Physiological Biofeedback (Autonomics)
Biofeedback is a training procedure
that uses computerized technology that shows us information
about how our body is functioning internally to teach us how
to master and take control of our own internal physical and
mental processes. Although we all experience the effects these
processes (such as pain, muscle tension or other ailments)
have on our bodies and minds, the physiology that drives them
is not consciously perceivable.
Using modern biomedical sensing electronics and sophisticated
computer programs, our clinicians make useful information
about these biochemical activities available to us, in easy-to-understand
forms. Working with this real time "feedback" from
our own bodies, the therapists teach us how to take control
of these subtle, internal biochemical processes. With biofeedback,
we can learn to change what is happening inside us, without
drugs or invasive procedures. The effects can be astonishing.
Biofeedback is pain-free and non-invasive. It is effective
for both adults and children. It has many applications for
a wide variety of health problems such as headache, asthma,
stroke, learning disorders, myofascial pain, and mood disorders.
The objectives are to help persons develop greater awareness
and voluntary control over their physiological processes that
are otherwise outside awareness. With biofeedback as a guide,
the patient learns, in relatively short order, how to control
the biological response system generating the biofeedback
signal.
Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback
Heart rate variability (HRV) is highly correlated with health and fitness. During HRV sessions we will train you to change your breathing in such
a way as to impact your heart rate and other physiological signs in order to decrease the imbalance of the nervous system and improve your overall
health. Respiratory efficiency increases. More blood is circulated through the lungs allowing for better absorption of oxygen. The lower lobes o
f the lungs, where the richer oxygen resides, are more easily accessed. As a result, patients become more resistant to such respiratory stressors
as exercise, high altitude, or high carbon dioxide concentration (as may occur in a crowded stuffy room) (Lehrer, 2005), and rapid, shallow breathing.
In more technical terms, patients with various disorders reflecting autonomic nervous system (ANS) disregulation also tend to show decreased HRV. This
decreased variability tends to be seen in those with high blood pressure, depression, and anxiety. One can think of HRV as a general measure of
adaptability. Diminished HRV is a sign of vulnerability to stress, whether it is from psychological or physical stress or from the effects of living
with chronic illness. Research shows that this type of respiratory training can be used as a “promising intervention to increase baroreceptor cardiac
function in primary hypertension” (Reyes el Paso, et al, 2006).
