You may have heard of biofeedback therapy and may even be aware that it treats a number of different symptoms and illnesses non-invasively and without introducing medication to the patient. In fact, you are reasonably sure that you’d like to look into the possibility of getting biofeedback therapy for one reason or another. However, you would still feel more at ease with the whole premise of treatment if you understood the process better and knew what to expect during a therapy session.
Biofeedback therapy is the use of electric monitoring devices to determine your autonomic reactions to stress, certain stimuli, various disorders, or other outside sources that affect your bodily functions and health. The data is then interpreted into either an audible or visual format that can be easily read by you as the patient and then controlled with the assistance of a therapist.
When you go for a biofeedback therapy session, you will be placed in a small, quiet, comfortable room where you will then be attached to various sensors. These may be placed on the arm or the forehead, keeping track of muscle tension, blood pressure, heart rate, and other such regulated functions. You may also have a heat sensor placed on your finger to monitor temperature – your fingers will warm as you relax. The therapist will then lead you through a series of exercises and activities, such as guided imagery or progressive muscle relaxation, teaching you how to read the monitor and gauge reactions to the various activities.
Once you’ve learned to read the results, you will learn to consciously control your reactions. For example, if you become stressed and your blood pressure begins to rise, you’ll learn to calm yourself down and bring your blood pressure back under control. If you have problems with incontinence, biofeedback therapy can help you retrain the muscles to maintain better control of urges.
Of course, a single session is not going to remedy any issue you may have, but continued biotherapy feedback could greatly reduce or even eliminate several disorders or illnesses from which you may suffer. Because it is not invasive, it is a simple process with no discomfort whatsoever. As the process becomes more mainstream, it will be used as a solution to more and more minor problems, as well as an additional complimentary solution to be used with medications and additional therapies for more in depth ailments.