Stellate Ganglion Block Treatment for PTSD Q&A

Stressful situations impact each person differently. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a severe debilitating condition produced by experiencing or witnessing a stressful or traumatic event. In general, the stressful or traumatic event entailed significant bodily harm, sexual assault, or the danger of death. It is critical to realize that PTSD can manifest itself even when the traumatic incident happened to a relative or friend. To clarify, the person must experience nightmares, intrusive thoughts, and flashbacks for over a month after the traumatic occurrence.

It is not unusual for people with PTSD to respond poorly to prescribed treatment and psychological therapies. Nevertheless, the stellate ganglion block to treat PTSD is an exceptional tool to regain life control and mental peace.
In Particular, patients who had tried drugs and behavioral therapies with less-than-ideal results benefit the most from stellate ganglion block.

Stellate ganglion block is an office procedure used by pain doctors and anesthesiologists consisting of injecting a group of nerves. The place where the bodies of a group of neurons come together is a ganglion. Specifically, these ganglions or collections of nerves are located on each side of the collarbones around the neck. These nerves are a component of the autonomic nervous system. They are not responsible for movement of the body or touch perception. In detail, a Stellate ganglion block is the injection of numbing medicine around it to reduce nerve communication and feeling.

During stressful or traumatic situations, the brain activates all body defense mechanisms to fight or fight. For unknown reasons, some people are more prone to maintain over time the brain’s network overactivation than others. When a person has PTSD, their brain’s autonomous system continues to trigger the fight-or-flight response even when there is no real threat or valid justification to do so. The amygdala, a region of the brain, is constantly stimulated by the overreacting central autonomic network, creating a vicious circle that is the source of all the symptoms that people with PTSD experience during a crisis or episode.

The Stellate ganglion block, used to treat PTSD, avoids the maintenance of persistent sympathetic responses by interrupting the activation of the central autonomic network. Thus, the vicious cycle is broken, and overstimulation of the amygdala is stopped. As a result, the patient’s experiment symptoms subside, and his anxiety, sweat, racing pulse, and panic all significantly lessen.

Like most medical procedures or medicines, Stellate ganglion block to Treat PTSD doesn’t work for everybody. The accepted success rate is around 80%.

Remarkably, since 1925, the Stellate Ganglion Block has been used to treat chronic pain syndromes. However, the Cleveland Clinic used it for the first time in 1945 to treat psychological trauma and rehabilitate depressed patients. Shortly after, soldiers returning from World War II diagnosed with PTSD received Stellate Ganglion block with spectacular results. Every year, millions of patients receive Stellate Ganglion Block to Treat PTSD globally and in the USA.

The Stellate ganglion block to treat PTSD is a quick in-office procedure that takes less than 15 minutes to complete. After a short period under observation and a final revision, the patient can leave the office.

The Stellate ganglion block is a sophisticated procedure with virtually no recovery time. Indeed, after confirming the integrity of the surrounding tissue and the absence of any obvious sign of a potential complication or side effect, the patient is ready to work. To emphasize, the stellate ganglion block doesn’t require any downtime. People can resume their life pace immediately afterward. Of course, patients should not eat for the next 6 hours and prevent massaging the injection area.

Stellate ganglion block to treat PTSD starts working 30 minutes or less after the procedure. Among the most noticeable benefits observed are anxiety relief, reduced hyperarousal states, and decreased abnormally exaggerated startle responses. In addition, patients report diminished heart racing, flashbacks, and excessive sweating.

The alleviation from the Stellate ganglion block might persist for a few months to years. Additional ganglion blocks may be given to the patient to maintain or further enhance its therapeutic effects.
Book your appointment now and see how you can benefit from this treatment.

At OmniSpine Pain Management, our pain doctors perform this procedure to treat PTSD. However, this will not be covered by your health insurance. Contact us today for more information about our pain management services at your earliest convenience. You can visit us at our clinics located 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.