    
Biofeedback
What is Biofeedback?
Biofeedback is a treatment
technique in which people are trained to improve their health by modifying
signals from their own bodies. You have used biofeedback if you have ever taken
your temperature or stepped on a scale. The thermometer tells you whether you
are running a fever, the scale whether you have gained weight. Both devices
“feed back” information about your body’s condition.
Clinicians use biofeedback
devices in somewhat the same way. These instruments can detect a person’s
internal bodily functions with far greater sensitivity and precision than a
person can alone. Both patients and therapists use it to gauge and direct the
progress of treatment. The biofeedback machine acts as a “sixth sense” which
allows patients to “see” or “hear” activity inside their bodies. For example,
one procedure (called EMG) measures the electrical energy produced by muscles.
This signal is translated into a visual/ auditory display that lets the patient
see/hear when muscle tension is increasing or decreasing. This lets the patient
and therapist know when a relaxation technique is truly working. Most therapists
incorporate biofeedback with other techniques to help the patient achieve
his/her goals.
How does Biofeedback work?
Scientists cannot yet explain
exactly how biofeedback works. Most patients who benefit from biofeedback are
trained to relax and modify their behavior. Biofeedback is often aimed at
changing habitual reactions to stress that can influence pain or disease. It is
known that behavior, thoughts and feelings profoundly influence physical health.
What conditions can Biofeedback
treat?
Biofeedback techniques are used
to treat a list of conditions including, migraine headaches, tension headaches,
and many other types of chronic pain, disorders of the digestive system, high
blood pressure and low blood pressure, incontinence, cardiac arrhythmias,
sensory motor and other movement disorders. Numerous studies have shown that
people with panic and anxiety disorders gain significantly in their ability to
control these states.
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