Want to cure your chronic pain? - use of biofeedback to cure pain - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Jan, 1997

If you are like most people, you have suffered from chronic pain. Maybe it's a throbbing headache or neck and low back pain. According to Teresa Deshields, assistant professor of community and family medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, those pangs may be caused by what we unknowingly do to ourselves. The cure is as simple as monitoring our bodies more closely to correct the problems. It is process known as biofeedback, which literally means getting information, or feedback, about your body.

"One of the differences of biofeedback treatment is that we teach physical relaxation and how to achieve a relaxed state. Most people tune out what is happening in their own bodies. Painful symptoms may be caused by bad posture and tense muscles. Biofeedback gives information about your physical habits to help you do what you need to get rid of the unnecessary pain."

While high-tech biofeedback equipment gives patients precise and detailed information about their physical state in order to manage their bodies more effectively, there are some simple things you can do on your own, Deshields suggests:

Headaches. Observe and monitor the condition. Note factors which seem to affect your headaches. For example, some people drink too much caffeine, and many chronic headaches are the result of cleanching your teeth while stressed,

Body aches. Look at your postural habits. Many times, body aches result from elevating or hunching your shoulder and tightening upper back muscles.

Low back pain can be related to the position of your head. Leaning it only slightly forward causes muscle stress all the way down to your lower back. Your head weighs about as much as a bowling ball. Think of the stress on your spine when it is not in an upright position.

Neck pain. Do you sleep on your stomach? Is your pillow the right firmness? Your sleeping habits have a lot to do with neck pain. The best advice is to sleep on your side and keep your body in alignment. Your neck should be titled slightly up from your spine.

"The key is to learn early signs of physical stress," Deshields indicates. "Sometimes, family members or others who are close to you can tell you what they have noticed that lets them know you're getting uncomfortable."