Stellate Ganglion Block Can Alleviate Long COVID & Post-COVID Symptoms

Long COVID is an umbrella term encompassing a broad spectrum of new, recurring, or persistent health issues that people experience following the infection with the COVID-19 virus. Currently, the CDC labels long COVID or post-COVID conditions to symptoms and physical and mental health consequences that are preset or appear four weeks after infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. The most recognized long-term COVID symptoms are anosmia or the partial or complete loss of smell, cognitive impairment, fatigue, shortness of breath, and post-exertional malaise, which means getting exhausted and worsening symptoms after minimal mental or physical stimulation. It is essential to realize that stellate ganglion block is used for long COVID treatment for its promissory results.

Long COVID is a novel medical condition that is challenging to comprehend because it affects many tissues and organs. In general, post-COVID conditions affect mood, emotions, menstrual cycle, mental sharpness, physical resistance, lungs, heart, libido, and stamina levels. The most frequently reported post-COVID conditions are:


• Abdominal pain 
• Anosmia (loss of smell)
• Arthralgia (joint pain)
• Chest pain
• Cognitive impairment (brain fog or lack of mental clarity)
• Cough
• Diarrhea
• Dysgeusia (persistent metallic taste sensation)
• Dyspnea (difficult breathing)
• Erectile dysfunction
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Gastrointestinal disturbances
• Headache
• Insomnia and other sleep difficulties
• Impaired daily function and mobility
• Lightheadedness
• Loss of taste,
• Menstrual cycle irregularities
• Myalgia (muscle pain)
• Mood changes
• Pain
• Palpitations
• Paresthesia (burning or pickling sensation, itching, and skin crawling)
• Post-exertional malaise
• Skin rash

The exact physiological alterations and immunological mechanisms involved in long COVID-19 are still unknown. Most clinical research suggests that an imbalance in the autonomous nerve system is the primary cause. The nervous system imbalance dysregulates the immune system, attacking the human body with persistent inflammation. In fact, the ongoing inflammation is responsible for long COVID symptoms and its clinical manifestations. Under these circumstances, stellate ganglion block is effective in resetting the dysregulated autonomous system and relieving post-COVID conditions.
 
In a nutshell, stellate ganglion block can eliminate the vicious cycle responsible for the overreactive autonomous nervous system. To emphasize, the stellate ganglion block temporarily interrupts autonomous nervous system transmission, stopping the fight or flight response and allowing its reset. Therefore, reestablishing the regular autonomous nervous system prevents the continuous activation of the immune response. As a result, the persistent inflammatory response decreases or disappears.

Stellate ganglion block is one of the most efficient post-COVID conditions or long COVID syndrome treatment. Notably, post-COVID conditions include physiological and psychological symptoms that may respond at different rates to the Stellate Ganglion block. The clinical research indicates that patients report post-COVID symptom relief in the first 24 hours after treatment. However, brain fog or lack of mental clarity can take 7 to 14 days to improve. In particular, stellate ganglion block may eliminate the most common long-haul COVID-19 symptoms, including loss of smell and taste, fatigue, poor endurance, shortness of breath, and gastrointestinal disturbances.

Stellate ganglion block is an outpatient procedure that injects numbing medicine in a group of neurons called ganglion. The human body has two stellate ganglions, one on each side of the neck just behind the collarbone. Your pain doctor specialist can use stellate ganglion block to treat several medical conditions such as complex regional pain syndrome of the head and upper limbs, peripheral vascular disease, postherpetic neuralgia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and long-term COVID-19, among other dozen conditions. 

The duration of stellate ganglion block positive effects for long COVID symptoms relief can last from months to years. To clarify, due to the relatively new post-COVID conditions diagnosis, there has yet to be a conclusive answer for the symptom relief duration. Nevertheless, patients should expect symptom improvements for several months.

The stellate ganglion block injection procedure takes 10 to 15 minutes; However, the patient may stay under close observation for up to 60 minutes.
 
In order to have the most significant benefit or long-lasting relief from long COVID symptoms, some patients may require bilateral or multiple stellate ganglion blocks. Make your appointment today and learn how our pain doctor specialist can help you to alleviate long COVID symptoms.
 
If you are looking for a solution to alleviate long COVID and post-COVID symptoms visit OmniSpine Pain Management, Dr. Andrew H. Morchower, M.D., M.P.H., and his dedicated team offer Stellate Ganglion Block. For more information, contact us or book an book an appointment. We have convenient locations to serve you in Frisco, TX, Sunnyvale, TX, and Mesquite, TX. We serve patients from Dallas TX, Frisco TX, Mesquite TX, Sunnyvale TX, Plano TX, Garland TX, Forney TX, Cedar Hill TX, Denton TX, Balch Springs TX, and surrounding areas.