Biofeedback has proven to be another effective, active method that you can learn to apply to further participate in your own chronic pain management. Biofeedback is a treatment technique where you are trained to improve your health by using signals from your own body. Physical therapists use Biofeedback to help stroke victims regain movement in paralyzed muscles. Psychologists use Biofeedback to help tense and anxious people to learn to relax. Specialists in many different fields use biofeedback to help their patients cope with their chronic pain.

There is a condition of dysponesis, also called faulty bracing, where people tense up their muscles to pain thereby intensifying the pain experience. Dysponesis is defined by Doreland’s Medical Dictionary as follows: “A reversible physiopathologic state consisting of unnoticed, misdirected neurophysiologic reactions to various agents (environmental events, bodily sensations, emotions, and thoughts) and the repercussions of these reactions throughout the organism.” One of the most direct methods for coping with dysponesis involves the use of biofeedback. This procedure teaches you to let go of stress and tension.

According to many Biofeedback practitioners, an effective biofeedback training program should be progressive and include several steps. The program starts with an accurate diagnosis of the problem followed by implementation of the proper treatment modality and time for you to practice in situations that simulate instances in which the symptoms most often arise. Learning to use meditation and relaxation techniques to reduce stress would also be a helpful complement to the Biofeedback process.

Although past research has been mixed with regard to biofeedback’s ability to decrease pain, when used within the context of an interdisciplinary approach, the results are very promising. The biopsychosocial model of pain, which is now accepted as the most common sense approach to the understanding and treatment of pain disorders, views physical disorders such as pain as a result of a complex and dynamic interaction among physiologic, psychological, and social factors, which perpetuates and may worsen how pain is experienced.

Each individual experiences pain uniquely. The range of psychological, social, and economic factors can interact with physical pathology to modulate a patient’s report of symptoms and subsequent disability. Indeed, the treatment efficacy of a biopsychosocial approach to pain has consistently demonstrated the value of this model. Biofeedback can serve as one important modality in this comprehensive approach.

To learn more about chronic pain management please check out our website at www.addiction-free.com and check out our Articles page to download my free article The Need for Multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Treatment to learn more about utilizing different integrative chronic pain treatment modalities. You can also go to our Publications page and check out my book Managing Pain and Coexisting Disorders: Using the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System.