There are different kinds of nerve blocks but the ones I got didn't make anything go numb...they gave me some (small) relief from the pain. There are different medications that they use for the different kinds of blocks. I'm not knowledgeable about the differences to really know, but a successful sympathetic nerve block would show that you have sympathetically maintained pain...which would indicate RSD. As RSD progresses...the pain becomes sympathetically independent pain and the blocks are not successful. They are not successful in all patients either...so like everything else there is no diagnostic test to PROVE RSD. It is a clinical diagnosis based on the presence of specific symptoms.

Dangers of getting a nerve block can include risk of infection, meningitis, and death. Those are what were listed on the sheet that I signed before the procedure but it stated there was less than a 1% chance of that. My RSD spread after my last one...which has made my life horrible since then...so that is a possibility too (though again...very rare). But when you are dealing with RSD pain it is a worthwhile risk for most of us considering the possibility of some relief from the pain.

As for doctors...well...that varies from person to person really. I have seen many doctors who are uneducated or miseducated about RSD, and have no interest in hearing any information from the patient. Then I have seen doctors who tell me it is a bad thing to research stuff myself and do not like the idea that the patient becomes their own advocate with regards to their health. And then I have a doctor like my current one who has seen and diagnosed RSD in a couple of cases (and very early in the process so her patients were able to go into full remission with proper treatment) who is very interested in anything that I am able to tell her about RSD. She is a general practitioner and therefore not the normal ideal person for me to be seeing in that sense, but under her care I have gotten better treatment than I got with 3 pain management doctors and 3 neurologists. And it is because she really cares about my condition and is working with me to get my life back and overcome this awful thing. My physical therapist right now is this way too...she is always interested in hearing more about RSD so that she can help me to better overcome the obstacles I face. So doctors are a mixed bag in that respect, which is why it is generally best to see someone who specializes in it because they won't need to "research online" and will be familiar with the treatment options (generally of course because not everyone who specializes in RSD is necessarily good at treating it).

Have you gone through the RSD Puzzles? I found them very informative in the beginning and since the RSD has gotten worse I have gone back through and have found some great information to bring my new doctor about treatment options and different meds to try.