NERVE CONDUCTION VELOCITY TEST

NERVE CONDUCTION VELOCITY TEST

Nerve conduction velocity test is an electrodiagnostic tool that is being used to detect a nerve injury. This measures how fast an electrical impulse moves through the nerve to determine damage and dysfunction. During the test, two electrode patches are attached to the skin over the nerve. One electrode with a very mild electrical impulse stimulates the nerve while the other electrode records it. 

Why do we need it? NCV test is usually done along with Electromyography (EMG), NCV for the nerve, and EMG for the muscle. Both tests are done simultaneously to ensure that the nerve and muscle pathway does not have any blockage and to detect early signs of nerve disease or muscular condition. 

SYMPTOMS

What happens when the nerve has damage? Just imagine yourself suffering from a severe spinal disorder, and despite taking pain reliever medicines, which will only ease the pain for quite some time, the fact remains that the pain will go back. It will be a repetitive process unless you do something to treat the injury. When your nerve is damaged, you may feel weak, and chances are, you cannot walk or move on your own and may need help from other people. The tendency to fall or break a body part might be some of the worst scenarios that may happen when your nerves are not functioning well, which must be taken seriously.

How will you know if you have nerve damage? A person with nerve damage may feel pain, problems about posture, burning, tingling or prickling sensation, sensitivity and numbness of a body part.  Aside from surgery, to repair nerve damage, it is best that you need to see your healthcare provider as early as now and have yourself take the nerve conduction velocity test for you to be treated or diagnosed properly. The process is not that painful, but you may feel a little discomfort as this provides sensation to the hands and feet once the test is complete. Some may be frightened by the idea of being “electrocuted” because of the tool used, but most doctors are sympathetic to explain that the pain is tolerable for anxious patients. A Neurologist will conduct the test, a doctor specializing in the treatment of spinal cord, brain, and nerve disorders. Once nerve damage is detected, it will be diagnosed accordingly, and in time, healing will occur.  

DIAGNOSIS

There are numbers of muscular and neuromuscular disorders that can be diagnosed with the help of nerve conduction velocity test. These disorders are: Guillain-Barre syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, herniated disk disease, sciatic nerve problems, peripheral nerve injury, Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy, and neuropathy. There are two suggested methods on how this can be done. First is the collision technique, a method that studies the motor activity of median and ulnar nerves. The second is the computer-assisted analysis, a study that analyzes nerve conditions with the help of a knowledge base computer system to easily detect and classify neuropathy.

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