Sometimes persistent headaches make you make an appointment with a specialist. As a rule, the doctor prescribes a number of diagnostic procedures to examine the brain, among which you can see the unfamiliar abbreviation REG. Naturally, a person who does not know medical terminology immediately begins to wonder: "REG - what is it?"
Cerebral vascular examination
REG abbreviation stands for rheoencephalography - a method for diagnosing the state of cerebral vessels . Do not be scared if you have to go through such a procedure as an examination of REG. "What it is?" - you think. During this diagnostic method, weak electrical impulses pass through you. With the help of them you can make a general picture of the state of the vessels of the brain.
The procedure is completely safe and does absolutely no harm to human health. Well, think for yourself, because when it was developed and put into effect, you probably did research and got certain results that confirm the safety of this technique.
REG brain
Of course, any patient often has questions when prescribing various diagnostic studies. Do not be upset if a specialist has prescribed you a REG of the head. What is it and why should it be carried out at all? It is a natural question.
This diagnostic method allows you to identify the state of the vessels of the brain: elasticity under stress, strength. Most often, this research method is used for severe headaches. As a rule, the first cause of terrible pain in the head can be just a violation of blood circulation in the brain. REG (what it is, you already know) allows you to get a clear and complete picture of the blood flow to the head and its optimal distribution in the vessels.
Indications for REG
What is it, we have already figured it out, now let's look in more detail at the reasons why a specialist can schedule this examination. It would be a mistake to assume that only the most severe headaches serve as indications for this technique. REG can be prescribed in cases when:
- it is required to find out the viscosity of the blood ;
- need to establish the speed of blood flow;
- a predisposition to the presence of stroke or ischemia should be checked;
- you need to make sure the proper functioning of the vessels of the brain after severe traumatic brain injury;
- there is an incomprehensible tinnitus;
- there is a predisposition to epilepsy.
REG of the head in children
The application of this technique is a painless procedure and therefore can be prescribed even to children. But REG (what it is, you already found out), conducted in children, has one significant drawback. To perform this procedure, complete immobility should be ensured. But children, by virtue of their age, do not understand this, and therefore the results obtained during diagnosis can be significantly distorted.
That is why it is advisable to be near the child at the time of this procedure and try to monitor his stationary state during the period of its implementation by a specialist.
Research results
You can get the results of the study within 10 minutes after the diagnosis. This makes this research method quite popular, since with terrible headaches it is important to quickly find out the cause of such a poor condition and proceed with treatment.
Other brain research techniques
Progress does not stand still, not only in everyday life, but also in medicine. Today, studies of head vessels using REG are gradually becoming a thing of the past, beginning to give way to a new diagnostic method - EEG.
What makes the new method more perfect? Its use allows you to get a more complete picture of the state of blood vessels in the brain. In addition, there are several ways to diagnose, they provide general and very detailed information about the blood supply system. In this case, information is read using the same electrical impulses, but they do not pass through the whole body.
To obtain general information, EEG is carried out as usual. A more detailed study may take approximately 6 hours. A variety of factors can affect the results: medications, experiences. Therefore, at the appointment with a specialist, be sure to tell what medications or drugs you are taking. Immediately before the diagnosis, try to relax as much as possible, to calm down the feelings. This will make the final results of the study more accurate.
Now, if in your direction you see names such as EEG, REG, what it is, you know. You are also aware of how and why this diagnosis is performed and what measures should be taken in order to obtain the most reliable results.