What is Biofeedback?

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

20 Oct 2006 11:32 AM

Psychophysiology. Sounds like a made up science, right? But psychophysiology is the study of the mind body connection. Biofeedback uses machines to train a person to consciously regulate certain bodily functions.

Biofeedback was pioneered in 1938, but didn't become a popular subject of study until the 1960s. One of the original ailments studied and treated with biofeedback was migraines.

For a biofeedback session, you will be hooked up to a device that records electrical impulses. If you are working on your heart rate, you may be using an EKG (electrocardiograph). If you are experiencing headaches, you may be using an EMG (electromyograph) to record facial muscle movements or an EEG (electroencephalogram) to record brain waves. The device takes the electrical impulses and translates them into visual or auditory cues -- beeps, flashing lines, changing tones, etc. You can watch and hear your heart or brain or any body part as it does its work.

The biofeedback practitioner will show you how to control and manipulate your body by consciously altering the lines and sounds coming from the machine. You may use meditation, visualization, relaxation, or other techniques to produce the desired response.

After a practitioner trains you in biofeedback, you will know and feel how to do it "right". With practice, you will be able to consciously reproduce the same physical responses with or without the machine to guide you. Many of the machines used in biofeedback may be too expensive to purchase for home use. Outside of a blood pressure or heart rate monitor, you may not be able to use a biofeedback machine at home; training with a professional will help you be able to reproduce the results without using the machine.

What can you do with biofeedback?

• Slow heart rate and breathing
• Relieve high blood pressure
• Manage acute and chronic pain
• Relieve migraines and other types of headache
• Control asthma
• Ease certain forms of insomnia
• Relieve incontinence and certain types of constipation

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Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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