PTSD

Dr. Joshua Beaudry
Oct 6
2 min read

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is more than just emotional flashbacks—it’s a neurological and physiological response to trauma that can affect the brain and the body long after the event is over.

PTSD affects the amygdala, the emotional “alarm center” of the brain, making it hyperactive. It also turns down the activity of the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive functions like decision-making, emotional regulation, and impulse control.

How Triggers Work

PTSD can be set off by any stimulus associated with the original event. For example, as Doc mentioned in his workshop, after being in a car accident as a child, he would feel cold hands and feet, faster breathing, tight muscles, and sweaty palms every time he saw a car the same color as the one that hit him.

This is the body’s stress response in action—your nervous system reacting as if the trauma is happening again.

Common Symptoms

Cognitive & Emotional:

Flashbacks or intrusive memories
Nightmares
Hypervigilance
Irritability or emotional numbness

Physical (Often Overlooked):

Gut issues
Chronic pain
Headaches
Sleep disturbances

Many people don’t realize that these physical symptoms can be driven by emotional trauma, not just physical problems. This is why medications alone often don’t resolve the issue.

What We See Neurologically

Using EEG (brainwave analysis), major PTSD markers often appear in the front, back, or middle of the brain:

Suppression of alpha waves in the back and middle of the brain (O1, O2 and Cz). This keeps the traumatic memory from being fully processed.
Increased beta activity in the frontal lobes, leading to hypervigilance, obsessive thoughts, and anxiety.

Overall dysregulation of normal wave patterns, keeping the brain “stuck” in survival mode. These patterns explain why someone may feel on edge, anxious, or physically unwell even without consciously thinking about the trauma.

Paths to Recovery

PTSD can be addressed through both bottom-up and top-down approaches:

Bottom-up techniques: vagus nerve stimulation, breathwork, heart rate variability training, and grounding techniques.
Top-down techniques: brain-based chiropractic adjustments, neurofeedback, EMDR, laser therapy, and functional neurological care.

At Life Springs Family Chiropractic, we often integrate both approaches. This allows us to support the neurological changes in the brain and nervous system, while encouraging patients to work with trauma-informed therapists for emotional processing.