Carpal Tunnel Updates: EMG Test Results

Hey guys happy Sunday to everyone and I hope that you are all doing well.

As I have shared in my previous blog post about my condition, I talked about the test that I will be taking to determine what is the actual score for the pain that I have.

I was not able to take some pictures of the hospital proper and the room of the doctor as they have some rules that we need to follow.

Saturday noon was the scheduled appointment with the doctor, as protocol the day prior to availing of the program the patient ( which is me at that time) should send a request to the Viber phone number of the hospital to have my request approved. I am using our company's pre-need health card for the test. Onset, I have asked Doctor Ong if the test can be covered by my card since I don't have funds to spare and he said that it will be thus my concern has been relieved.

For reference, the cost of the test is would range from 5,000.00 ($100.00) PHP to 8,000.00 ($160.00) (depending on the test that will be required. There are 2 test involved. The first one was just the electric shocks and then the other one was the needle. I experienced both btw and I will be sharing the experience.

I signed first the waiver in case something will happen after the test.

We started with the simple exercise again like holding his hand, testing the grip, and some tests that I had shared before.

Electric Shock Experience:

Doc Ong mentioned that the shocks don't hurt at all. If he will rate the pain it is tolerable as the electricity that will be used will just trigger some of the nerves in the process.

He started with my right palm, which is the dominant hand, and he is right it doesn't hurt at all! You will feel the electricity running to your palm but I haven't noticed that. My eyes were glued to the machine that reads the results. As the electricity runs into my palms, I tried to understand what does the graph means as he enter some details into his computer and guess what. I didn't understand it all. I just knew that there is something wrong with my palms as when he entered the details and the computer run the diagnostics I have a red remark. There he confirmed that I have a mild case of carpal tunnel in my right hand.

Now for the left side, he did the same thing and I had the same diagnostic. My left part isn't somehow used but for the past day's itis the one who is causing me to pain especially the shoulder part.

The needle test:

Are you afraid of needles? This is the first question that I was asked. I mentioned that I am not as long as I will not see the insertion because if I see it, I will feel the pain.

How about you? Are you afraid of needles?

After trying to send a dry joke to Doctor Ong, he mentioned that the pain will just be the same as the one in Matrix.

I was not aware of what he is talking about. Though I know The Matrix movie but I guess I am not that attentive when I was younger. I am well aware of the fight scenes on that though. So for everyone's reference here is what is talking about.

Image source

We had a small pep talk prior to inserting the needle and I found out that we are in the same age bracket! After the intermission, he prepared the needle and asked me to bow my head and he will now insert the needle into the left side of my neck.

He told me to inhale as deep as I could prior to insertion. It was painful indeed.

If I will rate the pain level I think it is 5/10 I felt the pain, but it was tolerable until he asked me to try to bend down a little and force my chin to reach my chest with still the needle on my neck. Was it fun? No, it is not, I wasn't able to see the graph anymore but while we are doing the test he mentioned that I have a twisted nerve around my shoulder.

This time, there are sounds that can be heard from the machine. If you are familiar with the ultrasound in the OB-Gyne then that is the sound that I heard.

He did the insertion on my right neck too but didn't notice any irregularities. Good grief it is okay. But I will agree with the said results.

Overall, I was stabbed by the needle six times 2 in my neck, 2 in my forearm, and 2 in my elbow and they are all painful. He wasn't able to see the pain that I am experiencing personally as we are wearing facemasks in the process.

Recommendation :

I was recommended to continue the medication that I am taking and need to do my physical therapy the soonest. I have 6 sessions that are pending and was informed that if incase that my situation will not be better after a Magnetic Resonance Imaging ( MRI ) will be conducted to further check on what is going on. I was also advised to limit my computer usage and continue using the ergonomic items to avoid the pain escalating.

For everyone's reference here's the short youtube video that I found in the internet: