Nurses General Nursing
Published Jan 3, 2003
GERINRS
19 Posts
I have been wondering about what could happen if an EEG is done improperly. I had one done about 7 years ago to see if I had an underlying problem that caused depression. I was lying there on the table and the medical personell were hooking me up to the electrodes. I heard one of them say, " this one is not working, let's override it" I had a bad headache after it was all over with. I told one of the nurses and she said, " you should'nt feel anything." I still have the headaches occassionally. They are on the right side of my head. Could I have some damage from this?
Tweety, BSN, RN
34,347 Posts
EEGs simply monitor the activity of the brain through electrodes placed on the head. It is not an evasive procedure. It is a monitoring tool. Kind of like an EKG of the heart. You don't feel anything. They don't "do" anything to you, other than place those electrodes.
One of the wires/electrodes probably wasn't working, but they were able to still get a good picture regardless.
What you experienced might have been a tension headache. You might have subconsciously tensed up a particular part of your scalp or neck/shoulder area.
ERNurse752, RN
1,323 Posts
Have you ever been treated for headaches by a physician? Could be tension, migraine, cluster, related to depression, or any number of things.
An EEG, like the above poster said, is only a monitoring tool, so would not be the cause of any adverse effects.