Thanks for your reply, Mrs. D. She tried cold when heat didn't work. We still have a freezer full of cold packs. We also tried Lidoderm patches. And there was even a hot pepper lotion we tried that no one has mentioned. This is what we started with in 05-06 whne the problem happened.

None of this helped. We're looking at more invasive approaches, as I said, which will include facet blocks of T6-10 and a rhizotomy of whichever nervs seem to be the problem. We'd like to know if anyone has gone this route with any success. Our pain doc said "no," but I've read of people having this done. I just want to hear firsthand about it.