I had the skin biopsy done about 4 weeks ago—1 punch on lower left leg, 1 on left thigh, 1 on upper back near neck. My neurologist used lidocaine first, and the punches barely hurt at all. They weren't sore afterwards and healed up quickly. It was 3 weeks before I got the test results, but there was no sign of Parkinson's or parkinsonian indicators. It did indicate that I have small fiber neuropathy (SFN), so now I'm going to follow up with a neurologist who specializes in that.

According to my neurologist and what I've read researching this test, the skin biopsy has VERY recently been shown to be a way of confirming or ruling out Parkinson's, with an accuracy in the high 90's percentile. Since many of my symptoms (tremor, balance issues, swallowing difficulties, mild cognitive decline, etc.) are common to PD, it was a relief to be able to rule it out. SFN is its own complicated health issue, but I've been on this journey for so long, any time I can rule out something, it allows me to focus on what IS wrong with me. I highly recommend doing the skin biopsy if you can. BTW, Medicare paid for it after the doctor got preapproval.
Skin Biopsy Accuracy:
https://hms.harvard.edu/news/simple-skin-test-may-detect-distinguish-parkinsons-related-diseases#:~:text=A%20simple%20skin%20biopsy%20can%20reliably%20detect%20the%20abnormal%20protein,Beth%20Israel%20Deaconess%20Medical%20Center.
Skin Biopsy vs DaTscan:
https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000202596#:~:text=Skin%20biopsy%20had%20greater%20diagnostic,diagnostic%20utility%20than%20a%20DaTscan.