Dr. El-Miedany runs an espicialized hand clinic where assesment for hand pain is carried out in one stop service style. US as well as nerve conduction studies are carried out in the same session.
Nerves act like electrical wires. They use electrical impulses (waves of electricity) to facilitate the communication between the brain and all the other parts of the body. Peripheral nerves can be either 'motor' nerves, meaning that they end in muscles causing it to contract; or 'sensory' nerves, meaning that they are attached to special body sensors facilitating the feel of different sensations such as touch, pressure and heat. Nerve conduction testing works by stimulating a peripheral nerve using small electrical pulses made by a machine to mimic the electrical signals made by nerves. By attaching an electrode (small device that is able to detect electricity or supply electricity) to the skin, the motor and sensory conduction velocity of the nerve can be calculated. Read more…
DXA stands for 'dual energy X-ray absorptiometry'. It is a test that measures the density of bones. Bone density means amount of calcium present in a cm2 of bone. A DXA scan uses low-energy X-rays. The machine sends X-rays from two different sources through the bone being tested. Bone blocks a certain amount of the X-rays. The denser the bone is, the less X-rays get through to the detector. By using two different X-ray sources rather than one it greatly improves the accuracy in measuring the bone density. The amount of X-rays that comes through the bone from each of the two X-ray sources is measured by a detector. This information is sent to a computer which calculates a score of the average bone density. A low score indicates that the bone is less dense (thinner) than it should be, some material of the bone has been lost, and it is more prone to fracture. Read More…