With the advent of biofeedback therapy, many people can look forward to a life without the harsh symptoms of daily stress or severe psychological and health disorders causing them misery and early aging. There is also no need to worry about future procedures that are invasive or drugs to which an allergic reaction can occur or a dependency can develop. What, though, is biofeedback therapy, and how exactly does it work?
Biofeedback therapy is the process of helping patients to learn to control their own subconscious reactions to specific stimuli based on the ability to observe those reactions. In a biofeedback therapy session, the patient will be placed in a quiet, comfortable room where you will sit and perhaps have some sensors taped to your arm and/or forehead to monitor your muscular reactions and tension level. You may also have a heat sensor connected to your finger to monitor temperature, since your hands grow warmer as your relax. All of these sensors will connect back to an electronic monitoring device that will measure your heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, tension level, and other such readings.
All of the signals monitored will be translated into an audio or visual signal that will allow you to view your own reactions and bodily functions in an intelligible manner. You can then work with a therapist who will teach you techniques to help you modulate the signals you are seeing. By modulating that signal, you are actually controlling your autonomic reactions and desensitizing yourself to the high levels of stress you may be experiencing that are causing symptoms such as elevated metabolic rates or uncontrolled blood pressure, thereby decreasing the affects on your overall health.
Because biofeedback therapy is a noninvasive procedure, and there is no pain involved in getting connected to the monitors, the process is becoming more and more popular and moving into mainstream medical practice. Over the past 25 years, biofeedback therapy has shown amazing results for patients with chronic stress-related health problems, as well as advancement in treating other long-term illnesses and disorders, such as incontinence and symptoms not related to stress. Biofeedback therapy could be the wave of the future in allowing self-treatment and learning to self-evaluate and correct habits that are detrimental to our health. Since the first clinical studies over forty years ago, the therapy has come a long way and will continue to improve and gain momentum in the world of health care procedures.