When we think about chronic stress, we tend to focus on what we can see: muscle tension, poor sleep, fatigue, pain, elevated heart rate, or a patient who just never seems to fully relax. But what if some of these seemingly separate complaints are actually different expressions of the same problem— a nervous system that has become increasingly stuck in a state of high alert? Welcome to The FAKTR Podcast, where we talk about the stuff they didn't teach you in school— how to grow your practice, refine your clinical skills, and get better results for your patients. We're here to help you navigate the real-world challenges of being a healthcare provider, from delivering top-notch patient care to running a business that doesn't run you into the ground. Whether you're fresh out of school or scaling your practice, We're diving into effective cutting-edge treatments to get patients better faster. We'll also talk about business strategies and tactics to help you work smarter and not harder, and the mindset shifts required to thrive as a top performer in your field so you can build a career you love without burning out. If you're ready to learn what works and what doesn't from leading experts, industry innovators, and respected clinicians across a wide range of specialties, You are in the right place, my friend. Let's dive in.

Welcome back to The FAKTR Podcast. where we explore the latest evidence, emerging technologies, and clinical strategies to help healthcare providers deliver better outcomes for their patients. I'm your host, Jessica Riddle. Thanks for tuning in today. Over our last 2 episodes, we explored neurofeedback through the lens of athletic performance, looking at brain mapping, neuroplasticity, concussion recovery, and the pursuit of better cognitive and physical performance. Today we've invited Dr. Kevin Butterfield and Seth Kalan, of Hippocampus Labs, a member of the FAKTR Podcast Network, to come back and take that conversation in a very different direction. Today, we'll be focusing on chronic stress and what happens when the nervous system has difficulty shifting out of a persistent fight-or-flight response. We'll explore the relationship between sympathetic activation, the HPA axis, sensory processing, sleep, pain, muscle tension, and autonomic regulation, and consider why some of the symptoms clinicians encounter every day might not be as disconnected as they initially appear.

You'll also hear how Dr. Butterfield uses qEEG and neurofeedback as tools for examining and influencing aspects of that stress response system. The bigger question, though, extends well beyond any single technology. When a patient continues to struggle despite addressing the obvious musculoskeletal pieces, could persistent nervous system dysregulation be part of what we're missing? Let's get into it.

Stuck in fight or flight. I mean, I think we can just stop there and say, who isn't, right? I mean, in this high-tech, fast-paced world, I think everyone has a little bit of fight or flight in them. And how do you resolve that? Or how do you help that or help get unstuck? Right? Besides turning off the TV and stop watching the news. So we're going to go over that on how we can address the brain, which is the software chiropractic and everyone else that does from the neck down is more of the hardware stuff. And we're going to show you that there's an essential symbiotic relationship between the central and peripheral nervous systems. It's a very good relationship. Now we have to go over our disclaimer. I won't read this, you guys can read it.

We're not giving you any medical advice. We're not treating you, diagnosing you, or doing anything like that. That's what your doctor's for. We're just going to have an informative little get-together chit-chat. Okay, who are we? Well, I'm on the left. I've been a chiropractor for 25 years. Very, I had a very high volume successful chiropractic practice for about 25 years. I stopped doing that about 10 years ago just to focus on the brain and neurofeedback because I wanted to help all the kids that came in with their parents when they got adjusted.