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Biofeedback helps people regulate some aspect of their body by using signals from the body. It is a technique in which people are trained to improve their health by learning to control certain internal bodily processes that normally occur involuntarily, such as heart rate blood pressure, muscle tension, and skin temperature.
Most people who benefit from biofeedback have conditions that are brought on or made worse by stress. For this reason, many scientists believe that relaxation is key to successful biofeedback therapy.
With feedback from your bathroom scales you can learn you are losing weight; with feedback from his mirror, a man learns to shave properly. This feedback or knowledge of results is essential to all learning. Biofeedback applies this principle to learning to control your body, and leads to control of aspects that used to be thought of as 'just automatic' but actually can be altered, like blood pressure and heart rate. But it only works if the patient wants to change.
Function; Reasons For Use
In short, biofeedback instruments tell you what is going on, and you can use what they tell you to improve your control of that aspect of your body's working.
Measurements with electrodes are and displayed on a monitor that both the participant and the practitioner can see. The monitor provides feedback to the participant about the internal workings of his or her body. This person can then be taught to use this information to gain control over these "involuntary" activities.
The three most commonly used forms of biofeedback therapy are:- Electromyography (EMG - Electro-Myo-Graphic feedback), which measures muscle tension
- Thermal biofeedback, which measures skin temperature
- Neurofeedback or electroencephalography (EEG), which measures brain wave activity.
Guided by a biofeedback therapist, a person can learn to lower blood pressure through relaxation techniques and mental exercises. When successfull, the feedback signals reflect this accomplishment. This acts as affirmation and encouragement for continued efforts.
Biofeedback is an effective therapy for many conditions, but it is primarily used to treat high blood pressure, tension headache, migraine headache, chronic pain, and urinary incontinence.
Biofeedback shows considerable promise for the treatment of urinary incontinence, which affects millions of Americans. One early study found that biofeedback improves bladder function and reduces symptoms of urinary incontinence by up to 94%. Biofeedback can help you re-educate and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, particularly if your muscles are weak and you don't know how to produce a contraction. Biofeedback also appears to be helpful for people with fecal incontinence.
Other research suggests that thermal biofeedback may soothe the symptoms of Raynaud's disease.
EMG biofeedback has been shown to reduce pain, morning stiffness, and the number of tender points in people with fibromyalgia.
A review of scientific studies found that biofeedback may help people with insomnia fall asleep.
One preliminary study found that the combination of temperature biofeedback and EEG neurofeedback helped alcoholics feel less depressed and more likely to abstain from drinking alcohol.
EEG neurofeedback (especially when combined with cognitive therapy) has been shown to improve behavior and intelligence scores in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There is a growing interest in training EEG patterns in children to help them with Attention Deficit Disorder and in working with adults with substance abuse problems in a similar way.
Biofeedback combined with fiber may also help relieve abdominal pain in children.
Thermal biofeedback helps well alleviate migraine and chronic tension headaches. Migraine headaches respond very well to biofeedback training in relaxation, either by training in finger-warming, or just using the skin conductance feedback.
Some people develop a pattern of responding in their muscles to stressful situations. If this is sustained it can become painful, and then it is useful to apply EMG feedback to learning to relax the tense muscles. 'Stiff Neck' pain and writer's cramp can be relieved in this way.
Biofeedback may also be useful for the following health problems:Directions
Each session generally lasts less than one hour. The number of sessions required depends on the condition being treated. Many people begin to see results within 8 to 10 sessions. Conditions such as high blood pressure, however, usually require 20 weekly biofeedback sessions before improvement can be seen. In addition to these sessions, the patient will also be taught mental exercises and relaxation techniques that can be done at home and must be practiced at least 5 to 10 minutes every day.
Side-Effects
Biofeedback is considered a safe procedure. No negative side-effects have been reported. Many people prefer biofeedback over medicine because of the lack of side-effects.
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Biofeedback can help with the following:
KEY | | Likely to help |
GLOSSARY
Abdomen (Abdominal)
That part of the body between the chest and the hips that contains the stomach, intestines, liver, bladder, pancreas and other organs.
Anorexia Nervosa (Anorexia)
An eating disorder characterized by excess control - a morbid fear of obesity leads the sufferer to try and limit or reduce their weight by excessive dieting, exercising, vomiting, purging and use of diuretics. Sufferers are typically more than 15% below the average weight for their height/sex/age and typically have amenorrhea (if female) or low libido (if male). 1-2% of female teenagers are anorexic.
Anxiety
Apprehension of danger, or dread, accompanied by nervous restlessness, tension, increased heart rate, and shortness of breath unrelated to a clearly identifiable stimulus.
Asthma (Asthmatic)
A lung disorder marked by attacks of breathing difficulty, wheezing, coughing, and thick mucus coming from the lungs. The episodes may be triggered by breathing foreign substances (allergens) or pollutants, infection, vigorous exercise, or emotional stress. Extrinsic Asthma is triggered by pollen, chemicals or some other external agent; Intrinsic Asthma is triggered by boggy membranes, congested tissues, or other native causes… even adrenalin stress or exertion.
Bruxism
Prolonged, unintentional grinding and clenching of the teeth, usually occurring during sleep. 'Bruxers' are often unaware that they have developed this habit. Symptoms include abraded/chipped teeth (in extreme cases, waking up with tooth chips in the mouth); facial pain; oversensitive teeth; tense facial and jaw muscles; headaches; dislocation of the jaw; damage to the tooth enamel, exposing the inside of the tooth; a popping or clicking in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ); tongue indentations; damage to the inside of the cheek.
Chronic (Chronicity)
Usually referring to chronic illness: Illness extending over a long period of time.
Constipation (Constipated)
Difficult, incomplete, or infrequent evacuation of dry, hardened feces from the bowels.
Cramp (Cramping, Cramps)
A sudden, involuntary, painful muscular contraction.
Diabetes Mellitus (Diabetes, Diabetic, Diabetics)
A disease with increased blood glucose levels due to lack or ineffectiveness of insulin. Diabetes is found in two forms; insulin-dependent diabetes (juvenile-onset) and non-insulin-dependent (adult-onset). Symptoms include increased thirst; increased urination; weight loss in spite of increased appetite; fatigue; nausea; vomiting; frequent infections including bladder, vaginal, and skin; blurred vision; impotence in men; bad breath; cessation of menses; diminished skin fullness. Other symptoms include bleeding gums; ear noise/buzzing; diarrhea; depression; confusion.
Dysmenorrhea
Difficult or painful menstruation.
Epilepsy
Chronic brain disorder associated with some seizures and, typically, alteration of consciousness.
Fibromyalgia (FMS)
Originally named fibrositis, it is a mysteriously debilitating syndrome that attacks women more often than men. It is not physically damaging to the body in any way, but is characterized by the constant presence of widespread pain that often moves about the body. Fibromyalgia can be so severe that it is often incapacitating.
Incontinence (Incontinent)
The inability to retain urine in the bladder for a reasonable length of time. It is can be caused by urethral irritation, loss of tone to the basement muscle of the bladder (the trigone), scarification or growths on the urethral lining, nerve damage, or emotional stress.
Learning Disorder (Learning Disabilities, Learning Disability, Learning Disorders)
A generic term that refers to a group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning or mathematical abilities. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual and presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction. Even though a learning disability may occur along with other handicapping conditions (e.g. sensory impairment, mental retardation, social and emotional disturbance) or environmental influences (e.g. cultural differences, insufficient/inappropriate instruction, psychogenic factors) it is not the direct result of those condition or influences.
Migraine (Migraine Headache, Migraine Headaches, Migraines)
Not just a headache, but a disorder affecting the whole body, characterized by clearly defined attacks lasting from about 4 to 72 hours, separated by headache-free periods; progresses through five distinct phases. Prodrome: experienced by about 50% of migraineurs and starting up to 24 hours before the headache - changes in mood, sensory perception, food craving, excessive yawning, or speech or memory problems. Aura: experienced by about 15% and starting within an hour before the headache - disruption of vision (flashing lights, shimmering zigzag lines, blind spot) or sensation (numbness or 'pins and needles' around the lips or hand), or difficulty speaking. Headache: usually pulsating and occurring on one side of the head, it may occur on both sides of the head and alternate from side to side. Muscles in the neck and scalp may be tender; there may be nausea and the desire not to eat, move, see or hear. Resolution: the headache disappears and the body returns to normal. Resolution may occur over several hours during sleep or rest; an intense emotional experience or vomiting may also end the headache. Postdrome: After the headache stops, the sufferer feels drained, fatigued and tired. Muscles ache, emotions are volatile and thinking is slow.
Raynaud's Phenomenon (Raynaud's, Raynauds Disease, Raynaud's Disease, Raynauds Phenomenon, Raynauds Syndrome, Raynaud's Syndrome)
Raynaud's disease or syndrome is a disorder of blood circulation, mainly in the fingers and toes. It is of unknown cause and characterized by changes of the skin that are aggravated by exposure to cold: first, becoming white with numbness and pain as a result of inadequate oxygenation of the blood, then red/purple with a burning sensation. The sudden constriction of blood vessels causes decreased blood flow to the extremities and can, in extreme cases, lead to gangrene. Also called "white finger", "wax finger" or "dead finger".
Seizure (Seizures)
While there are over 40 types of seizure, most are classed as either partial seizures which occur when the excessive electrical activity in the brain is limited to one area or generalized seizures which occur when the excessive electrical activity in the brain encompasses the entire organ. Although there is a wide range of signs, they mainly include such things as falling to the ground; muscle stiffening; jerking and twitching; loss of consciousness; an empty stare; rapid chewing/blinking/breathing. Usually lasting from between a couple of seconds and several minutes, recovery may be immediate or take up to several days.
Syndrome
A medical condition characterized by a collection of related symptoms (what the patient feels) and signs (what a doctor can observe or measure).
Tempero-Mandibular Joint (TMJ)
The hinge of the jaw.
Tension Headache (Tension Headaches)
This type accounts for nearly 90% of all headaches and is probably experiences by most people at some time during their lifetime; frequently associated with fatigue and stress and generally responding to simple measures such as rest or over-the-counter pain medicine; pain usually occurs on both sides of head and consists of a dull, steady ache.
Last updated: May 24, 2009
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