Insights

A Recovery No One Expected — Now in the Medical Record

A former NFL player diagnosed with early-onset dementia and post-concussive syndrome has a documented recovery — now published in peer-reviewed medical literature. Cognition, brain networks, and physical health all measurably improved. Here's what the data shows and why it matters.

You Cut the Wire, Not the Fire: The Truth About the Stellate Ganglion Block

The stellate ganglion block has become the go-to fix for PTSD and long COVID, and for good reason — patients describe real relief. But the block doesn't fix the nervous system; it just numbs the nerve carrying the alarm signal. This piece breaks down what's actually driving that alarm — neuroinflammation from the gut, past infections, or old injuries — and outlines a four-step approach to resetting the system itself instead of just muting it.

Is It Mold, Lyme, COVID, or Autoimmune?

Patients labeled with Lyme, mold illness, long COVID, or autoimmune disease often share the same symptoms: fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, and unresolved inflammation. This post argues that chasing a single trigger misses the real pattern — a gut-trained immune system that has lost its ability to regulate itself. It walks through how molecular mimicry, epitope spreading, EBV reactivation, and strep-related antibodies can push the immune system toward attacking the body's own tissue and brain, and why short chain fatty acids like butyrate are central to resetting that regulation. The piece closes with a reframe: instead of asking which diagnosis fits, ask what's keeping the immune system stuck on "attack," and how long it's been running.

Aging Well Means Staying Connected

Longevity tools track your body, but few address whether your brain and body are still communicating clearly. Here's why we treat the nervous system, not just the joint.

The Gut Problem You Can’t Buy Your Way Out Of

Most gut supplements are built for an "average" gut—which is why they work for some people and do nothing for others. This piece breaks down the five real reasons a gut can be out of balance, why your probiotic might be failing silently, and walks through an actual case where an unresolved gut imbalance was driving a young athlete's brain fog, anxiety, and stalled concussion recovery.

Why Half a Fix Never Lasts

If you can picture exactly what you want to do but can't make yourself do it, the problem usually isn't willpower — it's energy supply. The brain and gut run on a constant feedback loop, and when gut signals turn inflamed and noisy, the brain reads it as danger and shuts down its most expensive systems first: focus, drive, and goal-pursuit. That's why motivation fades even when the vision is still clear. Most people only ever fix one end of this loop (just the gut, or just the brain), which is why progress feels real for a few weeks and then quietly slides back. Lasting change requires calming the gut and retraining the brain's alarm setting at the same time — the latter through a gentle approach called ISF neurofeedback that works on the brain's deep "safe vs. danger" rhythms rather than surface-level chatter. Close both ends of the loop together, and the fatigue and stuck feeling don't just lift temporarily — they stay gone.

The Two Systems That Decide How Fast You Age

Most people treat aging as one big, unstoppable process. It's actually two separate systems — autophagy, which recycles damaged material inside a working cell, and senolysis, which clears out "zombie cells" that have stopped functioning but won't die. One you can switch on tonight through fasting, exercise, and sleep. The other usually needs more than lifestyle alone. Dr. Dearing breaks down both, honestly, including exactly where the evidence is strong and where it's still forming.

Should You Be Afraid of Tick Bites? The Truth About Lyme Disease, Alpha-Gal, and Immune Health

Ticks are out this summer — but fear shouldn't keep you from nature. This article breaks down the real science behind Lyme disease and alpha-gal syndrome, explains why your immune terrain matters more than the tick itself, and gives you practical, evidence-based steps to build a resilient body. We also clear up the bioweapon conspiracy theories making the rounds online.

Redox-First: Rebuilding the Injured Brain

Many patients struggling with mold illness, Lyme disease, long COVID, chronic fatigue, and gut-related inflammation continue to experience brain fog, memory issues, and neurological symptoms even after addressing the original trigger. At The Dearing Clinic, we take a brain-first rehabilitation approach that focuses on restoring the nervous system, immune system, and gut simultaneously. By combining functional neurology, low-dose Redox ozone therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), neurofeedback, and targeted nutritional support, we work to reduce neuroinflammation, improve brain oxygenation, and help patients regain cognitive function and resilience.

The Vitamin C Your Body Can Actually Use

Not all vitamin C is created equal — and the form you receive changes everything. Learn why sodium ascorbate outperforms standard ascorbic acid for IV therapy, how high-dose vitamin C supports adrenal health, cellular aging, and immune function, and why it's a critical preparation step before regenerative treatments like IV stem cells.

Same Equipment, Different Lens

If your brain scans came back normal but you still struggle with brain fog, chronic fatigue, dizziness, or post-concussion symptoms — functional neurology may be the missing piece. In this article, Dr. Justin Dearing, DC, DACNB, breaks down exactly what functional neurology is, how it differs from standard neurology, and why the same medical-grade tools — qEEG, vestibular testing, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and photobiomodulation — produce entirely different results when the question shifts from disease detection to brain performance. Whether you're navigating long COVID, post-viral brain dysfunction, POTS, autonomic dysregulation, or unexplained neurological symptoms, this is the framework that lives in the gap between "your scans are clean" and actually feeling well again. Serving patients in Brentwood and Franklin, Tennessee, and beyond.

The Virus That Stays for Life

A dormant virus carried by nearly all adults — Epstein-Barr — may be the hidden driver behind years of unexplained fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, and autoimmune conditions. Unlike the initial mono infection most people remember, reactivation in adulthood produces no obvious illness, yet quietly disrupts gut immunity, triggers the immune system to attack the body's own tissue, and derails the brain chemistry behind mood and clear thinking. Modern research has linked active EBV reactivation to multiple sclerosis, lupus, Hashimoto's, ME-CFS, and Long COVID — yet standard lab panels miss it entirely because they only confirm past exposure, not current activity. The key insight: until this upstream viral pressure is identified and addressed, most downstream treatments will continue to fall short.

The Most Important Part of Your Brain You’ve Never Heard About

Chronic fatigue and brain fog aren't just mitochondrial problems — they're a delivery problem. Learn how the brain's insula and autonomic nervous system control whether your cells actually receive the oxygen and nutrients they need, and why most treatments fail because they're applied in the wrong order.

What Happens to Your Brain When You Eat Sugar?

Your brain fog, afternoon crash, and post-meal irritability aren't random — they're your nervous system responding to blood sugar instability. This article breaks down exactly how your brain controls glucose regulation through the autonomic nervous system, what's really happening during a sugar crash, and two simple, science-backed habits (meal sequencing and post-meal walking) that can reduce blood sugar spikes by up to 40% — no restrictive dieting required. Whether you're dealing with reactive hypoglycemia, chronic fatigue, or trying to protect your long-term cognitive health, understanding the glucose-brain connection is the first step to lasting metabolic wellness.

Your Pain Isn’t in the Tissue. It’s in the Map.

Chronic pain is often not a reflection of ongoing tissue damage, but a dysfunction in how the brain maps and processes the body. As the nervous system becomes sensitized, pain signals amplify and persist even without injury, driven by a degraded cortical map and dysregulated brain–body communication. Neuro-orthopedic rehabilitation restores this map through precise, intentional movement and neurological retraining, while regenerative medicine addresses lingering tissue dysfunction. Together, these approaches break the chronic pain cycle by targeting both the central nervous system and peripheral inputs.