FASTER, PLEASE: Can a Single Injection Conquer PTSD? The Army Wants to Find Out.

The $2 million Army study constitutes the first large-scale randomized control research into use of the shots—called stellate ganglion blocks—to treat PTSD. The injections have been used for decades for arm pain and shingles.

In recent years, some military doctors have begun treating PTSD patients, particularly Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets, with the injections. The shots interrupt messages along nerve fibers that control the fight-or-flight response.

That early clinical experience has produced promising results, with troops experiencing near-immediate relief of anxiety, hyper-vigilance, social withdrawal and other symptoms, said military doctors who have administered the treatment. They include Col. Jim Lynch, command surgeon at the joint Special Operations Command-Africa, which deploys elite troops to train local forces and conduct missions in Africa.

“Once people have the shot, they get dramatically better immediately,” Dr. Lynch said. The shot isn’t a cure, he said, but eases symptoms enough to allow talk therapy, pharmaceuticals and other approaches to achieve long-term improvements.

I wonder if this treatment could also help military service dogs who often suffer PTSD, too.