EEG, EMG and Nerve Conduction Tests in Spain: What They Find and What Sanitas Covers

Sanitas pays for an EEG, an EMG or a nerve conduction study on most of its plans. On the plans without copayments the test costs nothing; on Optima and Avanza it is €12, and on Plus and Professional Plus it counts as one service on the copayment ladder. The tests are prescribed by a Sanitas network doctor, usually a neurologist you can book without a referral, and authorised by Sanitas. On a new policy they wait six months, and the wait is set aside for an accident or a life-threatening, unexpected illness diagnosed after the start date. Accede and Unico do not cover them. Paid for privately, an EEG starts at about €89 and an EMG at about €129 in Spain.

• Already insured with a symptom? Book a neurologist in the app; the test follows on the prescription.
• A child or adult having a first seizure today? Ring 112 or go to the nearest network hospital emergency unit.
• Not yet insured and told you need the test soon? Ring us before you buy; a new policy waits six months for it.
• Seizure already happened and the policy is under six months old? Book a paediatric neurologist or a neurologist in the app, and ring us before the EEG is booked so Sanitas is asked to authorise it under the emergency exception.

This guide explains what each of the nerve and muscle tests is and what it finds, and which symptoms lead to which test. It then covers how to get one with Sanitas step by step, what happens on the day, how the results reach you, and the Spanish words you will meet. The neurologists guide covers the specialty that orders most of them, the sleep studies guide covers sleep studies, and the MRI guide covers scans.

What clinical neurophysiology is

Clinical neurophysiology is the specialty that measures the electrical signals of the brain, the nerves and the muscles. A scan shows what the tissue looks like; a neurophysiology test shows whether it is working. The specialist is a neurophysiologist, and the tests are done in a neurophysiology unit inside a hospital or a large clinic, by the specialist or by a technician working under them. Clinical neurophysiology is a covered specialty on the Sanitas plans that carry it, and the tests are complex diagnostic tests.

Four tests account for almost all of the work:

• EEG, electroencephalogram. Records the electrical activity of the brain through small discs stuck to the scalp. The main use is epilepsy and seizures; it is also used for blackouts where a seizure is suspected, some sleep conditions and encephalitis.
• Nerve conduction study. Measures how fast and how well a signal travels along a nerve, using pads on the skin and a brief electrical pulse. The standard test for carpal tunnel syndrome, a trapped nerve at the elbow and peripheral neuropathy.
• EMG, electromyogram. Records the electrical activity inside a muscle through a very fine needle. Used for muscle weakness, wasting, cramps and fatigue where a muscle or motor nerve disease is suspected, including myopathy, motor neurone disease and myasthenia. With nerve conduction studies it is also the test for nerve-root problems such as sciatica and a trapped nerve in the neck.
• Evoked potentials. Measure how quickly the brain responds to a sight, a sound or a touch, through scalp electrodes. Visual evoked potentials for the optic nerve, most often when multiple sclerosis is suspected; auditory evoked potentials for hearing and the hearing nerve, including in babies; somatosensory evoked potentials for the nerves and spinal cord.

Two neighbours belong to other guides. A sleep study, or polysomnography, records breathing, oxygen and brain activity overnight and sits in the sleep studies guide. Intraoperative monitoring, where a neurophysiologist watches the nerves during brain or spine surgery, is part of the neurosurgery cover on the hospital plans, not on Avanza, Accede or Unico; the neurosurgery guide covers the operations.

Which symptom leads to which test

• A seizure, a blackout or a fit, in an adult or a child: an EEG, sometimes a sleep-deprived or a prolonged EEG if the routine one is normal. A first seizure is an emergency: ring 112 or go to the nearest network hospital emergency unit, and the emergencies guide explains where to go.
• Numbness, tingling or pain in the hand, worse at night: a nerve conduction study for carpal tunnel syndrome, the commonest reason for the test. Book a neurologist; if the test confirms carpal tunnel and an operation is advised, the neurologist refers you to an orthopaedic surgeon.
• Pins and needles or numbness in the feet, especially with diabetes: nerve conduction studies for peripheral neuropathy. Book a neurologist, with the endocrinology guide on the diabetes side.
• Sciatica or arm pain from the neck that has not settled: nerve conduction studies and an EMG to tell a trapped nerve from a disc problem, alongside the scan. The orthopaedics guide and the neurosurgery guide cover what follows.
• Weakness, wasting or twitching of muscles: an EMG with nerve conduction studies, ordered by a neurologist.
• Blurred or lost vision in one eye, or suspected multiple sclerosis: visual evoked potentials, with the eye care guide and the neurologist.
• Hearing loss, or a newborn hearing screen that did not give a clear result: auditory evoked potentials, ordered by an ENT specialist or the paediatrician; the ENT guide covers hearing.

How to get a neurophysiology test with Sanitas

1. See the specialist. You book a neurologist directly through the app or by ringing the clinic, with no GP referral. A GP, an orthopaedic surgeon, a rheumatologist, an ENT specialist or a paediatrician can also send you for the test when the symptom is in their field. The network neurologists are listed by province.
2. The specialist prescribes the test on a volante, the paper or app prescription. Neurophysiology tests are complex diagnostic tests, so Sanitas authorises them on the prescription. Ask the neurologist's clinic whether it will request the authorisation; if not, request it yourself in the app, where it shows once Sanitas has assessed it, and if it is refused, ring us.
3. Book the test at a neurophysiology unit in the network. The list of neurophysiologists in the directory lists them by province. Ask the unit how soon it can see you.
4. Attend, with your card or the app. On a plan with copayments the charge is billed to your account, not paid at the desk.
5. The report goes to the doctor who ordered the test and into your health folder in the app, and the doctor explains it at a follow-up appointment, which can be by video.

What it costs and when it is covered

On Sanitas Mas Salud, Mas Salud Family, Top Quantum, Residents Visa, International Students, Mas 90 without copayments and Premium 500 the tests cost nothing. So they do on Sanitas Professional, the version for the self-employed; the plans for the self-employed are explained in their own guide. On Optima and Avanza each test is a €12 copayment, plus the consultation copayment for the neurologist visits. On Plus and Professional Plus it counts as one service on the copayment ladder, free for the first six services in the year. The copayments guide has every figure. Accede excludes the complex tests done in a unit, covering only an ultrasound or echocardiogram in the consultation, and Unico covers only ultrasound, CT and MRI among them. On those two plans the neurologist consultation and the blood tests are covered; only the nerve test itself is not. You can take the neurologist's prescription to your public health centre or to a private unit. If you are on Accede or Unico and want the test covered, ask us whether a full plan is open at your age.

On a new policy complex diagnostic tests wait six months on the plans that carry waiting periods; Residents Visa and International Students have none. The wait is set aside for an accident or a life-threatening, unexpected illness diagnosed after the start date. It is waived, except childbirth, if you have held private health insurance in Spain with another insurer for at least a year; cover held in another country does not count. An EEG ordered from the emergency visit for a first seizure is covered when Sanitas classes the seizure as a life-threatening illness that started after your cover began, which is how the exception is written. One ordered later as a routine outpatient test inside the six months is covered only if Sanitas treats the illness as life-threatening. An illness that first appears after the policy starts, such as a first seizure, is not a pre-existing condition. A condition you already had when you applied is declared on the health questionnaire and Sanitas decides how it is treated; the waiting periods guide and the pre-existing conditions guide explain both. Blood tests ordered at the same time are simple tests, covered from the first day, as the blood tests guide explains.

Without insurance, a Spanish online surgery marketplace listed an EEG from €89 and an EMG from €129 in September 2026. A nerve conduction study is normally done in the same appointment as the EMG, and the hospital groups quote on request. In the public system the tests are free for anyone registered with it, after a referral from the health centre to a neurologist and then to the unit. The waits vary by region and by step, and the public versus private healthcare guide explains the route.

What happens on the day

EEG

You sit or lie down while the technician measures your head, marks the positions and sticks small discs to your scalp with paste, connected by wires to the recorder. During the recording you may be asked to open and close your eyes, breathe deeply for a few minutes or look at a flashing light. The routine test takes about an hour including preparation and is painless; afterwards the discs are removed and your hair feels sticky until you wash it. Come with clean, dry hair and no gel or wax, eat as normal, and bring a list of your medicines, especially anti-seizure drugs.

Other kinds are ordered when the routine one is normal or the question needs more. A sleep EEG is done while you sleep in the unit. A sleep-deprived EEG follows a night without sleep, after which you cannot drive. An ambulatory EEG uses a portable recorder worn for a day or more, and video EEG monitoring runs over several days in hospital. Because it means staying in, a video EEG follows your plan's hospital cover rather than the outpatient test rules. It is not available on Avanza, and on a new policy it waits for the hospital admission period rather than the six-month test period.

Nerve conduction study and EMG

For the nerve conduction study, pads are placed on the skin over the nerve and the muscle it supplies, a small electrical pulse is given and the machine records the response. You feel a brief tap or twitch each time. For the EMG, the neurophysiologist puts a very fine sterile needle into the muscle and records its activity at rest and as you tense it. It is uncomfortable for a few seconds in each muscle and leaves at most a small bruise. Together the two usually take about an hour, longer when many nerves or muscles are tested. Wear loose sleeves or trousers so the arm or leg is easy to reach, and skip moisturiser or creams on the arm or leg for a day or two before. Tell the unit if you take a blood thinner or have a pacemaker.

Evoked potentials

Scalp electrodes are placed as for an EEG. For visual evoked potentials you watch a checkerboard pattern on a screen, one eye at a time. For auditory ones you hear clicks through headphones, and for somatosensory ones small pulses are given to a nerve at the wrist or ankle. Roughly 30 to 60 minutes per type, painless, and a baby can be tested asleep.

Results and what comes next

The recording is read and reported by the neurophysiologist, not by the technician. The written report reaches the doctor who ordered it within days, sometimes weeks for a long recording, and appears in your health folder in the app. The doctor who ordered the test explains what it means and what happens next: a diagnosis and treatment, a scan, or a repeat test. A normal EEG does not rule out epilepsy, which is why a second or a longer recording is sometimes ordered. A normal nerve conduction study with typical symptoms may still lead to treatment for carpal tunnel. Repeat tests to follow a condition are covered on the same terms, with the same prescription and authorisation each time.

For families

Children have the same tests for the same reasons, most often an EEG after a first seizure or for suspected epilepsy, and auditory evoked potentials for a hearing check. The paediatrician or a paediatric neurologist prescribes them, the six-month wait and the emergency exception are the same, and a sleep EEG is often the easiest way with a young child. The children's health insurance guide explains what a child gets on a Sanitas policy, and the Mas Salud Family plan carries the same six-month wait on complex tests such as an EEG.

The Spanish words

• Electroencefalograma, EEG. Electromiograma or electromiografia, EMG. Electroneurograma or estudio de conduccion nerviosa, the nerve conduction study. Potenciales evocados, evoked potentials: visuales, auditivos, somatosensoriales.
• Neurofisiologia clinica, the specialty; servicio or unidad de neurofisiologia, the department; neurofisiologo, the specialist; neurologo, the neurologist who usually orders the test.
• Volante, the prescription; autorizacion, the authorisation from Sanitas; informe, the written report; prueba diagnostica compleja, the category the tests belong to on your policy; carencia, the waiting period.
• Sindrome del tunel carpiano, carpal tunnel; neuropatia periferica, peripheral neuropathy; crisis epileptica or convulsion, a seizure; hormigueo, tingling; entumecimiento, numbness.

If you are choosing a plan with a nerve or muscle problem in mind, the six-month wait on complex tests and the two plans that exclude them are the things to weigh. A policy bought today will not cover an EMG in three months unless you are transferring from another Spanish insurer after a year with them. The symptom you already have is declared on the health questionnaire, and Sanitas may exclude that condition from the policy, in which case the EMG for it is never covered. Most people in that position keep the public appointment or pay for the test privately, and buy the policy for everything else. Compare the plans on our calculator or ring us and we will match the plan to the test you expect to need.

Frequently asked questions