Stellate Ganglion Block
When funds allow, the Honor and Courage Foundation will cover the cost of the Sellate Ganglion Block Procedure for Active Duty Military, Veterans, and First Responders. We refer everyone to James Lynch, MD located in Annapolis Maryland. www.drjameslynch.com We believe Dr. Lynch is the best of the best in regards to the SGB Procedure. To see if you qualify for our SGB Grant, please fill out out application for “Special Grants” under the “Special Grants” tab.
SGB: A possible breakthrough treatment for PTSD
James Lynch MD, LLC is a Veteran-Owned Small Business in the Annapolis, Maryland area.
Dr. Jim Lynch is a physician and mental health advocate who served 31 years in Army medicine and has extensive experience treating those suffering from the effects of trauma. A combat veteran with multiple deployments himself, Dr. Lynch was a pioneer in the world of Anxiety and PTSD treatment using stellate ganglion block (SGB) to help heal thousands of patients since 2011. His patients travel from all over the US and other countries to receive his expert care.
What is Stellate Ganglion Block?
The stellate ganglion block (SGB) is a procedure in which an injection of a long-acting local anesthetic, using ultrasound guidance, is made in the side of the neck around the main nerve that controls the “fight or flight” response (the sympathetic nervous system). This nerve, (the cervical sympathetic chain) which is a two-way conduit, connects the parts of the brain that control the fight or flight response (referred to as the central autonomic network) to the rest of the body. By blocking or “turning off” the traffic in the cervical sympathetic chain, it is believed that the parts of the brain that control the fight or flight response are allowed to completely reset, resulting in long-term relief of the associated anxiety symptoms. Multiple peer-reviewed medical studies show that SGB results in significant long-term improvement in chronic anxiety symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. The SGB takes less than 15 minutes to perform, and benefits are seen in as little as 30 minutes.
(Although the term PTSD is more commonly used, some feel that the term post traumatic stress injury (PTSI) is more accurate, since an injury is something you can recover from.)
Make a donation.
Donate to the Honor and Courage Stellate Ganglion Block Program.
Your support and generosity allows us to provide essential services to members of the Active Duty Military, Veteran and Law Enforcement community. Your donations help give our Heroes a sense of hope and purpose and you help aid in their recovery.
Testimonials
Dear Honor and Courage Foundation, First, I would like to say thank you to all involved with your foundation. When I didn’t know where to turn for help with my veteran son, Heather was there. Heather is our angel who gave my son his life back and we will forever be grateful to her and your foundation. I would like to share with you a bit of background about my very special son. He joined the Army in 2010 at 19 years of age. As a child and young adult, he was funny, smart, handsome, and athletic. As the wife of a retired Army vet, I was very proud that my son decided to serve our great country. I gave the country my son and was given back a very broken and distant man who did not feel deserving of life itself. He was injured in Afghanistan in 2011 yet continued to stay to fulfill his deployment. When he returned, I saw in his eyes….death. Death of the gregarious son I once knew. He once told me he knew God would punish him for what he had to do and he knew he would never have a son. My heart was broken. Heather put me in touch with a very special veteran, Andrew Smith, who spoke for hours with me to help me understand my son better and to teach me how to help him move forward. That was in 2016. Since then, my son has often wanted to end his life. He has everything going for him…a beautiful wife and now a one year old son yet, he was still feeling undeserving of all of it. He suffers from severe hyper vigilance and PTS. On one of my recent visits with he and his family, he was speaking of suicide. It was the day I was heading back home and was so unsure of how to help him this time. I contacted Heather with my plea for help. It was then that I learned for the first time about the Stellate Ganglion block and that this is something that she has seen help other vets. I immediately contacted my daughter in law and we started working on him. He agreed he needed help and because of your generosity, the arrangements were made for him to go to the Stellate Institute in Annapolis. Last week, my son met with Dr. Lynch and began his treatments. He and his wife said they were so impressed with the doctor, how caring and compassionate he was, how he talked my son through the entire process, and how he hugged them both at the end. My son, almost immediately, felt “different”, lighter, and a bit confused by it all. He had a lot of emotions to unpack over the course of the next few days. Today, they called my husband and I and who we saw was our old son….no darkness in his eyes, no weight on his shoulders, and a big smile on his face. While he is still processing the emotions, he is ever so grateful to have had this done. In fact, he said he doesn’t understand why this isn’t used on all veterans following a deployment. How many could have been saved, if only. You…your foundation…and Heather saved my son. I cannot thank you all enough. Please, continue to offer this treatment to all veterans and please, we must scream this from the rooftops! You save lives….you restore families and you give HOPE!
Warmest regards,
A very grateful proud Army veteran’s momma
"I want to thank you for sponsoring my SGB treatment with Dr. Lynch. I can’t put into words how much better I feel, and I am so incredibly grateful for organizations like yours that make these life-changing treatments possible. Today, for the first time in a long while, I was able to sit peacefully by the water and truly feel a sense of calm—both in my mind and body. It's a feeling I haven't had in such a long time, and I can’t help but think about how different my life feels now, thanks to your generosity. I am truly thankful for your support, and for everything it’s helped me with. It means more to me than you know."
A.M Airforce Veteran