What is Biofeedback?

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What is Biofeedback?

Biofeedback is a treatment technique in which people are trained to

improve their health by using signals from their own bodies. Physical

therapists use biofeedback to help stroke victims regain movement in

paralyzed muscles. Psychologists use it to help tense and anxious

clients learn to relax. Specialists in many different fields use

biofeedback to help their patients cope with pain.

Chances are you have used biofeedback yourself. You've used it if you

have ever taken your temperature or stepped on a scale. The

thermometer tells you whether you're running a fever, the scale

whether you've gained weight. Both devices " feed back " informa

tion about your body's condition. Armed with this information, you

can take steps you've learned to improve the condition. When you're

running a fever, you go to bed and drink plenty of fluids. When

you've gained weight, you resolve to eat less and sometimes you

do.

Clinicians reply on complicated biofeedback machines in somewhat the

same way that you rely on your scale or thermometer. Their machines

can detect a person's internal bodily functions with far greater

sensitivity and precision than a person can alone. This information

may be valuable. Both patients and therapists use it to gauge and

direct the progress of treatment.

For patients, the biofeedback machine acts as a kind of sixth sense

which allows them to " see " or " hear " activity inside their bodies.

One commonly used type of machine, for example, picks up electrical

signals in the muscles. It translates these signals into a form

that patients can detect: It triggers a flashing light bulb, perhaps,

or activates a beeper every time muscles grow more tense. If patients

want to relax tense muscles, they try to slow down the flashing or

beeping.

Like a pitcher learning to throw a ball across a home plate, the

biofeedback trainee, in an attempt to improve a skill, monitors the

performance. When a pitch is off the mark, the ballplayer adjusts the

delivery so that he performs better the next time he tries. When the

light flashes or the beeper beeps too often, the biofeedback trainee

makes internal adjustments which alter the signals. The biofeedback

therapist acts as a coach, standing at the sidelines setting goals

and limits on what to expect and giving hints on how to improve

performance.

The Beginnings of Biofeedback

The word " biofeedback " was coined in the late 1960s to describe

laboratory procedures then being used to train experimental research

subjects to alter brain activity, blood pressure, heart rate, and

other bodily functions that normally are not controlled voluntarily.

At the time, many scientists looked forward to the day when

biofeedback would give us a major degree of control over our bodies.

They thought, for instance, that we might be able to " will " ourselves

to be more creative by changing the patterns of our brainwaves. Some

believed that biofeedback would one day make it possible to do away

with drug treatments that often cause uncomfortable side effects in

patients with high blood pressure and other serious conditions.

Today, most scientists agree that such high hopes were not realistic.

Research has demonstrated that biofeedback can help in the treatment

of many diseases and painful conditions. It has shown that we have

more control over so-called involuntary bodily function than we once

though possible. But it has also shown that nature limits the extent

of such control. Scientists are now trying to determine just how much

voluntary control we can exert.

How is Biofeedback Used Today?

Clinical biofeedback techniques that grew out of the early laboratory

procedures are now widely used to treat an ever-lengthening list of

conditions. These include: ·Migraine headaches, tension headaches,

and many other types of pain ·Disorders of the digestive system

·High blood pressure and its opposite, low blood pressure ·Cardiac

arrhythmias (abnormalities, sometimes dangerous, in the rhythm of the

heartbeat) ·Raynaud's disease (a circulatory disorder that causes

uncomfortably cold hands) ·Epilepsy ·Paralysis and other movement

disorders.

Specialists who provide biofeedback training range from psychiatrists

and psychologists to dentists, internists, nurses, and physical

therapists. Most rely on many other techniques in addition to

biofeedback. Patients usually are taught some form of relaxation

exercise. Some learn to identify the circumstances that trigger their

symptoms. They may also be taught how to avoid or cope with these

stressful events. Most are encouraged to change their habits, and

some are trained in special techniques for gaining such self-control.

Biofeedback is not magic. It cannot cure disease or by itself make a

person healthy. It is a tool, one of many available to health care

professionals. It reminds physicians that behavior, thoughts, and

feelings profoundly influence physical health. And it helps both

patients and doctors understand that they must work together as a

team.

Patients' Responsibilities

Biofeedback places unusual demands on patients. They must examine

their day-to-day lives to learn if they may be contributing to their

own distress. They must recognize that they can, by their own

efforts, remedy some physical ailments. They must commit themselves

to practicing biofeedback or relaxation exercises every day. They

must change bad habits, even ease up on some good ones. Most

important, they must accept much of the responsibility for

maintaining their own health.

How Does Biofeedback Work?

Scientists cannot yet explain how biofeedback works. Most patients

who benefit from biofeedback are trained to relax and modify their

behavior. Most scientists believe that relaxation is a key component

in biofeedback treatment of many disorders, particularly those

brought on or made worse by stress. Their reasoning is based on what

is known about the effects of stress on the body. In brief, the

argument goes like this: Stressful events produce strong emotions,

which arouse certain physical responses. Many of these responses are

controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, the network of nerve

tissues that helps prepare the body to meet emergencies by " flight or

fight. "

The typical pattern of response to emergencies probably emerged

during the time when all humans faced mostly physical threats.

Although the " threats " we now live with are seldom physical, the body

reacts as if they were: The pupils dilate to let in more light. Sweat

pours out, reducing the chance of skin cuts. Blood vessels near the

skin contract to reduce bleeding, while those in the brain and

muscles dilate to increase the oxygen supply. The gastrointestinal

tract, including the stomach and intestines, slows down to reduce the

energy expensed in digestion. The heart beats faster, and blood

pressure rises.

Normally, people calm down when a stressful event is over especially

if they have done something to cope with it. For instance, imagine

your own reactions if you're walking down a dark street and hear

someone running toward you. You get scared. Your body prepared

you to ward off an attacker or run fast enough to get away. When you

do escape, you gradually relax.

If you get angry at your boss, it's a different matter. Your body may

prepare to fight. But since you want to keep your job, you try to

ignore the angry feelings. Similarly, if on the way home you get

stalled in traffic, there's nothing you can do to get away. These

situations can literally may you sick. Your body has prepared for

action, but you cannot act. Individuals differ in the way they

respond to stress. In some, one function, such as blood pressure,

becomes more active while others remain normal. Many experts believe

that these individual physical responses to stress can become

habitual. When the body is repeatedly aroused, one or more functions

may become permanently overactive. Actual damage to bodily tissues

may eventually result.

Biofeedback is often aimed at changing habitual reactions to stress

that can cause pain or disease. Many clinicians believe that some of

their patients and clients have forgotten how to relax. Feedback of

physical responses such as skin temperature and muscle tension

provides information to help patients recognize a relaxed state. The

feedback signal may also act as a kind of reward for reducing

tension. It's like a piano teacher whose frown turns to a smile when

a young musician finally plays a tune properly.

The value of a feedback signal as information and reward may be even

greater in the treatment of patients with paralyzed or spastic

muscles. With these patients, biofeedback seems to be primarily a

form of skill training like learning to pitch a ball. Instead of

watching the ball, the patient watches the machine, which monitors

activity in the affected muscle. Stroke victims with paralyzed arms

and legs, for example, see that some part of their affected limbs

remains active. The signal from the biofeedback machine proves it.

This signal can guide the exercises that help patients regain use of

their limbs. Perhaps just as important, the feedback convinces

patients that the limbs are still alive. This reassurance often

encourages them to continue their efforts.

Should You Try Biofeedback?

If you think you might benefit from biofeedback training, you should

discuss it with your physician or other health care professional, who

may wish to conduct tests to make certain that your condition does

not require conventional medical treatment first. Responsible

biofeedback therapists will not treat you for headaches,

hypertension, or most disorders until you have had a thorough

physical examination. Some require neurological tests as

well.

How do you find a biofeedback therapist? First, ask your doctor or

dentist, or contact the nearest community health center, medical

society, or State biofeedback society for a referral. The psychology

or psychiatry departments at nearby universities may also be able to

help you. Most experts recommend that you consult only a health care

professional a physician, psychologist, psychiatrist, nurse, social

worker, dentist, physical therapist, for example who has been trained

to use biofeedback.

from http://psychotherapy.com/bio.html

[Guest guest]

Thank you very much Gretchen,

Now I understand it better.I think I'll stick

to my meditation.Get it to work for me and

I'll try the pool to relax and in joy.

Take care

Sherry

[Guest guest]

Hello Gretchen,

One of the best $475 I ever spent was to take a biofeedback course for

stress reduction. It works big times, kids! I even have a low cost

RadioShack gadjet that gives the signal based on skin conductivity.

They probably do not carry it any more, but the electronic side is not

very complicated and probably available elsewhere. The relaxation

technique taks some learning to develop it as an useful tool. In detail

it is not very complicated but can be frustrating in itself.

EdM from NH

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> What is Biofeedback?

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> Biofeedback is a treatment technique in which people are trained to

> improve their health by using signals from their own bodies.