PTSD Treatment in Greenville, SC
Integrative PTSD treatment in Greenville, SC. Acupuncture for trauma helps regulate the nervous system, reduce hyperarousal, and improve sleep and mood. Call (864) 365-6156.
"I can't say enough good things about Dr. Hendry. He really listens to your experience and what you need to share about your situation, is patient, and takes the time to explain clearly what acupuncture is about."
— Catherine Hosack · April 2015 · Google Review
What Is PTSD?
PTSD isn't just memories that won't stay in the past. It's a nervous system that has been rewired by experience — specifically by something overwhelming enough that the brain's threat-response circuitry got stuck in an activated state and hasn't fully recovered. The amygdala reads ordinary sensory input as threat signals. The prefrontal cortex — which normally inhibits those signals — can't override them reliably. The result is hypervigilance, disrupted sleep, and intrusive re-experiencing that isn't a choice or a failure to move on. It's a measurable neurological state. PTSD is not limited to combat veterans. Car accidents, medical trauma, childhood abuse, sudden loss — any experience that overwhelmed the brain's processing capacity can leave this neurological residue. The common thread is a dysregulated autonomic nervous system that hasn't returned to baseline.
Common Symptoms
Root Causes: A Functional Medicine Perspective
PTSD involves structural and functional changes in the brain — particularly the amygdala (hyperactivated, driving fear responses) and the prefrontal cortex (underactivated, impaired in regulating the amygdala). The HPA axis becomes dysregulated, resulting in abnormal cortisol patterns — often low cortisol baseline with exaggerated cortisol spikes in response to triggers.
Neuroinflammation plays a significant role in PTSD: trauma activates microglial cells in the brain that generate inflammatory cytokines, impairing hippocampal function (memory formation and contextualizing trauma) and perpetuating the neurological patterns of PTSD. Sleep deprivation — almost universal in PTSD — further worsens neuroinflammation and impairs the brain's natural trauma-processing mechanisms during REM sleep.
How We Treat PTSD at IHP
Battlefield Acupuncture — a specific auricular (ear) acupuncture protocol developed for military PTSD — has been extensively studied in veteran and military populations, with strong evidence for reducing hyperarousal, intrusive symptoms, and sleep disturbances. The U.S. military has incorporated acupuncture protocols into PTSD treatment programs at multiple VA medical centers.
Dr. Hendry uses a combination of Battlefield Acupuncture and body acupuncture targeting the amygdala-calming and nervous system-regulating points associated with trauma response in TCM. The parasympathetic-activating effect of acupuncture directly counters the sympathetic hyperarousal central to PTSD. Functional medicine support — addressing inflammation, cortisol dysregulation, and sleep — works alongside acupuncture to restore biological resilience.
Dr. Hendry's Approach
Acupuncture works on PTSD at the physiological level — calming amygdala hyperactivation, reducing the sympathetic arousal that keeps the nervous system in a constant state of alert, improving sleep architecture. That's complementary to psychological treatment, not competitive with it. A nervous system that's less physiologically activated is more accessible to therapeutic work. I coordinate with therapists and psychiatrists, and I'm aware of the specific presentations common in trauma patients — including tactile sensitivity — and adjust how I work accordingly.