Most people don’t know that stellate ganglion block (SGB) can be an effective treatment option for anxiety. If you have worked with a therapist, may have made some progress, but have hit a plateau and still grapple with anxiety, SGB may help.
Your anxiety is not just all in your head: it has also has a physiological, bodily component, which can also be your path out of anxiety. Stellate ganglion block physically calms you when you’d normally have a shaky, nervous reaction to whatever causes your anxiety. As it does for PTSD, SGB helps break the cycle by calming down your responses to triggers. It can help whether your anxiety is acute and debilitiating, or persistent and stubborn.
Dr. Jason Attaman helps anxiety sufferers in all kinds of situations, and may be able to help you with stellate ganglion block.
With an office in Bellevue WA, he helps people throughout Greater Seattle and the Puget Sound area, though many patients travel from across the US for help. We have also helped anxiety sufferers from all over Canada. The clinic is easily accessible from British Columbia and Alberta and we offer a telemedicine consultation to verify that you are a good candidate for these injections. Patients can stay overnight in Bellevue, Washington, and have the treatment completed over 2 days.
We offer a substantial discount to US Military veterans, active-duty personnel, and law enforcement. (Many of our patients come from nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord.)
You can contact Dr. Attaman’s office to book a consultation, or read on to find out more about SGB treatment.
Our SGB Experience
Dr. Attaman has performed SGB procedures since 2007 for various conditions including PTSD. He was elected as a Seattle Magazine “Top Doc” in Pain Medicine for 2019, 2022, and 2023. He was elected by other physicians as a Seattle Met “Top Doc” in Pain Medicine for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
What are signs of anxiety?
Signs of anxiety can include:
- Avoidance of stressful situations
- Avoidance of discussing stressful events in the past
- Difficulty in friendships
- Difficulty in romantic relationships
- Irritability
- Anger
- A helpless feeling
- Chronic pain.
- Fatigue.
What is stellate ganglion block?
It is a shot delivered in our office. It targets the stellate ganglion nerves in your neck, which play a crucial role in your flight or fight response. By temporarily anesthetizing these nerves we can calm down the overactive fight-or-flight responses, hyper-vigilance, and anxiety that can make daily life so difficult.
How does therapy fit into anxiety treatment?
You may have spent countless hours with a therapist. That time wasn’t a waste, because psychotherapy and SGB therapy can be complementary. Often therapy alone can resolve or lessen your anxiety. But if your anxiety has persisted, despite your and your therapist’s best efforts, SGB can give you the physiological “opening” or break you need to get into a state of mind where you and a therapist can work out issues long-term.
Consider reading this study on SGB for anxiety.
It’s time to get your life back.
SGB therapy can work for six months to a year, and you may take multiple shots if you require them. You may feel immediate improvement, opening the door to long-term improvement. SBGB is fast, affordable, and safe. If you’re ready to live life with much less anxiety, don’t wait. Call Dr. Attaman’s office in Bellevue today to discuss SGB and book your appointment.
What is a Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB)?
The stellate ganglion is a bundle of nerves that is located deep in the lower neck. It is located within the cervical sympathetic chain. Sympathetic nerves play a strong role in our fight-or-flight response. When you have anxiety, these nerves malfunction and are constantly sending distress signals to your brain and body. Injecting local anesthetic (numbing medicine) around these nerves is called a stellate ganglion block (SGB). SGB resets these nerves that are chronically in fight-or-flight response. This is similar to rebooting your computer; after the “SGB reboot,” your nerves function normally. Stellate ganglion block (SGB) injections need to be performed under either ultrasound and/or fluoroscopic guidance as there are major blood vessels and organs nearby. The SGB injection is not new and has been used for 100 years to treat painful conditions such as chronic regional pain syndrome (CRPS) of the upper extremity. More recently, SGB is being used to treat anxiety.
The Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) Procedure for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The only physicians that are formally trained in the SGB procedure are Interventional Pain Management physicians (MDs and DOs). We learn how to safely perform SGB during a year-long advanced training program called a Pain Medicine fellowship. A fellowship is the highest level of training a physician can complete and is done after four years of medical school, one year of internship, and three years of residency. Even then, the SGB technique used for anxiety treatment is more complex than when used for painful conditions and in many cases requires even more refinement after fellowship. Stellate ganglion block is a technically demanding procedure that requires precise image guidance using an ultrasound machine and sometimes a form of x-ray called a fluoroscope. We always prefer to use ultrasound as it allows us to better visualize nerves, arteries and veins in this delicate area.
About the Author: Phil Rozek
