EMG - Electromyography

An EMG is non-painful test of the facial muscles with readings recorded to a machine. It involves testing the electrical activity of the muscles. Electrodes are attached to your skin to measure these processes and display them on a monitor.

The EMG shows, very precisely, how the muscles are functioning. Recordings of the muscles are taken with the mouth open, biting down, and also in sitting and standing positions to help determine of other parts of the body that may be affected.

• The EMG helps the clinician to monitor muscle movement and contraction that work in a dysfunctional way.
• The clinician explains the patient the relationships between muscle contraction, stress and perceived facial pain.

Patients should understand how stress may cause muscles to contract, and how prolonged and/or frequent contraction of the muscles causes and may sustain facial pain. This explanation is helpful for the patient’s management of stress.