I appreciate your help and opinion on this issue. The EMG abnormalities in ALS may be merely consistent with the diagnosis or may support it strongly, usually no further testing is required if the symptoms, signs on examination and EMG are consistent. If necessary a muscle biopsy may be added to the work-up. The EMG exam consists of two parts, the nerve conduction studies performed by a technician and the needle exam performed by a physician. The needle exam consists of putting a fine needle in the muscle and recording electrical activity, having had needle exams done on myself as an integral part of training in EMG, I would say that the pain is similar to having a series of shots except that nothing is injected.
Reactions vary depending on the persons pain threshold, but most people find it tolerable.
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