Coming down with a COVID-19 infection doesn’t just mean a week or two of a sore throat, fever, body aches, shortness of breath, and other symptoms. There can be longer-lasting health impacts, as well.
If you develop long COVID after a COVID-19 infection, your symptoms may linger for months, long after you’ve ceased to be infectious to others. The symptoms of long COVID, like other chronic pain and fatigue conditions, impede your ability to live your best life.
You may experience lasting brain fog, leaving you unable to work or create. Or chronic body aches may mean you never feel completely comfortable. Long-term fatigue also makes anything you do more difficult.
Board-certified interventional pain management physician Dr. Nichelle Renk treats long COVID from her practice at Alpenglow Pain & Wellness in Anchorage, Alaska. Dr. Renk may recommend a stellate ganglion block as part of your long COVID treatment plan.
We’re still learning about the causes of long COVID. One place to take a closer look is your sympathetic nervous system. Activity in this network of nerves in your body activates your fight-or-flight response, and it also relates to your immune system and your body’s natural regenerative capabilities.
You might think that activating the sympathetic nervous system would help your health. However, too much activity in this body system can lead to symptoms like chronic pain. So how can you regulate sympathetic nervous system activity?
The answer may lie in your stellate ganglion. These nerve groups are on the right and left sides of your neck, near your voice box. Therapeutic stellate ganglion blocks (SGBs) effectively treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), and may improve your long COVID symptoms, as well.
When you receive an SGB, Dr. Renk injects a long-acting local anesthetic into a treatment area on the right or left side of your neck. If you suffer from symptoms mostly centered in your lower body, you may benefit from a block on the lumbar sympathetic ganglion in your lower back.
Your procedure is simple and quick. Dr. Renk relies on high-tech fluoroscopy imaging to precisely aim your injection at the stellate ganglion. The medication blocks sensation in the stellate ganglion, halting the feedback loop of your ongoing symptoms. SGBs result in immediate and often long-lasting pain relief.
It’s possible that SGBs work effectively as a treatment for long COVID because the treatment increases the flow of blood to your brain. SGBs show promise as a method to relieve pain, body aches, brain fog, fatigue, and even lost or altered senses of smell and taste that arise from long COVID.
If your long COVID symptoms include postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which at times causes your heart to race or your blood pressure to drop, SBG treatment may improve your condition through manipulation of your fight-or-flight response.
In short, take the symptoms of long COVID seriously. With the right treatment and support, you can improve your wellness.
To learn more about stellate ganglion blocks and other treatment options for long COVID patients, contact Dr. Renk and the Alpenglow Pain & Wellness team today. Call now to schedule your appointment, or book online.
