Originally Posted by Cake

Hi Sunshine Girl

As far as I know, there isn't a certain amount of surgeries that make you more likely to get RSD, just one surgery is enough. Or for me, one blood test. I guess that because surgery is one of the most common ways for RSD to start, having 9 surgeries does increase that risk a little, but it's just pot luck in a way, as millions of people have surgery every day and only a small amount of those people will get RSD.

As far as the scs goes, that is one of many lines of treatment. Some drs believe in doing that right at the start, others do it as a last resort, once everything else has failed. I personally think it should be a last resort- once you've tried blocks, medications, infusions etc. The scs is very invasive and only about 50% of people have long lasting success with it- many need further surgeries in the first year or so as leads move and have a lot of complications.

One RSDer on here had an scs fairly early in her rsd and regrets it, as it caused her rsd to spread and didn't help her pain anyway. Others have had great relief from it.

But if you're not ok with trying it right now, then don't let your dr bully you into doing it. If needed, find another dr who will listen to you and be open to trying other things that you may want to try before going down the scs road.

x Kate