Desert Pain helps COVID-19 survivors recover sense of taste, smell with nerve injections

CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — If COVID-19 has stolen your sense of taste and smell, Desert Pain Specialists can help you get it back. 

A welcome waiting room greets guests at Desert Pain Specialists, St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo by Jeff Hauck courtesy of Desert Pain Specialists, St. George News

Desert Pain is a team of highly skilled physicians seeking to improve patient quality of life through innovative solutions. Now, they’re re-envisioning a time-tested procedure for life after coronavirus infection. 

“I tell patients that if they have any problems from their toes to their nose, we can help them,” interventional pain management specialist Dr. Steven Larsen said. “Simply put, here at Desert Pain, we do the right thing for the patient.”

Many people who survived COVID-19 continue to experience diminished taste and smell (anosmia) or a distorted sense of smell (parosmia) long after the virus has run its course. Larsen said new but promising research shows that the coronavirus, like other respiratory tract infections, damages the nerves of the olfactory system causing smell and taste dysfunction. With parosmia, something as pleasant as peanut butter might now smell like rotting garbage. 

In order to help patients recover and correct their senses of taste and smell, Desert Pain is offering stellate ganglion blocks, a minimally invasive, image-guided series of injections.

Taste and smell, like many functions of the body, are connected to the sympathetic nervous system. The stellate ganglion is a collection of sympathetic nerves that affect the head and neck as well as the upper extremities. The goal of a stellate ganglion block is to inject medicines in such a way as to provide a “reset button” for the sympathetic nervous system, allowing patients to begin retraining their senses of taste and smell.

A treatment room with a view at Desert Pain Specialists, St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo by Jeff Hauck courtesy of Desert Pain Specialists, St. George News

The patient will receive an injection on both sides of the neck surrounding the voice box. Stellate ganglion blocks are performed in-office using ultrasound guidance.

Patients are asked to bring a food they’ve been avoiding due to smell distortion and/or a food they enjoy and haven’t been able to smell and taste. After the first injection, they’ll use that food to start retraining their senses. 

Both injections can be performed during the same visit, but Desert Pain requires that patients spend a couple of hours in between undergoing sense retraining and monitoring for any adverse reactions. 

“Hopefully by the time they leave, they’ll be smelling much better,” Larsen said.  

About one-third of patients are able to fully retrain their senses after the procedure, while another 50% will likely need more than one round of injections. Approximately 15% won’t recover any taste or smell, but Larsen said that doesn’t mean those senses are gone for good – just that a stellate ganglion block isn’t the right solution. 

Map of Desert Pain locations in Southern Utah | Image by St. George News

Stellate ganglion blocks have long been performed by the providers at Desert Pain for a range of chronic pain conditions. “This procedure has been around for a long time, and it’s something that we feel very proficient in,” Larsen said.

Although the procedure isn’t currently covered by insurance, Desert Pain offers affordable cash pay options. The clinic is able to see patients quickly to get them back to smelling and tasting like normal. 

As Southern Utah’s premier interventional pain management team, Desert Pain practices evidence-based, forward-thinking medicine that integrates the newest available treatments. They address all types of chronic and acute pain conditions, including back pain, neck pain, sciatica, neuropathy, migraines and sports injuries.

Call 435-216-7000 or visit the Desert Pain website to schedule an appointment today.

Written by ALEXA MORGAN for St. George News.

• S P O N S O R E D   C O N T E N T • 

Resources

  • Desert Pain Specialists | Telephone: 435-216-7000 | Email: contact@desertpainspecialists.com | Website.
  • Locations:
    • St. George: 617 E. Riverside Drive, Suite 301.
    • Hurricane: 48 S. 2500 West, Suite 110.
    • Cedar City: 1760 N. Main St.
    • Beaver: 68 N. Main St.
    • Panguitch: 200 N. 400 East.
    • Kanab: 348 N. 300 West.
    • Mesquite, Nevada: 340 Falcon Ridge Parkway, Suite 600.
    • Overton, Nevada: 475 N. Moapa Valley Blvd.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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