Biofeedback For Pain Relief

Even though there have been many wonderful advancements in Western medicine, many people are alarmed at rising health care costs. In addition, increasing reports of serious complications with prescription medication has alarmed many who had previously thought that FDA approved drugs must be safe. As a result of these concerns, there is a strong and growing movement toward alternative forms of healthcare and biofeedback is one of the modalities that is getting a lot of attention.

Biofeedback, which is also known as neurofeedback, has proved an effective therapy for a number of different conditions, but it is most often used as a pain relief for ailments such as headaches, migraines and other chronic pain conditions. A biofeedback treatment provides the patient with information from the body about how it is operating and reacting to different conditions. With this type of feedback, the person can better understand their body's reactions and take steps to change.

In over 40 years of biofeedback use, it has a sterling record for safety and lack of side effects. In many cases this holistic treatment is utilized in conjunction with relaxation techniques and the result of this combined approach is reported to be very successful at lowering levels of stress. As a person's stress is reduced, so are many of the risk factors of numerous health concerns.

In addition to being used for pain relief, biofeedback therapists are also able to address many other health conditions with varying degrees of success. Some of the other common conditions that have been effectively treated though neurofeedback treatments are epilepsy, attention deficit disorder (ADD), hyperactivity and incontinence. In addition, this non-invasive treatment is often very helpful in rehabilitation after stroke or injury and can even help people to break the bonds of addictive behaviors, such as drug addiction and alcoholism.

Biofeedback therapy is a technique that uses mechanical feedback to teach people how to relax, even in stressful situations. Over time, many people are able to train themselves to control blood pressure, breathing, muscle tension and other bodily functions, through the use of painless electrodes that give on-the-spot feedback through graphs, beeps and flashing lights.

During a neurotherapy session, a biofeedback machine is used that monitors the patient's brain wave activity and displays the readings on a screen. With the help of a trained technician, the person can learn what relaxation techniques produce the desired responses and can observe these responses through the readout on the machine. With time and practice, a person can eventually learn how to achieve the desired changes, even without the use of the device to provide the feedback.

As a patient becomes more aware of their body and its responses to the biofeedback techniques, they become more sensitive to the internal signals their body is providing. This increased awareness and sensitivity, combined with practice, is what allows a person to gain the same benefits of neurofeedback therapy, even when the neurofeedback equipment is not available to confirm the changes within the body.

Even though some people are tempted to think of biofeedback treatment as a type of "magic health bullet," it is not and neurofeedback therapists will quickly caution that biofeedback methodology does not cure anything. What it is effective at doing is providing a powerful set of tools to the subject that allows them to control and master their internal functions. In turn, this can support the body is doing what it does best, which is to heal and regenerate.