The Board Certified Neuro-Chiropractor
SourceSo there I was in Las Vegas' only neurological board certified chiropractor's office being electrically poked, electrical stimulated with a helmet of sorts
You caught me wearing a shame muzzle!Not a Neurofeedback device im wearing
and of course being adjusted; looking for answers to my new sudden onset neurological problems. To be honest, I've been having head issues for over 5 years but in spats of years or months. Head pressure, migraines in different spots, constant dizzy spells just to name a few symptoms. After three sessions, pro bono mind you, he was able to safely say I had brain issues that needed biofeedback therapy. He concluded that with my stellar blood work and I guess super healthy brain cat scan; that I had some sort of HPA axis dysfunction causing tremors and an excessive dopamine release essentially. It was rather more complex than that but he even didn't want to explain it as complicated as it was. The important thing for him to impress upon me was that he felt biofeedback would repair my brain because he saw my brain still had plasticity left.
Nevermind that part of the reason he felt this way was because my unemployment was backlogged for four weeks due to an employee and a computer glitch(I call shenanigans) causing great stress and just thinking about embarking on a new financial medical quest was too much to comprehend.
My flashbacks pertained to grief from watching a friend die of cancer a few years back very rapidly, childhood traumas(found mom dead), found child orn on pseudo families computer who took me in and an impossible situation with my children basically kidnapped by their mother to another state, these matters he felt was a breaking point for me essentially. I had to pry answers out of him but said my brain was too tired too heal and got worse and worse since 11 years old. I asked about all my years playing football and being knock unconscious several times. He insisted the cat scan indicated no CTE or lingering brain injuries. In fact the Cat Scan and blood work indicated I was beyond healthy... Compared to my traumas and complex PTSD.
So he sends me off on my own without a recommendation or anything for biofeedback. He did see me for pro bono(I paid him weeks later) since my unemployment was stalled and was a common problem in town at the time. Awesome doctor still.
While, I did feel better in the days after his treatments, my mental state reverted quickly back to constant head pressure, headaches, migraines, dizziness you name it I was feeling it in my head; even the craziest depression I have ever had experienced in my life.
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Biofeedback Journey
Much to my misfortune, my chiropractor was not aware that biofeedback was a thing of the past. Neurofeedback therapy was where we were at in modern day science with electronic/frequency brain stimulation to help rebuild pathways in the brain. I spent a month or so, seeking out biofeedback therapy as my condition worsened to not avail.
While seeking help from this unbearable pain and now crazy depression, I was almost being convinced to self commit to psych wards for my flashbacks, head pressure and tremors. I went to a state ran facility aimed to help various issues and PTSD was one of them. Alarmed by her bosses recommendations to send me to a few self committed Psych Wards, a lady gave me a number to call for a person who does Neurofeedback therapy and explained that PTSD wasn't really treated at the places I was recommended to go to by her bosses.
You see this lady had to make it clear these places were Psych Wards that her bosses were trying to send me to and that I just had PTSD. The State of Nevada has no psychologists just interns at psych wards ran by the state. This was the reason, I guess, I was being encouraged into state ran home care. Thank goodness for her. I was being taken advantage of. Wasn't the first time being taken advantage of on this journey of PTSD. Three ER visits to 3 different empty ER rooms durning the Dark Winter concluded similar results in December 2020 as well.
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There was weird connected like things that happened, like my back logged unemployment clearing up to give me enough out of pocket money to seek the above mentioned Neurofeedback therapy. As well as the Neurofeedback lady that I was referred to, aka The Psychotherapist, was once in the Entertainment business as a showroom dancer. We had some commonalities since I am a union stagehand on the Las Vegas Strip.
What is Neurofeedback Therapy?
SourceNeurofeedback, also known as EEG (electroencephalogram) biofeedback, is a therapeutic intervention that provides immediate feedback from a computer-based program that assesses a client’s brainwave activity. The program then uses sound or visual signals to reorganize or retrain these brain signals. By responding to this process, clients learn to regulate and improve their brain function and to alleviate symptoms of various neurological and mental health disorders
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Before undergoing Neurofeedback therapy, I was learning about how it helps alleviate some symptoms of Autism, delay Alzheimer's, and has shown to help a wide arrange of mental illness considered Chronic illness which include dementia and PTSD.
Lots of rabbit holes you can go down and with accredited doctors on youtube(😆 I know I know...) and published science on the matter to further explore if Neurofeedback is an option you might want to ask a doctor about.
Types of Neurofeedback Therapy
SourceBRAND NAME NEUROFEEDBACK
Brand name neurofeedback refers to the ever growing array of 'packaged' brain training available.
These systems often re-brand neurofeedback as 'brain state training', 'brain conditioning' or 'neural-optimization', often accompanied by a claim of uniqueness. Others franchise a name or method, using components of dual-sensor EEG neurofeedback (see below) and a variety of pre-built training protocols.
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SourceEEG NEUROFEEDBACK (TRADITIONAL NEUROFEEDBACK)
EEG is traditional surface neurofeedback, as has been used for decades with great success. Next to the sales-savvy trademark products, EEG neurofeedback has far less flash and mystique - however it more than makes up for it in flexibility and efficacy.
A skilled therapist can do anything that a brand name system can do, and more. With a full range of equipment and brain training approaches available, the therapist is free to work differently with each individual and take a far more active role in the brain training.
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SourceQEEG LORETA NEUROFEEDBACK
3D Neurofeedback expands on the capabilities of surface neurofeedback with a full range of new advances, using the next generation of 3D brain imaging and training tools. In the hands of a skilled clinician, it is the ultimate brain training toolkit.
Using a full 19 sensor cap, the clinician is able to train any number of areas together (as opposed to individual surface areas with the more common 2 sensor neurofeedback). By using a medical research database (Z-score) and deep brain source imaging (LoRETA), 3D neurofeedback can directly train entire brain networks; targeting overall electrical activity (amplitude), brain connectivity (coherence), processing speed (phase), and more.
This is made possible by more advanced imaging capability – if you can detect it, you can train it. Better imaging equals better results. Better targeting means better reliability. Training multiple areas at once means less sessions.
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SourceInfra-low Frequency(ILF) neurofeedback
refers to training the very slowest brainwaves (less than .5Hz).
These basic cortical rhythms of the brain underlie our higher brain functions. The slower frequencies are linked to the faster ones through harmonics (study 1); this means that by training the lower frequencies you can effect the higher ones, and vica-versa. (study 2)
The long wavelength of Infra-Low brainwaves make them difficult to detect and accurately measure, so little research has been done. They appear to play a role in brain timing and network function.
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That is all for now. Next week, now that I got these details out of the way, I will explain my experience with Infra-low Frequency Neurofeedback therapy and my thoughts on it.
Thanks for making it this far!
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