Biofeedback: Controlling Pain with Less Need for Medication When
pain kicks in, so does stress and tension. As the pain builds,
we unconsciously clench our muscles, respiration and heart rate
accelerates, and skin temperature drops. As the pain builds, our
bodily tension response only serves to worsen our experience of
that pain. Fortunately, although pain causes unconscious bodily
reactions, we can learn to regulate our body and perform
relaxation exercises that can counter this tension response and
reduce feelings of pain. Biofeedback is a technique that helps
people recognize how pain causes changes in their body. It
teaches people exactly how, when and where to relax. Once people
can recognize what pain does, they can learn to control this
reaction and reduce the experience of pain. How Does Biofeedback
Work? A biofeedback therapist uses instruments that measure
bodily responses such as muscle tension or breathing rate. A
patient who experiences pain while hooked into biofeedback
instrumentation can see w