Forgive me, for I do not know what I am talking about for I haven’t experienced CPSP. But nevertheless I offer the following.
A few weeks ago I had a tooth removed. It was my UR5 which was leaning over at quite an angle, not that it could be seen, and it was filmed live to a roomful of dentists because it also had a bulbous root and they needed to know how to deal with that - the tooth was famous for 5 minutes even if the rest of me wasn’t! Given that UR4 had been missing for a long time, also not really visible to others, the aim eventually is to bridge the gap with a metallic denture to restore functionality to the area. So eating will be that bit easier, but it was elective all the same.
The reason I have mentioned this is that I had to think long and hard about this irrevocable dental step. In the end I said yes, and the result was a boring and smelly half an hour, but it was a pain-free experience. With regard to my tremors, I have had to think long and hard about this too. Any surgery will be elective, but others continue to live with the condition even though it is very awkward. And I wish to play the violin again.
Do I have DBS and laser up some lesions in the brain? But this is the thalamus whereas the stroke appeared to mess up the cerebellum. And my neurologist doesn’t think it is worth doing. I have already tried a beta-blocker (40mg of propanolol) but it got my resting heart rate down to 36/minute, too low, so that was ditched - I had been used to using a 10mg tablet to address the occasional bout of performance nerves on the violin (such as the solos in Shostakovich 5 to an audience of about 400) so I thought it would be ok, more of the same. No, definitely not.
So do I go down a surgical route or not? Big question. Or can I do something? Don’t know.
I have seen a youtube video where the originator seems to suggest that all pain is neurological. Sometimes it reflects what is happening and that has to be dealt with, but sometimes it is not and the brain is telling us porky pies. For latter case, the question is always, can I do something which affects the brain in the way we wish? Can we engage and rely on neuroplasticity? His answer seems to be that in many cases we can. I am searching for my answer and how to do it.