Fun with shock tests

OK, so the latest in the 'numb finger' saga was today's Electromyography (EMG) test. I've got to know how they came up with this one... basically, it's a test to check for Carple Tunnel Syndrome, nerve damage, etc. And they shock you. Over and over again. That's right. They put these little sensors on you in various places, shock you, and see how long it takes the ZAP to go from one nerve to the other. But they don't just do it on the area where the problem is -- no, then they wouldn't have anything to compare it to... They have to do BOTH arms to get a fair reading... have to do a side-by-side eval...

In all honesty, the ZAPS were really not all that terrible. Some of them were a jump, but most just felt strange -- it's odd when a machine can bypass your brain and make your body react just on 'hardware' (muscles and nerves). I kept waiting for the ZAP that makes you involuntarialy wet yourself -- lucky that's not part of this test, though. A couple of times the doctor (Dr. Irr) had to really turn up the voltage to get around a tendon, muscle, or whatever, and it really made a difference -- ZZZZIIPP!!!

After that, though, came the really sucky part -- doing internal muscle probes to listen to the muscle activity. With a needle. Seems that muscles that are normal are quiet when resting, and make noise when they are active. Muscles that have some nerve damage going on are noisy (rythmic) when resting. [Seems that my C7 nerve muscle group is a bit noisy.] They only had to do one side of the needle tests on me, but for some folks, they have to do both sides to get a comparison. Lucky me.

Of the 8 or so times he stuck me with the needle / probe / microphone, the one that hurt the most was in the palm of my hand that did the thumb muscle group -- very sensitive area of the body, he said. Lots of nerves and sensory capabilities in the hand -- of course! It hurt a bit in the bicept too, but that was because he had to wiggle it around a bit to get a good spot.

End result from today: no Carple Tunnel -- looks like a pinched nerve in the neck / shoulder. I go back to the other doctor to find out what my 'treatment' options are next week, once the test results are formally sent over.

Shoulder / Arm pain is still here; so is the numb finger --