"It is almost like a miracle for me" - Mark*

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The treatment was provided by Dr. Sara Herman on her practice Soft Reboot Wellness based in Menlo Park, CA.

A single right-sided Stellate Ganglion Blockade was provided under live ultrasound guidance.

*Mark is a ficticious name given to the patient to protect his or her Personal Health Information according to HIPAA guidelines.

Problems & Symptoms

Mark had the following problems and symptoms before his SGB treatment:

Treatments Before SGB

Unsuccessful treatments with:

Signs of Successful SGB Treatment

Testimonial: SGB Experience

“I am writing to thank you for the Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) that you gave me several months ago. As you know, I was suffering from profound and chronic anxiety for most of my waking hours. It was shear torture just to make it through the day. After the SGB, though I still have bouts of anxiety, their frequency, and severity have been greatly diminished. It is almost like a miracle for me. I cannot thank you enough for your professionalism, kindness, and compassion, but mostly for assisting me with my symptomatology which was chronic and unrelenting. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

FAQs

A stellate ganglion block, or SGB, is an injection of a common local anesthetic near a cluster of nerves in the neck called the stellate ganglion. It interrupts a nervous system—or the fight-or-flight stress response—that is stuck in “on” mode due to PTSD or trauma-associated mood disorders.

As a result of the SGB, the body experiences relief from the many life-disrupting symptoms brought on by PTSD. In effect, SGB reboots the body’s stress response, making it easier for those suffering from PTSD to engage in activities they enjoy and incorporate additional lifestyle changes vital to their long-term healing.

Most patients feel symptom relief within one week. A second treatment may be recommended. In one study with 166 military veterans suffering from PTSD, 70% of the veterans reported significant and ongoing symptom relief three months after their SGB treatment.

In the appointment, we will take your vitals, numb the injection site, and administer the injection via guided ultrasound. The entire appointment will take 45 minutes to an hour; the SGB block itself takes about 15 minutes. Throughout, you will be alert and able to communicate with your doctor as she walks you through each step. You will relax in one of our peaceful treatment rooms and listen to calming music.

You want to use your insurance. We get it. We would too. But like a lot of physicians, we’ve decided not to take insurance, because we want to be able to make treatment decisions based on what will best serve each individual patient—not what their insurers will cover. Payment is collected at the time of treatment. And we’ll provide a superbill that you can submit to your insurance for reimbursement. Unless your insurer is Medicare. We are opting out of Medicare, because their rules and regulations can interfere with our providing the best possible care. For treatment at Soft Reboot Wellness, you will sign an agreement not to submit treatment claims to Medicare for reimbursement.

Currently, we accept cash, ACH transfer, credit cards, debit cards, and HSA or FSA accounts. An FSA or HSA is a great way to utilize money from your paycheck, that is put into a specific account for healthcare expenditures before taxes are taken out. In other words, instead of paying for ketamine treatments with “after tax” dollars, you’re using “pre-tax” dollars to pay for ketamine treatments, which will give most people about a 40 percent discount.


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Dr. Sara Herman

Sara Herman, MD, is a Harvard-trained, board-certified anesthesiologist and founder of Soft Reboot Wellness, a Silicon Valley-based ketamine & SGB clinic.

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