My title sums it up - the SCS at this stage sounds way too early for me! Like ALI12 said "they only implant an SCS as a last resort" and this is no exception here. I am not sure that your insurance company would even allow for a trial, which in itself is expensive, with the limited treatments conducted so far. My wife too had the trial of the SCS and the PNS (periphrial nerve stim) both of which failed to improve her pain. With your pain thus far being managed by little medication I would think you had lots of other options to try before this one.

In answer to your question, however, I believe that if you control the pain and other symptoms, you will most likely stop the spread. Thus if the SCS was successful I believe that the spread would stop. Though there may be some disagreement, the continued damage to the nervous system and the spread of symptoms has to do with the continued wind-up response of the sympathetic nervous sytem, and when this wind-up is stopped through the use of SCS, HBOT or any method, the spread is less likely. I think this would be a good question for the general group as to whom, if their pain is well controlled by ANY means, ever had continued spread of their symptoms?

As for the deep gnawingache, that is exactly th words my wife used to describe her pain since it started back in 1993. It has never changed her primary description.

Keep all of your other options in mind and definitely GO CONSERVATIVE when you can - surgery has it's own risks of causing flares and spread as well.I would remain very hopeful of all of the things you could still try before getting to the SCS point, should you choose to. Best o luck!