Nerve biopsy test: Is it done by a neurologist or rheumatologist?

Hello Mary, I have always wondered if a dermatologist would be the one to go to because I believe they do more biopsies than any other specialty and I bet would likely know exactly where to do them to diagnose neuropathy. Just a thought. Hope it all works out for you! Blessings, Sunny flower. 😊

Yup, I assisted in a whole lot of them and have had several myself. Very simple and very quick. Not much pain at all. The worst of it is in getting numbed up but if you ask them to infuse the lidocaine very, very slowly, that should help make it less painful. It is not so much the needle that hurts rather the stretching of tissue and pressure from the fluid being infused. It has worked for me to ask them to do it super slow. Hope that helps. Take good care and many blessings, Sunny flower

@maryflorida

Surgery??!! No way. It's really not much more than a blood test. The nurse gave me a numbing shot, so I didn't even feel the extraction that was done in the exam room where I usually see the doctor.

I looked online for an explanation of my test results, and came across websites that tell and show precisely where the biopsy must be done. So any neurologist should know where those locations are. You could show your doctor the link, but if he doesn't know that, anything he says would be suspect. It's one of the most basic tests to diagnose sfpn, and gives definitive answers.

As others have said, the test is a brief, 15 minute procedure, with little to no residual effect. Perhaps you could look at your neurologist's credentials to see if he is qualified to treat sfpn. And anytime I'm going to see a new doctor, I look for their reviews. I know of 3 trusted review websites. Vitals.com is one I use. I can't pull up the names of the other 2, but I'll see if I can look in my notes on my phone without losing what I've written so far. I think one of them is googlescripts.com, but I'll check on it.

In case this post, which I'm writing on my phone, vanishes, I'll send you want I've written.

Jim

@maryflorida I was wrong. A review site is lifescripts.com, and the other is googlescholar.com.

I hope that you persist in finding a knowledgeable doctor. I understand first hand how hard persistence can be when you don't feel well. Depression exhibits itself in feeling that it's not worth the effort, sometimes because it makes us feel that WE aren't worth it, and that it's hopeless. But you are worth it, and it's not hopeless. There are many great doctors out there.

And if a surgeon doesn't know the precise locations for the biopsies, run the other direction.

Jim

@johnbishop Thank you for the zoom suggestion to be able to click on the heart instead of the flag.

And I read your weight loss story. Congratulations.

Jim

John, would there be a neurologist at Mayo to do the skin punch for me? Mayo is not in my insurance network but the registrar at Mayo said I can go just to pay the out-of-network rate. Just wanting to know and not waste time and money. My dear husband was at Mayo last week four days and they take good care of him, but I keep forgetting to get an appointment and not sure who there does the biopsy. Jacksonville.

Hi Mary @maryflorida, If you would like to seek help from Mayo Clinic, I think you would just need to contact one of the appointment offices and explain your situation. Here's the contact information which includes the numbers for Minnesota, Arizona and Florida: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63.

@maryflorida , if I were you I think I would find another PCP. You primary doctor should never refuse to give you a referral if you request to see a specialist. The Neurologist will be more up to date on current treatments that your PCP won’t know about. My PCP was happy to refer me to a neurologist because he knew he wasn’t the specialist. Only when I went to the neurologist did I get the true help that I needed and was diagnosed with a disease that my PCP has never even heard of. My recommendation is get to a neurologist, whatever it takes to do that.

Ok I am going to do that. My pcp is very nice, but I feel like I have to make all the decisions. If I trust him and I have, then he sends me to a rheumatologist who knew nothing of skin biopsies. I wish my insurance covered Mayo. Does anyone know which medicare insurance is accepted at Mayo?

Thanks. I was at Mayo last week (4 times) with my husband. The registrar said for me to contact my insurance company to see what they'll cover. Unfortunately, family matters came first (as usual) so I forgot. I'll call them Monday.