What does a surface EMG tell us about your health?

In our office, we use a surface EMG to measure the activity of your motor nerves. This is the branch of your nervous system that send signals from your brain, down your spinal cord, and out to your muscles. This is a highly efficient, well-tuned system; although sometimes it isn’t…

In a normal, healthy spine and nervous system, EMG activity should be balanced and should take on a “pyramid” distribution with more activity in the low back (due to more weight being transmitted through this area). Our bodies are smart, they don’t want to use more energy than they need to. So, when we perform a surface EMG scan it should be similar to the “normal” comparison group. When we see a large variation with pockets of “overactivity” on this scan, it clues us into a mechanical issue going on in your spine (subluxation). When you have a subluxation, a couple of things happen. First, motion is lost at the joint, and things become “locked up”. This causes the muscles around the segment to increase activity in an attempt to stabilize the area (this is what we pick up on the EMG). Abnormal mechanics at the segment lead to pressure and tension on the nerves (we detect this on our thermography scan) which affect the communication from the brain to the rest of the body.

So, when we are interpreting an EMG scan, we look for pockets of overactivity. When we see a large pocket of increased activity (especially when coupled with temperature variation on the thermal scanner) it clues us into an area of subluxation. We also look at the overall pattern of EMG distribution to see compensation patterns and postural patterns throughout the spine. This helps us better understand the stresses day to day occurring in your spine. The EMG is an incredibly important, reliable tool that helps us better understand your subluxation patterns as well as postural stresses.