EMG Found Fasciculations: Worry or Not?

[Broski7]

Hi all,during my last EMG they spot fasciculations in all the muscles, and I have been stitch everywhere,back, limbs, foots etc, but neuro told me not to worry about them... Have your EMG found fasciculations?Thanks

 

[BobJazzy]

Mazzi,They found fasciculations in every single muscle tested with me. Arms, calves, thighs, back, hands... all of them. Nothing to worry about. If you follow the posts on this site, you'll see that many, many BFSers had fasciculations detected on their EMG's. Its very common and not concerning. -Matt

 

[Broski7]

Bobajojo,thanks for the quick reply, this calmed me down a little.... The fact they detected so many fascic, was really strange to me...I thought (after the dirty EMG I had before) something was up for sure...Thanks !

 

[CollsMaroon]

Interesting...what's funny to me is that I twitch all the time, but have never had any fasciculations show up on my EMGs? Strange coincidence, maybe. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[Gloria123]

I think it's very common to have fasciculations on your EMG. I had them on mine, and it was of no worry to the doctor. If you twitch, most likely they'll catch it on an EMG. Look at the mayo study on BFS - the only abnormality on the EMG for those folks was fasciculations.Mitra

 

[CollsMaroon]

Well I sure hope the machines weren't broken for my EMGs! That's actually what I feared after my first EMG didn't show any. But with four done and none showing up, I guess maybe I just wasn't twitching in the muscles they sampled when they sampled them. Hopefully

 

[BlueMan]

A dirty EMG is no big deal, unless your neuro tells you otherwise. Many people here have "dirty" EMGs, and others have lots of symptoms and such but still manage to produce a clean EMG. This is probably due in part to the skill of the person performing the test, as well as what specifically is tested. Regardless, an EMG is not by itself going to diagnose much of anything. The EMG combined with the history and physical, plus other lab test and imaging studies if appropriate, lead to a diagnosis. If your neuro told you not to worry, then you shouldn't.

 

[CollsMaroon]

Aoi - what you said about the skill of the person performing the test was exactly why I had my most recent EMG done. The three others were all done by the same doctor, and I got myself so wound up and sure of having the nasty illness, I convinced myself he might have not administered the test correctly. I think the odds of two of them messing it up are pretty slim, so I'm going to try to get off of my worries. Though I'll admit, I continue to have a hard time doing so.