shot and feeling a temporary muscle spasm. And yet it can pinpoint potential problems and aid in getting a proper diagnosis.

It's not really any worse than touching a 9 volt battery to your tongue, with a needle in youtr muscle , out of all the tests i have had , i rank EMG pretty low on the awkward embarrasing scale , its mildly shocking momentarily , i have felt 1000 x's worse like touching a spark plug wire that was leaky or going thru Taser training,the little zaps of EMG are just a second long they travel from the needle try the nerve fibers down the muscle to give the doctor , real world info about the health of of your nerve, sometimes this information can only be gotten this way .

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Tetra said:

...,the little zaps of EMG are just a second long they travel from the needle try the nerve fibers down the muscle...

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0.1-1.0 milliseconds actually :smile1:

My last EMG I checked into the hospital at 4:30PM due to a pharmacy screw up I didn't get my high meds until 5:30AM the doctor showed up at 6:30 AM part of my night meds was 60 MG of Dalmane , they had to put me in a wheelchair and then put me up on the table , that Dr.was pissed that i slept right thru 3 1/2 hours of EMG , What doctor on earth starts at 6:30? he didnt have nice things to say about the pharmacy department from what i heard!

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Tetra said:

It's not really any worse than touching a 9 volt battery to your tongue, with a needle in youtr muscle , out of all the tests i have had , i rank EMG pretty low on the awkward embarrasing scale , its mildly shocking momentarily , i have felt 1000 x's worse like touching a spark plug wire that was leaky or going thru Taser training,the little zaps of EMG are just a second long they travel from the needle try the nerve fibers down the muscle to give the doctor , real world info about the health of of your nerve, sometimes this information can only be gotten this way .

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...if it's supposed to be that easy to take then how bad is my damage... It was straight up 10's with every zap I got..

a EMG is not a test that will show Small Fiber Neuropathy.
Electromyography (EMG ), a test which is good at diagnosing most forms of neuropathy, is normal in people with small fiber neuropathies.

and SFN is a common cause of incontinence.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/small-fiber-neuropathy/