Stellate ganglion blocks treat pain in myriad forms – from chronic post-surgical pain to headaches

A healthy and happy woman after receiving stellate ganglion block treatment.

At The Hemlock Pain Center, we appreciate that pain is an equal opportunity offender. It can affect any part of the body, and most of us will experience some form of pain at some point in life. When your stellate ganglion is involved, persistent pain may be felt in your neck, head, upper chest, and upper arms. From our four convenient offices in Macon, Warner Robins, Dublin, and Milledgeville, Georgia, our Board-certified anesthesiologists and pain management specialists, Drs. Stephen N. Tafor and Sandeep Datta can put these chronic symptoms behind you with an injectable treatment or nerve block.

What is the stellate ganglion?

This is actually a group of nerves located in your neck near the first ribs below your collarbone. This oval—or star-shaped collection of nerves (stellate refers to “stars”) is responsible for the majority of the sympathetic nerve signals transmitted to your head, neck, arms, and upper chest. The sympathetic nervous system is also responsible for many essential functions, from your heart rate and blood pressure to your perspiration.

What is a stellate ganglion block?

We inject an anesthetic medication into the stellate ganglion to ease pain associated with injuries to these nerves and nerve-related conditions, such as postherpetic neuralgia. This block may also be recommended to help with circulation and blood flow to your arms. It has diagnostic purposes, too, as it may be used to detect SMP – sympathetically mediated pain. This chronic condition arises when the sympathetic nervous system transmits pain signals to your brain. There is no known cause for this condition, which causes chronic neuropathic pain. It may be appropriate for everything from relieving the severity and frequency of cluster headaches and phantom limb pain, to post-surgical pain and orofacial pain in the face and mouth.

How do you perform this treatment?

Injections may start with administering a medication intravenously through a vein to help keep you relaxed. You will recline on your back, and we will then cleanse and disinfect your neck. A local anesthetic will also be injected. With guidance from one of our diagnostic technologies or imaging, we will insert another needle and carefully inject the block or anesthetic medication precisely at the right location. We can do all of this in around 30 minutes. Afterward, we will continue monitoring you to ensure there are no complications. You will also receive instructions on after-care before someone else drives you home. It is essential to arrange for reliable transportation because the effects of the anesthesia can linger, which would make it unsafe for you to drive.

A patient is undergoing stellate ganglion block treatment.
A beautiful woman after getting after receiving stellate ganglion block treatment.

What results can I expect?

We know that you wanted the pain to be gone yesterday. And, for some people, they do experience pain relief immediately post-injection. For others, while the pain may go away immediately, it can return a few hours later (as the effects of the local anesthetic fade). The results may be sustained for days or weeks. Some of our patients at The Hemlock Pain Center also required a series of injections for real and sustained relief. The effects may last longer with each treatment or injection. So, you may ultimately require fewer injections in a given year.

Seeing how our patients have finally achieved long-term pain relief has been a real privilege and quite rewarding. They have been able to reduce their reliance on medications, and can even get back to participating in their physical therapy and activities that they love and that add meaning to their lives. We look forward to helping you, too! To find out more about how to get started, contact our patient care coordinators in Macon, GA (478) 475-2385, Warner Robins (478) 997-6444, Dublin (478) 800-3745, or Milledgeville (478) 280-4670 today.