Calming the Sympathetic Storm: Dr. Richard Gerardo on Post-COVID Nervous System Healing

In this in-depth episode of Doctor's Talk, internal medicine specialist Dr. Klaus Schustereder speaks with California chiropractor and craniosacral practitioner Dr. Richard Gerardo, D.O., about one of the most overlooked health problems of our time: chronic sympathetic overload. Drawing on more than 20 years of clinical experience, Dr. Gerardo explains how trauma, pain, media-driven fear and the COVID-19 crisis have locked millions of people into a permanent fight-or-flight mode, with profound consequences for sleep, breathing, hormones, digestion, mood and long-term regeneration.

He describes how his work originally began with TMJ and clenching problems, and gradually expanded into a broader protocol for down-regulating the autonomic nervous system. Using hands-on chiropractic and craniosacral techniques to normalise the craniosacral rhythm and cerebrospinal fluid flow, he helps patients "reset" the nervous system so that parasympathetic functions like rest, repair and digestion can finally switch back on. Because many patients are exhausted after years of stress, he also integrates targeted herbs and nutritional strategies to lower night-time cortisol, support the brain and endocrine system and rebuild resilience.

Together, the two doctors discuss concrete clinical pictures they now see every day: insomnia, anxiety, asthma flare-ups, chronic pain, digestive issues, menstrual disturbances, chest pain and delayed inflammatory reactions after COVID-19 infection or vaccination. Dr. Gerardo shares real-life cases where addressing spike-protein-driven inflammation, balancing the craniosacral system and supporting weakened organs led to significant improvements, even when symptoms appeared many months after the shot. Both doctors emphasise that true healing is never about suppressing symptoms, but about bringing the whole system back into balance so that the body can heal itself.

The conversation then widens to the role of fear and the media in driving sympathetic overload. Dr. Gerardo and Dr. Schustereder reflect on how 24/7 crisis messaging, conflicting narratives and the censorship of dissenting voices have damaged not only public trust, but also people's nervous systems. They contrast mainstream, pharmaceutically driven approaches with hands-on "physical medicine" - chiropractic, osteopathy, craniosacral work and physiotherapy - which help patients literally discharge tension, export "entropy" and reorganise themselves from the inside out. Dr. Schustereder connects this with thermodynamics and recent research on plants, vibration and protein resonance, suggesting that well-applied manual and vibrational therapies support the body in re-establishing coherence.

Finally, Dr. Gerardo speaks candidly about the challenges and opportunities for practitioners who refuse to simply repeat the official script. He explains why his practice has become a refuge for patients who no longer trust standard answers, why posture and core stability are essential to ageing well, and how chronic pain, structural instability and environmental stressors all feed into sympathetic dominance. Both men see a clear task for the future of healthcare: to move away from fear-based, centralised control and towards approaches that respect biology, decentralise power and help patients recover their innate capacity for adaptation, rest and healing. This episode is an invitation to rethink stress, illness and "nervous system health" at the deepest level - and to rediscover the body's own wisdom.