More questions

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your kind replies. My claw hand does not last beyond the one

spasm - it has lasted an hour or so but it is nothing that is permanent.

What do EMGs usually show for someone with CMT? I'm thinking of asking my doc

for a nerve biopsy. How is that on the body - does the site of the biopsy

give problems later on? Is it worth having done?

Thanks.

Barb ****Barb, EMGs show different things: demyleniation, reinnervation, onion

bulb formation and other things going on with nerves. Unless your doctor

suggests it, why get a nerve biopsy? Maybe I have misunderstood, but the nerve

biopsy is more invasive and is used as a tool to rule out other disorders. I had

a nerve biopsy, well, both muscle and nerve biopsy in two places: on my lower

leg above the peroneal muscle, and on the inside of my lower thigh muscle. My

biopsies came back " normal " - as all my 'tests' have. As far as how a nerve

biopsy is on the body, all I needed was a local anesthetic, so I was awake for

the whole thing. Had to wear special bandages and give extra care to healing,

since the cuts were deep. In walking, it just felt like I had a stiff muscle,

that went away as I healed. This was in 1968, and here we are in 2005, and I

have had no problems ever since - even the scars have vanished without doing

anything. Get more than one opinion from a doctor. It seems with the genetic

testing that nerve biopsies aren't done as often as in the past. ~ GG