This is because other healthy fibers in the same nerve may show a normal reaction time. In a small number of cases, nerve disease may still exist despite normal results. Normal results from a NCV test only mean that there is no evidence of measurable damage or disease in the nerve. Skin temperature should be warm if possible for the test, because low body temperatures slow nerve conduction and falsely change test results. Generally keeping the area to be tested warm, dry and free of lotions provides the best result. You may be given instructions about how to prepare for a nerve conduction velocity test.
What is involved in preparation for the NCV test? Most of our patients comment that the test was far easier to complete than they were told or expected. The electrical stimulation may be mildly uncomfortable but this is usually very brief when testing is done by an experienced physician. Patients wearing pacemakers or other electrical devices need not worry since this current will rarely interfere with such devices. The small amount of current delivered to the nerve is always at a very safe level. Usually NCV testing takes less than 30 minutes depending on the number of nerves tested. How long does the NCV test take to complete? A healthy nerve will transmit the signal faster and stronger than a sick nerve. A decreased speed suggests nerve disease. The distance between the skin electrodes and the time it takes for electrical impulses to travel between electrodes is used to calculate the speed of the nerve signal. Between the brief shocks you will not feel discomfort. When this happens, you will feel a tingling sensation that may or may not be uncomfortable. This electrical activity is recorded by the recording skin electrode.
A nerve stimulator placed over the nerve supplies the nerve with a very mild electrical impulse.
The nerve is stimulated with a tiny electrical current at one point. In this test, electrical signals are sent down specific nerves of the arms or legs, where an electrode placed on the skin detects the electrical impulse ‘down stream’ from the first. It also helps to discover how severe the condition is and how a nerve is responding to injury or to treatment. It is usually ordered to diagnose or evaluate a nerve injury in a person who has weakness or numbness in the arms or legs. Similar to testing current flow in a wire, nerve conduction velocity test ( NCV) is an electrical test, ordered by your doctor, used to detect abnormal nerve conditions. If there are any problems along its length, you will know it by a failure of the electrical current to go through. If you want to see if the wire is functioning properly, you need to make sure that electricity can run through it. Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV) Testing What is a NCV test?Ī nerve in the body works somewhat like an electrical wire in your house.
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