Hey all!
If you're ever going to listen to me, listen to me on this one!!! My degree is in neuroscience, and this answer is a combo of my education and my doctor's expertise. (I went to UCSD- first rate neuro program, and my doctor/surgeon is at UCSD- first rate doc. I adore him. He also does research on RSD.)

A nerve is like a rope- the various fibers that make up the rope are the individual neurons. A sympathectomy just cuts that nerve. Or uses alcohol to kill it. Sounds great, right? No more nerve, no more pain! Yay! Unfortunately, our nerves are more like trees. They are living things. And what happens when you cut a tree down? The tree trunk doesn't grow back in just one place. It grows back 3, 4, 10, or even 20 new shoots. In terms of nerves, this means even greater connectivity than before, and unfortunately, even greater pain. More signals get through- more pain signals. Where there was only one neuron conducting the pain signal, there are now twenty.

This is why no doctor will perform a sympathectomy these days. They will only result in increased sensitivity and pain. It's pretty much guaranteed.

I truly hope that this explains why this is not a procedure you should undergo. Radiofrequency ablation, on the other hand, is believed to either shock the nerve for a period of time, or leave the myelin sheath intact, which provides a guide for the nerve to grow back into so that it does not over grow and become bushy. This procedure does not leave patients in more pain than they started out in. And on a personal note, before I had my spinal stim put in, I had up to 5 months of relief from RF ablations! 2 months on the low end, but that's still damn good!

If you have more questions, feel free to ask. I'll break it down for you!

Lynn