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Biofeedback: Using Your Mind to improve your health
Biofeedback: Using your mind to improve your health
Biofeedback can help you get your mind used to manage certain medical conditions. Find out what, whether it's good for you and how.
Have you ever wished you could just your symptoms go away? With biofeedback you may be able to do so by using the power of your mind to improve your health.
Biofeedback is defined
Biofeedback is a form of complementary and alternative medicine called mind-body therapy. It is designed to enable you - in mind-over-matter fashion - to use your mind and the will to control your body. Biofeedback is based on the idea, confirmed by scientific studies, that people have the innate potential to influence their minds many of the automatic, involuntary functions of their bodies.
To help you develop this ability, a biofeedback specialist uses signals from special equipment to teach you to certain body and their reactions, such as inspection:
- Brains activity
- Blood pressure
- Muscle tension
- Heartbeat
- Skin temperature
- Sweat gland activity
You can use biofeedback to help a large number of physical and mental health treatment if you have learned to recognize and control these functions and reactions.
Why did
Biofeedback may be particularly useful in the treatment of stress-related disorders, and clinical trials in evaluating the treatment of many other diseases, such as:
- Asthma
- Headache
- Hot flushes
- Raynaud's disease
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy
- Irregular heartbeat (cardiac arrhythmias)
- Chronic low back pain
- Chronic constipation
- High blood pressure
- Incontinence
- Epilepsy
Biofeedback may appeal to you for several reasons:
- It can reduce or even eliminate, your need for medication.
- It has the potential to circumstances which have not responded to medication to help.
- It helps put you in charge of your own healing through measurable feedback, allowing you to check your progress and learning.
- It can reduce your medical expenses.
Risks of biofeedback
Biofeedback is generally considered safe. It should generally not be used, however, if you have a depression, psychosis or other major mental disorder. Biofeedback could potentially interfere with certain medications such as insulin, so patients with diabetes should be extra careful. Talk to your doctor to see if biofeedback therapy a suitable treatment for you.
What to expect
You can receive biofeedback training in physical therapy clinics, medical centers and hospitals. A growing number of feedback devices and programs on the market for home too. But working with a therapist, initially, can offer the best long-term results.
Preparation depends on the type of biofeedback therapy is used. A typical biofeedback session lasts 30 to 60 minutes. The length and number of sessions will depend on your condition and how quickly you learn to control your physical reactions.
During a biofeedback session, a therapist apply electrical sensors to different parts of your body. These sensors will your body physiological response to stress - for example, contraction of your muscles during a voltage headache - and then linking back to you via the information signals, such as a beeping sound or a flashing light. The feedback will allow you to start your body's reaction to associate - In this case, headache pain - with certain physical features, such as your muscles tighten.
Once you begin to recognize that your headache is a result of tense muscles, The next step is to learn how positive physical changes in your body, such as those specific muscles to relax, when your body is physically or mentally stressed to call. Your ultimate goal will be to produce the answers on your own, outside the therapist's office and without the help of technology.
rain activity
You can use biofeedback to help treat many physical and mental health problems you've learned to recognize and control these functions and responses.
Types of biofeedback
Your therapist may use different techniques to provide information about the reactions of your body to collect. Determining the one that suits you depends on your specific health and goals. Machines and techniques include:
- Electromyogram (EMG). An EMG uses electrodes or other types of sensors to measure muscle tension. By the EMG alerting you to muscle tension, you can learn to recognize the feeling early on and the tension control immediately try. EMG is mainly used to relax the muscles involved in promoting back pain, headaches, neck pain and grinding your teeth (bruxism). EMG can be used for some diseases in which the symptoms often worsen under stress, such as asthma and treating ulcers.
- Temperature biofeedback. Sensors associated with your fingers or feet measure your skin temperature. Since your temperature often drops when under stress, a low reading can prompt you to begin relaxation techniques. Temperature Biofeedback can help treat certain circulatory disorders, such as Raynaud's disease, or reducing the frequency of headaches.
- Galvanic skin response training. Sensors measure the activity of your sweat glands and the amount of sweat on your skin, warns you to fear. This information can be useful in the treatment of emotional disorders such as phobias, anxiety and stuttering.
- Electroencephalogram (EEG). An EEG monitors the activity of brain waves linked to different mental states, such as waking, relaxation, peace, light sleep and deep sleep. EEC can be used to treat insomnia, epilepsy and other neurological disorders.
To find a biofeedback therapist
Look for a qualified therapist if you decide to to try biofeedback. Many biofeedback therapists are licensed in another area of health - such as a nurse or physical therapist - and can work under the supervision of a physician. Some biofeedback therapists to achieve certification from the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America (BCIA). You may obtain a list of names of the people in your area who are certified by the BCIA contact the organization.
Gather information about each potential therapists to identify prior to make an appointment. Ask the therapists to provide references, whether they are licensed in biofeedback or other health care, and what experience they have your specific condition and symptoms. If you can not find a BCIA-certified therapist in your area, contact your physician or other health professional with knowledge of biofeedback therapy for someone with experience in treating your condition is recommended. Check, also on whether your insurer will cover costs of treatment.
Results of biofeedback
Experts are not quite sure how the biofeedback therapy works. Many people who have tried it can not explain how they are able to their bodies, but for improving control of their symptoms. Biofeedback may enable you to reduce the amount you are taking medication to reduce or even help a condition that has not responded on drugs.
