Pacemaker lead question

I had a Medtronic 7960 pacemaker in 1996 and the generator was replaced in 2003. I have never had any problems until 3 months ago when I experienced soreness, pain and swelling where the leads are close to the collarbone after some strenuous exercise. I saw my cardiologist (I'm in a small town, rural area) who said he thought I had pulled a muscle but did a pacemaker check which showed it functioning properly. I told him it felt like the lead was actually rubbing or grating against the bone and he said that even if that was the case, the only solution would be removing the leads and that could be serious and life threatening surgery. Plus he had never heard of leads moving after being there so long or causing pain.
  It has now been 3 months and I still have discomfort and sometimes sharp pain when I lift my left arm up or lift any weight. No swelling but just annoying discomfort. What you would recommend?

[Douglas Bogart, MD]

I would recommend you go back and be evaluated by the implanting physician or another doctor who implants devices so they could examine you and interrogate the device to check the leads.