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. Mental health practiotioners 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 if you're running a fever, the scale if you've gained weight. Both devices "feed back" information 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 may decide to modify your diet.

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 testing allows them to "see" or "hear" activity inside their bodies. One commonly used type of biofeedback, modality for example, picks up electrical signals in the muscles. It translates these signals into a form that patients can detect: It may trigger a flashing light bulb, perhaps, or activates a tone when muscles grow more tense. If patients want to relax tense muscles, they try to slow down the biofeedback signals.

Like a pitcher learning to throw a ball across 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/she performs better the next time he/she tries. When the light flashes or the tone sounds 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.

How is Biofeedback Used Today?

Clinical biofeedback techniques that grew out of early laboratory procedures are now widely used to treat an ever-lengthening list of conditions. These include:

• Migraine headaches, tension headaches
• Disorders of the digestive system
• High blood pressure and its opposite, low blood pressure
• Raynaud's disease
• Insomnia
• Paralysis and other movement disorders
• Chronic pain
• Anxiety
• Stress and stress related disorders
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

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 technique. 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.