The question of whether alternative therapies and healing methods really help or just cost money is not easy to answer in many cases. A positive exception is the so-called biofeedback, in which physical, psychosomatic and psychological diseases can be treated by the systematic feedback of bodily functions.
Biofeedback: therapy not mumbo jumbo
We encounter a simple biofeedback mechanism from our earliest childhood: it is easy and painful to burn oneself on hot candles and matches – to whom this happens, we leave it alone. Of course, it’s not quite that simple in practice. According to the definition of the German Society for Biofeedback, “Biofeedback […] is a scientifically based method of behavioral therapy and behavioral medicine, with the help of which normally unconsciously occurring psychophysiological processes are made perceptible through feedback.” For this purpose, unconsciously occurring bodily functions such as breathing rate, heart rate, blood pressure, skin resistance, body temperature and muscle tension are measured with sensors on the skin and made visible either with image signals or audible via acoustic signals. In this way, the patient can immediately see or hear how his or her body is responding.
Biofeedback: recognizing and learning
Through biofeedback, the patient can recognize that even the smallest mental changes have an effect on his body. During the course of treatment, he learns to consciously and willingly influence bodily processes and can thus advance his healing without side effects or pain. When measuring muscle tension, for example, the results of the measurement can be displayed as a curve on the screen. If the muscle tension changes, so does the curve. The patient thus receives direct feedback on the change in muscle tension. Biofeedback treatment is usually always linked to a behavioral therapy concept or another form of therapy and is not considered an exclusive treatment.
Biofeedback is used to treat:
- Stress, stress consequences, and for stress management.
- Chronic pain such as headaches, back pain, fibromyalgia.
- Hypertension, circulatory disorders
- Tinnitus, irritable stomach, irritable bowel syndrome
- Sleep disorders,sexual disorders
- Urinary and fecal incontinence,urinary retention
- Hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder
- Epileptic disorders
- Anxiety disorders, depression
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Prevention of chronic diseases
- Improvement of body awareness
- Psychological causes / psychological consequences of physical diseases.
Biofeedback for health care reform?
Biofeedback could play an increasingly important role, especially in chronic diseases. Because the patient’s participation in the healing process is becoming increasingly important, biofeedback could play a significant role in the treatment concepts of chronically ill patients, many of which are currently being tested. However, the method is not suitable for every patient. Motivation and cooperation with the therapist, for example, are fundamental prerequisites for successful treatment. The patient usually benefits from the fact that motivation is established during therapy through a quick sense of achievement – after all, the feedback from the body is immediate and always quite direct. The method seems to work particularly well for children with tension headaches and attention deficit disorders. Here, specially developed computer animations with cartoon characters support the learning process. The treatment is not limited to sessions in the therapist’s office: the exercises learned must also be practiced further at home.
Biofeedback: training for pelvic floor
For many diseases, the treatment successes are great – and scientifically proven. For fecal and urinary incontinence, for example, the pelvic floor and sphincter can be trained well via feedback from the biofeedback sensors. Patients with tension headaches can also quickly learn to relieve their tension. This is also true for patients whose headaches stem from jaw misalignment. Teeth grinding and problems in the jaw can be eliminated with a combination of relaxation therapy and biofeedback.As positive as the successes may be, whether and to what extent the treatment is covered by health insurance should be clarified in each individual case. In some cases, the therapy is only paid by the health insurance if it is specifically integrated into a behavioral therapy.
Biofeedback: finding therapists
Interest in biofeedback is high – but there are currently relatively few therapists. The German Biofeedback Society offers continuing education to become a biofeedback therapist. The prerequisite for this is a license to practice medicine or psychology. Other persons with degrees in health care, such as physiotherapists, physiotherapists, nurses, occupational therapists, sports scientists, speech therapists or alternative practitioners can train to become biofeedback trainers. In justified exceptional cases, the continuing education commission may also admit persons with other professional qualifications.
Using biofeedback to treat migraine
For the first time, the German Migraine and Headache Society (DMKG) has certified that biofeedback therapy is as effective as drug therapy in its guidelines for the treatment of migraine. The society recommends biofeedback therapy especially for patients who suffer from frequent migraine attacks. In presenting the new guidelines for the treatment of migraine, the specialist society emphasized that prevention is of central importance in treatment. This is especially true for patients who suffer from frequent migraines: People who have to endure a migraine attack more than three times a month, or whose attacks last longer than 72 hours, or who respond poorly to acute drug therapy, can significantly reduce the frequency of pain attacks through preventive measures. Behavioral therapy strategies, such as biofeedback, are recommended for such patients, they said. The effectiveness, the DMKG emphasized, is just as high as with drug therapy. This has been proven by various studies. Migraine is an attack-like, periodically recurring, predominantly unilateral headache that is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
