Oops! I forgot to mention that I was on Elavil, Topamax and Neurontin for nerve pain for a while. I gained a lot of weight, but they helped. I now use anti-inflammatories and creams containining pain relief agents, use the shower over the affected arm to "loosen" it up and massage it daily. It's the type of pain that checks in and never checks out and tends to spread. It's climbing up to my neck now and often it will sneak into my the side of head and back. I have to choose the time of day when it's most painfree to venture out and carrying items on that side HURTS or the touch of someone often amplifies the pain immensely. As far as clothing, I can now wear long sleeves, providing it's a very soft cotton. No one sees the scars as they are on the underside of my hand and arm luckily. LOL, for a while I used self tanning creams to contrast the purplish color and to create an optical illusion that both arms resembled one another. Take care.