What is it?
The stellate ganglion is a cluster of nerve tissue in the neck — part of the sympathetic nervous system, the system responsible for the fight-or-flight response. The alarm system, in other words.
In certain types of chronic pain — particularly those entangled with hypervigilance, with the nervous system stuck in a state of threat — the stellate ganglion has become overactive. It keeps the whole system elevated. Braced. On guard.
A stellate ganglion block (SGB) is an injection that temporarily quiets that cluster of nerves. A local anaesthetic, precisely placed, that tells the sympathetic system: you can stand down now. Reduces your body’s “fight-or-flight” responses and reset your body’s response to pain and stress.
For some patients, the results are striking. Not because the anatomy changed. Because the background noise dropped. Because the nervous system finally got the message that the threat had passed.
It is being studied in contexts well beyond pain — including PTSD, hot flashes, and anxiety — because the stellate ganglion sits at the intersection of threat, memory, and the body’s learned responses to both. That science is still developing. But what’s clear is this: when the problem is a nervous system that won’t quiet down, treatments that speak directly to that system are the ones worth exploring.
Who is it for?
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Post Herpetic Neuralgia, Pelvic Pain
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Trauma Related Anxiety – helps reduce sleep disturbance, hypervigilance, panic attacks
- Menopausal Hot Flashes that disrupt your life – especially when hormone therapy is not an option
We’ll help you figure out if this is an option for you.