Biofeedback and Biofeedback Machines
What is Biofeedback? As explained by Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/biofeedback/home/ovc-20169724), biofeedback is a technique one can use to learn to control our body functions, such as our heart rate.
Most of our life-sustaining functions such as breathing, heart rate, energy balance are regulated by the process of feedback and feedback control. Thus levels of insulin rise and fall with levels of sugar in the blood thus maintaining and regulating energy needs of the body. Other functions include control of blood sugar, regulation of body temperature, respiration, satiety, sleep cycle, and growth. There is a tight feedback control via neural network, chemical messengers and their protein receptors that are closely linked to DNA regulation.
With biofeedback, you’re connected to electrical sensors that help you receive information (feedback) about your body (bio). Biofeedback helps one to focus on making subtle changes in our bodies, such as relaxing certain muscles, to achieve the results we want, such as reducing pain. In essence, biofeedback gives you the power to use your thoughts to control your body, often to improve a health condition or physical performance. Relaxation and meditation techniques are a few examples of these mind over body techniques.
Types of Biofeedback Methods and Biofeedback Machines:
There are several different biofeedback methods that your therapist might use depending on your health issues and goals. These includes:
- Brainwave or EEG Method: This method uses scalp sensors to monitor brain waves using an electroencephalograph (EEG).
- Breathing and Respiration Method: In respiratory biofeedback method, bands are placed around abdomen and chest to monitor breathing pattern and respiration rate.
- Heart rate or ECG Method: In this type of biofeedback finger or earlobe sensors with a device called a photoplethysmograph are used. Alternatively, sensors are placed on your chest, lower torso or wrists using an electrocardiograph (ECG) to measure your heart rate and heart rate variability.
- Muscle or EMG Method: In this biofeedback method sensors from electromyography (EMG) are placed over skeletal muscles to monitor the electrical activity that causes muscle contraction.
- Sweat glands or EDG Method: In this method sensors from electrodermograph (EDG) are attached around fingers or on your palm or wrist with to measure the activity of your sweat glands and the amount of perspiration on your skin to alert to your anxiety level.
- Temperature Method: In this method sensors attached to your fingers or feet to measure the blood flow to the skin. Since temperature drops when you’re under stress, a low reading is an indication to use relaxation techniques.
- Bioresonance Method: In this method, sensors from a Bioresonance Machine are placed in the headphones to measure bio resonance frequencies emitted by different cells, tissues, and organs (Bioprobes). The bioresonace device such as an Oberon Bioresonance Machine is then used to provide the energy to compensate the deficit. The Bioresonance Therapy is thus a biofeedback therapy designed to adjust your body’s energy patterns and effectively ‘tune’ them back to normal harmonious frequencies. It helps restore the body physiology to the normal state which promotes healing. Bioresonance therapy is non-invasive and can diagnose and treat in early stages even before it can be diagnosed by traditional means or any overt symptoms show up. It does not involve the use of harsh drugs with side effects. It is convenient to use in your provider’s office.
