Pain fiber nerve conduction study is an advanced but non-invasive testing procedure. The accurate nerve pinpointing capabilities of this advanced test help physicians to provide patients with the right treatment for pain. Pain fiber nerve conduction study is offered at advanced healthcare centers.

Pain fiber nerve conduction study (pf-NCS) is set to revolutionize pain management for the simple reason that it adds a great deal of certainty and precision to the treatment process.

Pain is a strange sensation. It is a unique feeling that just cannot be seen or imaged, unlike a sprain or fracture, but it’s there alright. Pain is a symptom rather than a condition. It gives an indication of a disorder rather than being a disorder itself. So when an individual goes through pain, testing and detection modalities are used to identify the root cause of the pain.

Why Conventional Pain Detection Isn’t Always Successful

MRI scans and X-rays cannot always determine the cause of the pain. EMG (Electrical Muscle Graph) and NCV (Nerve Conduction Velocity) tests also have their limitations. More than 50 percent of the pain diagnoses are unclear and cannot identify the nerve that is primarily causing the pain. All this makes pain management less effective and sometimes, totally ineffective. In many cases, patients are turned away on the grounds that their pain cannot be resolved. Pain fiber nerve conduction study or pf-NCS testing has changed all this.

How pf-NCS Testing is Unique

This unconventional and innovative test can not only determine the nerves that are causing the pain but also identify the level of pain you are going through. This is important since the site where the pain occurs is quite distinct from the nerve pathology that causes the pain.

So how does pf-NCS testing work? It measures the sensory threshold. It can localize the pain source all the way to the exact nerve root level, comparing right to left and individualizing the nerve root lesions. The area is pinpointed so that the right treatment can be precisely targeted. High and unusual NCS levels indicate significant loss in nerve conduction. Low NCS levels indicate a hyperesthetic condition which causes inflamed, irritated or regenerating nerves.

This unique modality is successful because it precisely identifies the nerve or nerves that cause the pain, allowing the physicians to administer proper treatment to resolve it. Patients suffering from pain should find an advanced healthcare center that offers the pain fiber nerve conduction study. This functional measurement helps to detect pathology in its initial stages when conventional treatment can help avoid the onset of chronic symptoms. By providing positive results and avoiding the need for expensive pain management, the pf-NCS test is proving an invaluable diagnostic modality.

Advantages

Pain fiber nerve conduction study is non-invasive, pain-free and objective. The other advantages of pf-NCS testing include:

  • Greater precision in quantifying the intensity of the lesion numerically from severe to slight
  • Rules out malingering
  • Neuropathy and radiculopathy can be detected earlier with pf-NCS that with NCV, EMG and SSEP. EMG relies on nerve degeneration or demyelization which could take months or weeks to detect. Even following detection, only a fifth of the tests is positive
  • Pain fiber nerve conduction study is safe and user-friendly

Consult a trained and qualified physician at an advanced healthcare center that offers pf-NCS testing to see if you are a candidate for the treatment.

Author's Bio: 

Igor Stiler is a board certified neurologist at HealthQuest,a multi-specialty healthcare center in Brooklyn NY. We provide advanced, safe and effective pain fiber nerve conduction study (pf-NCS Testing) for accurate localization, quantification and identification of nerve root lesions responsible for pain.