Wash your hair the morning of the test and use no conditioner, gel, oil or spray, because product residue stops electrodes making contact. Bring your glasses if you wear them, mention any hearing aid, and take your usual medications unless told otherwise.
Wash your hair the morning of the test and use no conditioner, gel, oil or spray, because product residue stops electrodes making contact. Bring your glasses if you wear them, mention any hearing aid, and take your usual medications unless told otherwise.
Electrodes attach to the scalp and need direct contact with clean skin. Conditioner, styling gel, hairspray, oil and dry shampoo all interfere, and residue is the most common cause of a delayed start or a repeated study. Wash with plain shampoo, rinse thoroughly, and put nothing on afterwards. If your hair is long, thick, braided or you wear extensions or a hairpiece, mention it when you book, because it affects both where electrodes can be placed and how long the setup takes.
Visual evoked potentials require you to focus steadily on a patterned screen, so bring the glasses or contact lenses you normally use for distance. If your vision has changed recently, say so, since an uncorrected refractive error affects the result. Auditory studies use clicks through headphones, so mention a hearing aid before the study rather than during it. Somatosensory studies use small electrical pulses at the wrist or ankle and need those areas accessible, so wear something that rolls up easily.
Eat normally beforehand. Take your regular medications unless you have been specifically instructed to hold one, and if you have been given such an instruction, follow it precisely rather than approximately. Sedating medications can affect the recording, so mention anything you take for sleep or anxiety. There is no sedation used during the study itself, so you can drive yourself home and go back to work. These studies are performed at both CNS offices.
Clinical Neurology Specialists has been physician-owned since 1998, when Leo Germin, M.D., FAANEM founded it. Five board-certified neurologists and four advanced practice providers see patients at the Las Vegas and Henderson offices, each with its own AANEM-accredited electrodiagnostic laboratory.
Clinical Neurology Specialists is an adult outpatient neurology practice for patients 18 and older. The practice performs no surgery and operates no imaging suite, infusion suite or interventional pain programme, and provides no emergency or inpatient care.
Physician-reviewed. Reviewed by the physicians of Clinical Neurology Specialists — board-certified neurologists, AANEM-accredited electrodiagnostic laboratories, physician-owned since 1998. Reviewed 1 August 2026. This article is general education for adults 18 and older and is not a substitute for a consultation.
Sources and further reading: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; American Academy of Neurology; MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine.
Adults 18 and older, at the Las Vegas and Henderson offices. Call 702-804-1212 or request an appointment online.