Well, actually, it's an easy question and the answer is YES! But the hard part to the question is WHAT gives people that relief? Sadly, it may not be the same thing that gives you relief. Some people find that magnesium lotion helps, others find that biofreeze helps, where others must use prescription medications like neurontin, lyrica cymbalta, etc. After those have been tried, then maybe bigger guns like IVIG might help. And then there is the ones that have exhausted all options and the only that helps with narcotic pain medications.

You have to take this one step at a time...and this can be a very frustrating process. But it is possible to be trying these different options WHILE you still look for answers. But you need a doctor that is willing to start at the beginning and look at B12, glucose levels, autoimmune processes, neurological conditions, etc...one at a time and maybe an answer to the cause can be found.

But in the meantime, there is no reason why you shouldn't be trying some of the many options discussed here to see if you can get some relief. The only thing I would suggest NOT to try during the testing stage is steroids as they can skew results of testing. Also, try ONE thing at a time because if you get side-effects, then you won't know which item caused it...same for if something helps--you won't know which helped.

We all understand how difficult (and painful) this can be. But I feel confident you will find something that helps your symptoms. Just keep trying and talk with your doctor about different options and give each an optimistic approach.

And let me just add: If your doctor doesn't find an answer to the cause and therefore can't truly treat the reason for it, then 'masking' (as you put it) is better then living with the pain. It all comes down to quality of life.