How does biofeedback work?

Answer 1

Bio feedback helped me. It is hard to explain but I will try. It is like a game for your brain. Your brain does what the machine wants and it gets rewarded by a sound or something that it likes to see and hear. The better your brain gets the more rewards. So you are teaching your brain to do whatever you want it to do. Or I should say you are training the brain. If you find someone qualified it could really help you!

Answer 2

Biofeedback is a technique use for patients that need to restore its body's mobility. Usually this procedure is given to patients that experience stroke or paralyze. Biofeedback helps patients to learn how to relax and flex those muscles and cope with the pain as it moves.

Answer 3

Definition

Biofeedback is a technique that measures bodily functions and gives you information about them in order to help train you to control them.

Information

Biofeedback is most often based on measurements of:

• Blood pressure
• Brain waves (EEG)
• Breathing
• Heart rate
• Muscle tension
• Skin conductivity of electricity
• Skin temperature

By watching these measurements, you can learn how to alter these functions by relaxing or by holding pleasant images in your mind.

Electrodes measure your heart rate, blood pressure, or other function. A monitor displays the results for both you and the trained practitioner to see. A tone or other sound may be used to let you know when you've reached a goal or certain state.

While the practitioner describes stressful situations and guides you through relaxation techniques, you can see how your heart rate and blood pressure change in response to being stressed or remaining relaxed.

Biofeedback teaches you how to control and change these bodily functions. By doing so, you feel more relaxed and may be able to help treat such conditions as:

• Anxiety and insomnia (how well biofeedback works for these symptoms remains controversial)
• Tension and migraine headaches
• Urinary incontinence

References

Burgio KL, Kraus SR, Menefee S, Borello-France D, Corton M, Johnson HW, et al. Behavioral therapy to enable women with urge incontinence to discontinue drug treatment: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2008;149(3):161-9.

Loder E, Rozzoli P. Tension-type headache. BMJ. 2008;336(7635):88-92.

Nestoriuc Y, Martin A. Efficacy of biofeedback for migraine: a meta-analysis. Pain. 2007;128(1-2):111-27. Epub 2006 Nov 2.

Rogers RG. Clinical practice. Urinary stress incontinence in women. N Engl J Med.2008;358(10):1029-1036.

Answer 4

Definition

Biofeedback is a technique that measures bodily functions and gives you information about them in order to help train you to control them.

Information

Biofeedback is most often based on measurements of:

• Blood pressure
• Brain waves (EEG)
• Breathing
• Heart rate
• Muscle tension
• Skin conductivity of electricity
• Skin temperature

By watching these measurements, you can learn how to alter these functions by relaxing or by holding pleasant images in your mind.

Patches, called electrodes, are placed on different parts of your body. They measure your heart rate, blood pressure, or other function. A monitor displays the results. A tone or other sound may be used to let you know when you've reached a goal or certain state.

Your health care provider will describe a situation and guide you through relaxation techniques. The monitor lets you see how your heart rate and blood pressure change in response to being stressed or remaining relaxed.

Biofeedback teaches you how to control and change these bodily functions. By doing so, you feel more relaxed or more able to cause specific muscle relaxation processes. This may help treat such conditions as:

• Anxiety and insomnia (how well biofeedback works for these symptoms remains controversial)
• Constipation
• Tension and migraine headaches
• Urinary incontinence

References

Burgio KL, Kraus SR, Menefee S, Borello-France D, Corton M, Johnson HW, et al. Behavioral therapy to enable women with urge incontinence to discontinue drug treatment: a randomized trial.Ann Intern Med. 2008;149(3):161-9.

Camilleri M. Disorders of gastrointestinal motility.In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds.Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 138.

Loder E, Rozzoli P. Tension-type headache.BMJ. 2008;336(7635):88-92.

Magis D, Schoenen J. Treatment of migraine: update on new therapies.Curr Opin Neuro. 2011;24(3):203-210.

Nygaard I. Clinical practice. Idiopathic urgency urinary incontinence. N Engl J Med.2010;363(12):1156-62.

Reviewed By

Review Date: 10/30/2011

Luc Jasmin, MD, PhD, Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, and Department of Anatomy at UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

Answer 5

Tension and stress can also be reduced through biofeedback, in which an individual consciously attempts to modify skin temperature, muscle tension, blood pressure, and heart rate.

Answer 6

Biofeedback utilizes machines that monitor users' stress levels, helping people learn to control them.