Stellate ganglion blocks (SGB) are awesome. Over the years, I’ve given a ton of SGBs for anxiety-related conditions. One of my favorite patients was a veteran who saw some horrific things in combat (I’ll spare you the gory details, but it was an awful story.) He had frequent nightmares, and he would think about the terrible things he saw every day. It was significantly affecting his ability to function in society. I told him I had never met a more perfect candidate, and I signed him up for a block. I eventually got him on the table, slid the needle in, sprayed some medicine on the ganglion, placed a band-aid, and then let him go. I saw him a few days later and he was beaming. Glowing. He looked like a new man. I asked him to follow-up with me as needed, and I never saw him again. Which is generally a good sign. I spoke to his psychiatrist sometime later, and she told me that he has been doing much better. Perfect! One little injection changed this dude’s life.
Another cool story involves a young lady who was suffering from temporal lobe seizures. One of the biggest triggers for temporal lobe seizures is psychological stress. Her seizures were almost daily, and she had frequent nightmares and difficulty sleeping. Sounds like a candidate, so let’s do it. Got her on the table, bing bang boom, the injection is done, and she is on her way. When I spoke to her a few days later, she was happy as a clam. She had not had a seizure nor a nightmare since the last time I saw her, and she was now getting the best sleep of her life. Amazing; so satisfying to hear that.
If you think this is all nonsense and poppycock, then this is not the right procedure for you. I don’t want my needles anywhere near your negative attitude. However, if you’ve tried a bunch of treatments, and nothing seems to be working, please come in for a consultation. Let’s talk.
