Suspense can be valuable if you're Stephen King and writing horror fiction. Mr. King takes advantage of fact that your own imagination can conjure up scarier things than he can put on page. That's why he makes you wait page after page to discover what scary thing is around next corner. When he finally tells you about giant, blue monster, it's not nearly as bad as what you had already imagined. If his monster was scarier than what you could imagine, do you think he would have made you wait so long? Of course not! Mr. King is no dummy. Just look at his sales record.

But when it comes to medical tests, suspense is no good. You don't need to worry about test you're going to have in addition to medical problem that got your referred for it in first place.

What about electromyography, also known as EMG? You should definitely not listen to what your brother-in-law has to say about it. If he had test already, do you think he's going to make himself sound like: (1) bravest guy in existence, or (2) a total wimp? Well, you know your brother-in-law better than I do, but my money is on number one.

So if you listen to your brother-in-law, he'll tell you what a terrible, awful, painful test it was, and how he was brave, valiant, and just about most courageous guy who ever had it. So now he's got you quaking in your boots. Or at least worried.

Relax. It's not that big a deal. Have you been to a dentist? Probably not as bad. Have you ever given blood? Probably not as bad. Have you ever had a baby? Definitely, nowhere near as bad! (I'm a male, but my wife assures me on this one.)

So let's get down to particulars. An electromyography test involves needles. The needles do puncture skin. Moreover, they enter muscle tissue. But testing is done with just one needle at a time and just one muscle at a time. Although needles used in this test are larger than those tiny, hair-like items used for acupuncture, they are much skinnier than those used for blood-drawing.