The stellate ganglion is a collection of sympathetic nerves that run along each side of your voice box.

A block is an injection of anesthetic medication into the stellar ganglion. This can help pain syndromes, ptsd, circulation issues, chronic headaches, anxiety, and more.

I’ve just had my second round. My doctor starts with an injection near the vagas nerve at the top of the abdomen. He then does an injection on each side of the pelvic area. This calms the nervous system a little before doing the stellate ganglion.

The last injection is directly at the stellate ganglion, using ultrasound to ensure the needle is in the precise location.

I also had 10 prolotherapy injections into the back of my neck. A few of these hurt like heck this time. I had to stop at one point from the pain.

I will continue to get both of these but should need them less frequently. The goal is yearly. For now, it’ll still be 6 weeks.

After the last time, I felt less nervous system reactivity and less pain. I expect this will improve the more I do.

The cervical instability will take several rounds before I really start feeling the effects. Having done it before, I am hopeful for long term effects.

For now, I’m going to bed for a while.

Dr. E also believes my cervical issues have progressed into a type of arthritis called diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). So I will be getting another upright MRI to determine if it’s that or something else.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/diffuse-idiopathic-skeletal-hyperostosis-dish