Biofeedback

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Since the 1970s, Biofeedback has been widely used to teach people how to alter the involuntary physical reactions in which emotional tension plays a role. Biofeedback is actually, both a very ancient as well as a comparatively modern medical tool. It is a method of influencing body processes once thought to be beyond conscious control. It has been practiced in India for many years and was ‘rediscovered’ relatively recently as a medical tool by the western doctors.

Biofeedback training uses simple electronic devices to measure and report information about a person’s biological system. Biofeedback training improves health by teaching a person to consciously regulate bodily functions that are normally unconscious, such as heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. Biofeedback training is especially suited for treatments of health conditions where psychological factors (read, stress) are present.

For example, researchers have found that migraine sufferers trained to raise mentally the temperature of their hands developed fewer and less severe headaches that they had before they learned the technique. Additionally, some patients are taught to reduce muscle tension through biofeedback. Although the exact working is not known, this muscle relaxation through hand-warming process definitely reduces the effects of headache. Technically speaking, biofeedback prevents headache-triggering spasms in the arteries leading to the brain.

How does Biofeedback work ?

Although researchers are not able to explain exactly how or why biofeedback works, there does seem to be a consensus on one ‘fact’: majority of the people who benefit from biofeedback have conditions that are brought on or made worse by stress. Therefore, it is believed that relaxation is most essential in successful biofeedback therapy. When a body is repeatedly stressed, internal processes like blood pressure become overactive. Through biofeedback, a person can learn to lower his or her blood pressure through relaxation techniques and mental exercises. When a person successfully relaxes and lowers his blood pressure (Biofeedback is shown to reduce blood pressure by up to 16 points), the feedback signals reflect this accomplishment. This acts as affirmation and encouragement for the person's continued efforts.

In a normal biofeedback session, you are hooked up to a computer that monitors one or more of the following: heart rate, pulse, brain-wave patterns, muscle activity, skin temperature and perspiration. The readings are presented to you as sounds or video images. The electrodes that are attached to the skin feed information to the computer that translates the physiological responses into a tone that varies in pitch, a visual meter that varies in brightness, or a screen that varies the lines moving across a grid. The biofeedback therapist then leads the person in mental exercises. Through trial and error, people can soon learn to identify and control the mental activities that will bring about the desired physical changes.

The strategy is basically two pronged. Firstly, you are made adept at recognizing how you feel when, for example, your blood pressure is rising or your body is gearing up for an asthma attack. Secondly, it teaches you how to adjust those physical responses so that you can avoid episodes of illness. With repeated biofeedback sessions, you can finally learn to short-circuit the cycle of stress related symptoms.

Different types of Biofeedback ?

The three most commonly used forms of biofeedback therapy are:

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Thermal biofeedback, which measures skin temperature.

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Electromyography (EMG), which measures muscle tension.

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Neurofeedback or electroencephalography (EEG), which measures brain wave activity.

Most effective uses of Biofeedback

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Urinary incontinence - One big problem (it affects nearly 15 million Americans) is urinary incontinence. Biofeedback shows considerable promise (it reduces symptoms of urinary incontinence by up to 94 percent) for the treatment of urinary incontinence and many people prefer biofeedback over medicine because of the lack of side effects. Such is the effectiveness of biofeedback in improving bladder function that government agencies have also started recommending biofeedback therapy as a treatment for urinary incontinence.

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In epilepsy attacks or seizures, biofeedback is supposed to be quite helpful. Patients may learn to control seizures through biofeedback as this technique trains them to literally control their brain’s activity to try to avoid an attack. Remember, the technique is experimental and is usually used alongside drug therapy, not instead of it.

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Thermal biofeedback is shown to soothe the symptoms of Raynaud's disease (a condition that causes diminished blood flow to fingers, toes, nose or ears).

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EMG biofeedback has been shown to reduce pain, morning stiffness, and the number of tender points in people with fibromyalgia.

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Biofeedback may help a lot people with insomnia in falling asleep.

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Biofeedback is used to cure tinnitus by helping in reducing stress.

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Temperature biofeedback and EEG neurofeedback helps alcoholics feel less depressed and encourages them in abstaining from drinking alcohol.

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Biofeedback can also be used effectively for certain ailments in children. For example, 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).

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Biofeedback combined with fiber may also help relieve abdominal pain in children.

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Thermal biofeedback helps well alleviate migraine and chronic tension headaches among children and adolescents as well.

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Biofeedback tremendously (by up to 22%) increases the circulation in patients who have damaged blood vessels as a result of their diabetes.

Biofeedback may also be useful for the following health problems:

anorexia nervosa

anxiety

asthma

autism

back pain

bed wetting

chronic pain

constipation

depression

fecal incontinence

head injuries

high blood pressure

learning disabilities

motion sickness

muscle spasms

sexual disorders, including pain with intercourse

spinal cord injuries

About Biofeedback sessions

A biofeedback session generally lasts less than one hour and the number of sessions required depends on the condition being treated. For example, treatment of headache, incontinence, and Raynaud's disease require at least 10 weekly sessions and then less frequent sessions as health improves; whereas conditions like high blood pressure usually require 20 weekly biofeedback sessions before improvement can be seen. Usually, people begin to see results within 8 to 10 sessions. In addition to these sessions, you 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.