Originating in the late
1960s, biofeedback is a treatment method that uses
monitoring instruments to feed back to patients physiological
information of which they are normally unaware. By
watching the monitoring device, patients can learn
by trial and error to adjust their thinking and other
mental processes in order to control bodily processes
heretofore thought to be involuntary, such as urinary
incontinence, gastrointestinal functions.
Biofeedback can be used
to treat a wide variety of conditions and diseases
ranging from stress, alcohol and other addictions,
sleep disorders, epilepsy, respiratory problems, and
fecal and urinary incontinence to muscle spasms, partial
paralysis or muscle dysfunction caused by injury,
migraine headaches, hypertension, and a variety of
vascular disorders.
