The Role of Biofeedback Equipment in Stress Management

Stress management is a huge subject. There are many methods of managing stress.

 

One thing that is constant is that the body reacts to stress in several ways, many of which can be measured using biofeedback equipment. People who are experiencing stress often have sensations that they can feel, if they are sensitive and present enough without biofeedback equipment.

 

These sensations may be related to changes in cardiovascular activity like your heart beating faster or more forcefully, blood vessels constricting, muscles contracting, increased sweat, changes in brain activity, or changes in digestive activity. These changes are related to what is called physiology. Whether a person feels these changes or not, they are happening. What biofeedback equipment can do is make the invisible, visible.

 

It can show you the measurable changes that are happening, moment by moment so that you can connect the changes to the events that may have triggered them. You can also use this information to learn to train your physiology or affect how much change there is and reverse some of the changes if they are in an unhealthy direction. When we step on a scale and don’t like the number we see, we may regulate our behavior including eating and exercise to change the number we see on the scale over time. This is a slower process than what we see when using biofeedback equipment. The changes in the readings can happen in moments instead of days, weeks, or months. With practice you can train your physiology to behave in a more healthy way. The negative changes become smaller, and you recover from them more quickly.

 

The things that biofeedback equipment can measure include muscle tension, skin temperature, skin conductance (sweat activity), Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability, Respiration, end tidal CO2, and EEG/brainwave activity.

 

Free introductory biofeedback and neurofeedback courses are available at www.biofeedbackinternational.com

 

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What Can You Do About Stress?

Stress tends to trigger the fight, flight, or flee response which is supposed to be an emergency state which lasts for only a short time.  When there is not a short-term emergency requiring a physical response then the state can last for a long time.  It may also be triggered repeatedly over a long period of time.  When this happens, negative symptoms including pain, headaches, cardiovascular problems, and insomnia can result.

Try some of these things to reduce the negative effects of stress on your physical and mental health.

Monitor your muscles.  Several times during the day, take a few moments to scan your body from head to toe for any areas where you are holding tension.  You might notice that you are frowning, biting your teeth together, raising your shoulders, or holding tension in your arms, hands, legs, or feet.  Just release the tension and notice how much better it feels.  You can do this when you are feeling stressed too.

Slow breathing.  Most of us breath faster and shallower than we need to.  Males tend to breathe 12-14 breaths per minute.  Females breathe about 14-16 breaths per minute on average.  In my experience many people who are anxious are breathing 15-30 breaths per minute.  Simply practicing breathing at a slower pace can reduce anxiety and decrease the negative effects of stress.  Find a pace that is comfortable for you so that you will feel good about practicing it.  There are computer programs and smart phone apps that help you to practice slow paced breathing.  Some Heart Rate Variability biofeedback experts suggest practicing slow paced breathing for twenty minutes two times each day to relieve stress symptoms

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Biofeedback Applications in Education

Biofeedback is a process that uses technology to measure and feed back information about a person’s physiology so that they can learn how to gain increased control over it.  It is used clinically in healthcare settings by licensed mental or physical medicine professionals including psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, physical therapists, chiropractors, nurses, occupational therapists, and rehab therapists.  It can also be used in educational settings.

Here is a list of biofeedback equipment modalities and what they measure:

Surface EMG (Electromyography) – Action potentials produced when muscles contract.

Skin Temperature – Temperature increases when blood vessels dilate with relaxation and decreases when blood vessels constrict in response to stress.

Skin Conductance – Increases when sweat increases on the hands in response to emotional reaction.

Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability – Changes with changes in the autonomic nervous system.  It is related to vagal tone and can be affected by emotional state and breathing as well as physical activity

Respiration – Measures depth, mechanics, and rate of breathing.

Capnometer – Measures the amount of CO2 in the air that is exhaled through the nostrils into two tubes connected to an instrument.

EEG (Electroencephalograph) – Measures action potentials produced when neurons in the brain fire as part of their communication and function.

I will briefly discuss a few ways that biofeedback equipment can be used in K-12 schools as well as colleges and universities.

Science exploration – Educators can use biofeedback equipment to teach students about the various signals that can be measured from their bodies and the things that cause those signals to change.  Students of any age might be interested to learn about the measurable signals produced by their bodies like the energy given off by their muscles or brain, or the fact that their hand temperature or sweat activity can change in response to a thought.

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Adding The Intelligence of the Heart in Performance Enhancement Training

 R. Adam Crane BCIA Senior Fellow, BCIAEEG, NRNP Diplomate

Science of The Heart: The Role of the Heart in Human Performance

Introduction

For centuries the heart has been considered the source of emotion, courage and wisdom. Neurocardiology is the relatively new science of exploring the physiological mechanisms by which the heart communicates with the brain; thereby influencing information processing, perceptions, emotions and health. Neurocardiology asks questions such as: Why do people experience the feeling or sensation of love and other positive emotional states in the area of the heart, and what are the physiological ramifications of these emotions? How do stress and different emotional states affect the autonomic nervous system, the hormonal and immune systems, the heart and brain? Over the years scientists have experimented with different psychological and physiological measures, but consistently heart rate variability, or heart rhythms, stands out as one of the most dynamic and reflective measures of inner emotional states and stress.

It is clear that negative emotions lead to increased disorder in the heart’s rhythms and in the autonomic nervous system, thereby adversely affecting the rest of the body. In contrast, positive emotions create increased harmony and coherence in heart rhythms, and improve balance in the nervous system. The health implications are easy to understand. Disharmony in the nervous system leads to inefficiency and increased stress on the heart and other organs, while harmonious rhythms are more efficient and less stressful to the body’s systems.

More intriguing are the dramatic positive changes that occur when techniques are applied that increase coherence in rhythmic patterns of heart rate variability. These include shifts in perception and the ability to reduce stress, and deal more effectively with difficult situations. Apparently, the heart is acting as though it has a mind of its own, and is profoundly influencing the way we perceive and respond to the world. In essence, the heart is affecting intelligence and awareness.

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Professional Peripheral Biofeedback BCIA Program

 This innovative seminar is designed to teach clinicians biofeedback fundamentals and cutting-edge applications. This program covers all 42 hours of the BCIA Didactic Biofeedback Education requirement through powerful demonstrations of biofeedback and adjunctive procedures, imaginative hands-on lab exercises with multi-channel computerized equipment, professional multimedia presentations and comprehensive review materials. This program integrates personal hands-on training with equipment with didactic presentation.

Participants will learn:

• The foundations of biofeedback
• Physiological basis and recording of surface electromyography (sEMG), temperature, electrodermal activity (EDA), respiration patterns (strain gauges and pCO2), electroencephalography (EEG), peripheral blood flow (BVP), heart rate and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and economic biofeedback approaches (including incentive inspirometers and scales)
• How to identifying artifacts and determining appropriate recording
• How to record and interpret data
• How to perform a psychophysiological profile and pre and post data comparison
• The use of adjunctive techniques such as progressive relaxation t raining, autogenic training, imagery, guided breathing, desensitization, mindfulness training, quieting reflex.
• The role of home biofeedback devices such as EmWave, Unyte and GSR2
• Overview of clinical and educational applications

Online Dates:
September 22

In Person Dates:
October 14-16, 2022 – Hawthorne, NY

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Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Applications for Military and Law Enforcement

 

Military service people and law enforcement officers have a lot in common.  In fact, many military veterans go into law enforcement after their military careers end.  Two other similarities are that both military service and law enforcement involve high stress and require high levels of performance.  Both, at times, can come with daily life or death high-stress situations.  These service people and officers naturally would experience their fight or flight responses being activated more often than most other people. It is also super important that they both perform their duties at a high level.  Many lives may depend on how well they perform.

Biofeedback and neurofeedback can apply to both, helping people manage stress and improve performance.  We don’t have to wait until there is a clinical problem.  These interventions can be used to prevent problems, help people manage stress, and improve performance.

When working with military service people and law enforcement officers it may be helpful not to use terms like relaxation or stress management.  Many of the people who work in these areas have negative thoughts about relaxation or the thought that they might need stress management.  They might be more accepting of working on learning self-regulation or improved control of their nervous system in order to improve performance.  You can make the case that in these lines of work you need to use your mind and body together at a high level to perform at your best.  Learning to be more aware of how your body reacts to your thoughts and learning better control of things like your muscles, breathing, and focus sound obviously helpful.  Biofeedback and neurofeedback can help in these areas.

Biofeedback uses instruments that measure and feedback signals from the body including surface EMG (Electromyograph) for muscle activity, skin temperature for peripheral blood flow, skin conductance for sweat activity, Heart Rate, and Heart Rate Variability for cardiovascular responses, and Respiration for breathing.  Neurofeedback uses instruments that measure EEG (Electroencephalograph) which measures and shows brain activity.  Through reinforcement, the subject can learn to change the activity to improve mind-body wellness.

Through the use of surface EMG biofeedback, one can learn to contract the muscles that need to contract for a task and keep the others relaxed.  Through regulation of breathing, using respiration biofeedback, one can either become more alert and activated or become calmer under pressure. By using skin conductance biofeedback, one can learn to regulate the level of emotional reaction during stressful conditions.  Through EEG biofeedback/neurofeedback training, one can learn to improve mental focus or decrease nervous brain states which help allow better decision making, clear thinking, and performance.  This type of training can be very beneficial for military service people or law enforcement officers.  These applications can be considered non-clinical so that a person who is not a licensed health care professional can learn to use biofeedback and neurofeedback with military service people or law enforcement officers in an educational model.

Harry L. Campbell

914-762-4646 – Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

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How to Use Biofeedback Equipment

Biofeedback is a process that uses instruments that record physiological signals from a person’s body and then display the information so that a person can learn to change the signal that is being measured.  One therapeutic application of biofeedback is for helping people with stress-related disorders.  In this context sensors may be attached to a client and signals including muscle tension, breathing, and heart rate is measured and displayed on a computer screen.  The client with the help of coaching from a therapist learns to control these signals and bring them to a more relaxed level.

Signals that are recorded with biofeedback instruments include:

Surface EMG (Electromyograph) – measures electrical signals produced when muscles contract.  These signals are picked up by sensors that are placed on the skin and attached to an instrument.

Skin Temperature – Measured from the hands or feet giving an indication of peripheral blood flow.  Skin temperature tends to increase when a person is more relaxed due to dilation of the local blood vessels which causes more blood to flow to the fingers or toes increasing the temperature.  Skin temperature tends to decrease when a person is stressed due to constriction of the local blood vessels causing a reduction of the amount of blood in the fingers or toes.

Skin Conductance – Measured from the palm side of the hands or feet gives an indication of changes in the amount of sweat on the skin.  Increased sweat on the hands or feet is an indication of emotional reactivity or arousal.

Respiration – Breathing is recorded by using a belt sensor that is placed around the abdomen.  It senses how often and how deeply a person breathes based on how often and how much the belt is stretched.  Breathing tends to be faster and shallower when a person is anxious and deeper and slower when a person is more relaxed.

Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability – There are two ways to measure heart rate.  The first is by use of a photoplethysmography sensor.  It is like the pulse oximeter used in hospitals. This type of sensor shines a light into the skin, usually on the palm side of a finger, and then records how that light comes back to the sensor.  This gives information about how much blood is traveling through the blood vessels, how fast the heart is beating as well as other data.  The other type of sensor that measures heart activity is the ECG or EKGelectrocardiogram.  It uses electrodes that are placed on the torso, or wrists to measure electrical impulses given off each time the heart beats.  The signals picked up from the heart are more complex than just how fast the heart is beating.  It is also possible to look at the variability of the heartbeat and the balance of the frequencies which have a great deal of meaning related to overall health and emotional state.

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Celebrity Suicides Bring Light To A Hidden Problem | Conquering Concussion

 

On June 5, 2018 fashion designer Kate Spade hung herself.  Her husband Andy said, “Kate suffered from depression and anxiety for many years.  The most recent stressor may have been her husband filing for divorce after 24 years of marriage.  This led to severe depression according to a Page-6 article by Yaron Steinbuch.

Soon after the death of Kate Spade Anthony Bourdain, celebrity cook, best-selling author of Kitchen Confidential and star of TV series A Cook’s Tour, and Parts Unknown, was found dead in a Paris hotel room.  He also apparently hung himself.

Here are some statistics from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention:

It is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States of America

44,965 Americans die each year in the USA

For each actual death there are another 25 attempts

The costs to the USA is $69 Billion annually

One of the statistics that surprised me is that 7 out of 10 people who killed themselves in 2016 were white males.  This seems unusual in a way because this is the group that appears to be the most privileged in America.  You would think that they would have the least reason to want to kill themselves.  This brings to mind the saying that money doesn’t buy happiness.

Another disturbing statistic is related to deaths in the military.  More service members are killing themselves than are dying in combat.  Give that a minute to sink in.  According to the AFSP there were 295 combat-related deaths in the year 2012, which is a terrible loss of life.  Even worse though, in that same year were 349 service people killed themselves.  They also state that 20% of all suicides are committed by veterans.  Obviously, the military is not looking to broadcast this information.  It could have a negative effect on the morale of service people and public support, as well as for recruitment and retention.

It would be very safe to say the people who serve in the military are under high levels of stress that can be chronic.  Many of them have suffered from physical and or mental trauma, and some brain injury. Some have never been assessed or treated properly.

Continue Reading :  Celebrity Suicides Bring Light To A Hidden Problem | Conquering Concussion

Biofeedback Training for Mental Health Disorders

Mental health disorders including anxiety, PTSD, and depression seem to have become more widespread over the past several years.  Is it that more information has become available and there is less of a stigma for people to seek mental health services?  Is it a combination of effects of the pandemic, mass shootings, and national and international unrest?  Whatever the reason is, the fact is that help is needed.  Biofeedback training is among the many effective tools that mental health professionals can use to help people suffering from mental health challenges.

Psychologists and other mental health providers tend to do a lot of talking and paperwork as a part of their routine.  Some of this can become monotonous.  Biofeedback can introduce technology that helps the clients of mental health providers to learn about themselves.  It helps them to learn how to make real, physiological, measurable changes.  They learn to change how their body reacts to stress using biofeedback.

Some mental health providers may have had minimal exposure to biofeedback or neurofeedback during their initial education.  Most have not had extensive training in these areas.  The most recognized body offering certification in biofeedback is the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA).  The didactic educational requirement for BCIA peripheral biofeedback certification is 42 hours.   With a course approved for APA continuing education credits for biofeedback, a psychologistcan receive a large number of required hours in a short amount of time while learning an exciting and effective skill.  Note, you don’t have to be a psychologist to attend training.  Social workers, mental health counselors, physical therapists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, and nurses also get trained in biofeedback.  However, this can be a great opportunity for psychologists to gain required hours while learning an evidenced based therapy tool that can also bring some variety to their work and help their clients as well.

More information is available on the American Psychological Association (APA) continuing education program on the APA website: https://www.apa.org/education/ce/index

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Unique Training Options for APA Continuing Education Credit

Most psychologists in the United States need to attend training to keep up with new developments in the field and to remind them of things that they may have learned a long time ago.

There are many options for training including face-to-face programs, online programs, and material that psychologists can read.  There is a multitude of different topics that can be studied.  Since psychologists have to take training, it makes sense to make it something interesting, enjoyable, and useful.  Biofeedback and neurofeedback are subjects that check all of those boxes.  Psychologists tend to do a lot of talking and paperwork as a part of their routine.  Some of this can become monotonous.  Biofeedback and neurofeedback use technology that helps the clients of psychologists learn about themselves.  It helps them to learn how to make real, physiological, measurable changes.  They can learn to change how their body reacts to stress using biofeedback.  They can train their brain to become more regulated through neurofeedback.

I have spoken to many practicing psychologists who have only had minimal exposure to biofeedback or neurofeedback during their initial education in psychology.  Most have not had extensive training in this either area.  Many professionals that get trained in an area want to become certified if certification is available.  The most recognized body offering certification in biofeedback and neurofeedback is the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA).  The didactic educational requirement for BCIA peripheral biofeedback certification is 42 hours.  The requirement for neurofeedback is 36 hours.  With a course approved for APA continuing education credits for biofeedback or neurofeedback, a psychologist can receive a large number of required hours in a short amount of time while learning an exciting and effective skill.

Continue Reading= >  APA Continuing Education Credit

Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Training for APA Continuing Education Credit

 Many psychologists in the United States of America are required to take training to keep up with new developments in the field and to remind them of things that they may have learned a long time ago.

There are many options for training including face to face programs, online programs, and material that psychologists can read. There are also many different topics that can be studied. As long as you have to take training you might as well make it something interesting, enjoyable, and useful. Biofeedback and neurofeedback are subjects that check all of those boxes. Psychologists tend to do a lot of talking and paperwork as a part of their routine. Some of this can become monotonous.

Biofeedback and Neurofeedback introduce technology that helps the clients of psychologists to learn about themselves.  It helps them to learn how to make real physiological measurable changes.  They can learn to change how their body reacts to stress using biofeedback.  They can train their brain to become more regulated through neurofeedback.

Some psychologists may have had minimal exposure to biofeedback or neurofeedback during their initial education in psychology.  Most have not had extensive training in these areas.  The most recognized body offering certification in biofeedback and neurofeedback is the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA).  The didactic educational requirement for BCIA peripheral biofeedback certification is 42 hours.  The requirement for neurofeedback is 36 hours.  With a course approved for APA continuing education credits for biofeedback or neurofeedback, a psychologist can receive a large number of required hours in a short amount of time while learning an exciting and effective skill.

This can be a great opportunity for psychologists to gain required hours while learning an evidenced based therapy tool that can also bring some variety to their work and help their clients as well.

More Info :  Neurofeedback Training for APA Continuing Education Credit

Effects of Stress on Performance | Stress Minimizing Books

 

Our nervous system is constantly at work partly as an interface between our mind and body.  It reacts to our environment, physical activity, and our thoughts.  It causes changes heart rate, blood pressure, blood circulation, contraction level of our muscles, our breathing, and many other things.  When the changes are appropriate and useful for the situation this is a very good thing.  When the changes are due to an overreaction related to stress then it can be harmful.   There are many ways that stress can cause problems with health and I have discussed these in other places.  Here I want to focus on effects on performance.  This type of negative stress reaction can happen with various types of performance including athletes, singers, speakers, students, business people, and actors to name a few.

When a performer becomes anxious the same kinds of changes happen in their brain and the rest of their body that would be helpful to get them out of physical danger in a situation where there is no need for the type of physical reaction the body is prepared for.  That state is usually not what is ideal for a high-quality performance.  Let’s go through a few examples.  A basketball player who has practiced thousands of free throws for years and has an excellent percentage of making them, say 85% is in position to win the game by making only one out of two free throws, misses them both badly, not even hitting the rim or backboard.  Maybe before he went to the line one of the opposing players made an insulting comment (trash talking).  His reaction might be to become angry and think about getting revenge.  His brain and body are now in fight mode which is not ideal for the task at hand.

Another example is when Greg Norman lost the Masters golf tournament after having a comfortable lead.  After making a few mistakes it seems as though he lost focus and never recovered, missing several easy short puts along the way.  This type of performance may have been due to the brain going into more of a fear rather than focus mode.

Continue Reading :  Effects of Stress on Performance | Stress Minimizing Books

Biofeedback Supplies and Technology | Biofeedback training online

 What supplies do you need to have to use biofeedback technology?  Some biofeedback modalities require little or no supplies while others require consumable supplies that you need a ready inventory of.

A Plethysmograph (PPG) sensor which is used to measure Heart Rate, Blood Volume, and Heart Rate variability may use a clip or Velcro band that is permanently attached to the sensor.  In this case, there would be no replaceable supplies needed.

The Electrocardiograph (EKG) sensor measures Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability.  The EKG sensor uses adhesive disposable sensors that stick to the skin and snap or clip to the electrode cable.  These usually come in packages of 50 – 300.  Alcohol prep pads are used to clean the skin before applying the sensors.

Temperature biofeedback sensors either use a Velcro band to attach to the finger or you can use paper or cloth tape.  If you use Velcro then you don’t have to replace it very often.  If you are using tape, then you need to keep a supply.

For Skin Conductance/EDR/GSR, you should be using sensor cream or gel that comes in a tube or bottle.

You only use a small amount each time so a tube or bottle lasts a long time.

Electromyograph (EMG) uses 2 or 3 adhesive disposable electrodes similar to the EKG sensor.  These are placed on the skin over the muscle area that you want to record from.  You also need alcohol prep pads to clean the skin before applying the sensors.

The Respiration sensor uses a belt that goes around the abdomen or chest.  It attaches with either Velcro or a clip.  There aren’t any supplies needed.

Get More Info : Biofeedback Training New York

Website : https://biofeedbackinternational.com/

Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Training for APA Continuing Education Credit

Many psychologists in the United States of America are required to take training to keep up with new developments in the field and to remind them of things that they may have learned a long time ago.

There are many options for training including face to face programs, online programs, and material that psychologists can read. There are also many different topics that can be studied. As long as you have to take training you might as well make it something interesting, enjoyable, and useful. Biofeedback and neurofeedback are subjects that check all of those boxes. Psychologists tend to do a lot of talking and paperwork as a part of their routine. Some of this can become monotonous.

Biofeedback and Neurofeedback introduce technology that helps the clients of psychologists to learn about themselves. It helps them to learn how to make real physiological measurable changes. They can learn to change how their body reacts to stress using biofeedback. They can train their brain to become more regulated through neurofeedback.

Continue Reading Click here : Biofeedback Training | Continuing Education | Continuing Training

Stress and Use of Technology

 

Most people I talk to agree that we are living in very stressful times.  Stress management tools and techniques are more needed than ever.  Books about stress are popular.  I came across an interesting one recently called Tech Stress, How Technology is Hijacking our lives, strategies for coping, and pragmatic ergonomics by Erik Peper, Ph.D., Richard Harvey, Ph.D., and Nancy Faass, MSW, MPH.

The description on the back of the book starts by saying –“Re-envisioning your relationship with technology to reclaim health, happiness, and sanity in a plugged-in world.”

We cannot get away from technology and probably shouldn’t want to.  Technology makes it easier to do most things faster and more efficiently.  We rely on new technology and almost forget about how we used to do things before it was available.

After reading about the Tech Stress book in Biofeedback Magazine, I quickly ordered a copy.  I have known the main author Erik Peper for over 30 years so I contacted him to congratulate him on the book and ask if he would be willing to do an interview with him about book.  He gladly accepted.  I had hoped to talk with him for ten or fifteen minutes instead we ended up talking for over fifty minutes about the topic of stress and technology and the book.

Probably the biggest source of stress caused by technology has to be cell phones.  We spend lots of time with our necks bent and our heads looking down at our cell phones.  This causes physical stress on our neck muscles because of the extra contraction required to hold the weight of our head in that position.  It causes stress on our eyes because we are spending lots of time looking at the small screen that is very close to our eyes.  Erik Peper says that it is healthier to vary the distance that our eyes focus on from close to far away throughout the day.

More info : Stress | Stress Minimizing Books

Biofeedback Training in Miami

 

This year I started a project of reaching out to all of the HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).  I want to find out if they are using biofeedback and neurofeedback.  I am interested to find out how many of them are using biofeedback and how they are using it.  If they are not already using biofeedback, I want to introduce it to them and help them begin to find out the ways it can be used.

I have started with the states closest to New York since that is where I am.  This is also where we do most of our training.  I am looking at the schools in Florida next since we have also been doing biofeedback and neurofeedback training in Miami, Florida for many years.

I looked at the list of HBCU institutions in Florida and found that there are four listed as being located in the state of Florida; Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, and Florida Memorial University in Miami.

Since the other schools are between 260 and 480 miles from Miami, I will start by contacting Florida Memorial University in Miami and then continue with contacting the other institutions.

I have been involved with providing biofeedback equipment and training and doing presentations on stress management and physiological monitoring at many colleges and universities.  The universities I have worked with include Pace, NYU, Yale, NC State, Rutgers, Brooklyn College, Denison, Drury, Otterbein, Bradley, University of Colorado, Idaho State University, Seton Hall, Fordham, Campbell, and Vanderbilt University.

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The History of Muscle Dysfunction and SEMG

 

Jeffrey R. Cram, PhD and Maya Durie, MEd, CMT

Abstract

The history of muscle pain and dysfunction is viewed through the lens of a four factor theory of histologic (tissue related) issues, psychologic (emotional) issues, sensory motor (movement) issues and biomechanical (postural) issues. The historical antecedents of both bodywork and surface electromyography are reviewed.

Key words: Surface EMG, SEMG, bodywork, trigger points, posture, emotions, movement.

Note: Parts of this article have appeared in The History of SEMG, Jour App Psychophys and Biof, In Press.

Humans have had to deal with sore muscles since the beginning of time. Initially, muscle assessments and treatments were conducted by hand and during the last century, the use of electronic instruments came into play.

To put muscle function and the clinical use of Surface electromyography (SEMG) into a perspective of history, is seems prudent to utilize a broad nomothetic net or conceptual framework. In Clinical Applications for Surface Electromyography, Kasman, Cram and Wolf (1998) consider chronic muscle dysfunction from a four fold perspective: Histologic (Tissue related issues); Psychologic (Psychophysiology and Emotions), Sensorimotor (Movement) and Mechanical Dysfunction (Cumulative Trauma, Posture etc). In this article we will provide a brief historical overview related to each of these four areas. This will provide a deep background for the emergence of the clinical use of SEMG, including information on the history of body work, psychophysiology, rehabilitation and the emergence of electricity and SEMG instrumentation.

We will begin with issues pertaining to the tissues of the body. The muscle, as an organ system, contains many sensory mechanisms. The muscle spindles tell the nervous system about the instantaneous length and force of contraction of segments of muscle tissue. The golgi tendon organ measures the actual force which the muscle is exerting and the rufini nucleus of the joints informs the nervous system of the relationship of angles of the bones. However, it is the free nerve ending within the muscle that senses local pain. And it is metabolic disturbances such as too much (lactic) acid or too much internal pressure due to swelling, congestion or edema, which activate the free nerve ending.

From a clinical point of view, up until the last two centuries, palpation and observations about movement and posture were the only tools available for assessing muscle oriented pain. Through the manual sense of touch, the practitioner can learn to feel many things. Is the muscle tissue hard to the touch? Does it feel stiff? Does it have lumps, tough fibers, etc. or is it soft, supple and relaxed? What does the fascia feel like? Is there a normal cranial-sacral rhythm? As you move the body passively through its range of motion, does it seem restricted suggesting a shortened muscle resting length? During active movement, does it appear that the body is using the correct muscles for the movement or is there a substitution pattern? Is the patient afraid of movement due to pain? Has a trauma become lodged in the nervous system or even the muscle tissue itself? Can one see or feel problems with ligament laxities or joint fixations? These are just some of the examples of questions we want to address, both by hand and by instrument. . Thus, one could think of body work as a means to help normalize the disturbance of tissue that might foster and create muscle pain and SEMG as an instrumented way of assessing some of these conditions.

More Read Info :  The History of Muscle Dysfunction and SEMG

 

The Hidden Challenge in Alcohol and Drug Abuse

“Alcohol and drugs are essential to my creative process” is a thought, sometimes a confession made, usually privately, by millions of creative people, many of them at the pinnacle of success in their fields. Yet, I have heard very little serious discussion by substance abuse professionals about the profound implications of this phenomenon.

Some say that psychoactive drugs will be with us forever and maybe they will. However, my life improved immensely and was probably saved by my liberating myself from the pleasures, enthusiastic bursts of creativity and agonies of alcohol and smoke.

In fact, our society has declared a “war” on drugs and a sort of “police action” on alcohol. Humorous, isn’t it since far more damage is done in the aggregate by alcohol than by all other drugs combined? As a society we believe that we must solve this catastrophic problem; or at least understand it enough so that we reduce the destructive pressure on our culture. Having come from a family of beautiful people who have been tragically impacted by alcohol and other drugs, I have had an intense interest in how and why this disaster happened to my dearest loves and beyond that to our civilization as a whole. What is the most effective way to heal the damage already done and reduce the problem in the future?

This led me into one of the most fascinating investigations of my life. I delved deeply into all of the conventional wisdom I could find… and I did most of my investigation while continuing to drink and smoke. I was what you call a highly functional substance abuser. In fact, my problem was never diagnosed by a professional or even a friend. I had to come to the realization that I had a substance abuse problem through self study.

Self study which involved a lot of EEG biofeedback and meditation.

In the course of these studies I had what I think is at least a relatively original insight. This insight enabled me to walk away from the substances that had become so integrated with my own intellectual, creative, even spiritual life. This personal discovery made by many millions of others before me was that I must quit all by myself. Another critical aspect of the discovery provided the burning sense of mission required to be successful as well as the realization that I must discover how to do this as though it was being done for the first time ever. The path to success came to me in a number of progressive meditative reveries.

More Read This Blog :  The Hidden Challenge in Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Neurofeedback Training For Traumatic Brain Injury

 

Brain injuries can be caused in many different ways.  Whether they are diagnosed or not can depend on how severe they are, where they happen, who is around when they happen, and whether the injured person seeks medical care.  Some of the sources of brain injuries include car accidents, sports injuries, slip and falls, physical fights and assaults among other things.  When the brain is injured the electrical activity and function of the brain is affected.  Biofeedback training Miami is a way to help to normalize the electrical activity of the brain which in turn helps improve function.

Some of the problems that may develop with a head injury include problems with memory, difficulty focusing, anger, and diminished self-control.    Some of these problems are similar to what normal teenagers struggle with.  This is often attributed to incomplete development of the front of the brain.

Interestingly, many people who suffer these symptoms also show abnormal EEG when tested with neurofeedback equipment.  One of the patterns that is common is high amplitude delta and theta in the frontal areas of the brain.  This seems to interfere with normal functioning and can be part of the cause of some of the symptoms.  By using neurofeedback equipment to measure and feedback EEG information on a computer screen clients can learn to regulate their brain activity.  After a series of training the EEG is often normalized and symptoms decreased.

Besides rest, there are relatively few effective treatments for brain injury.  Neurofeedback training seems to be a good non-invasive therapy for brain injury.

How does it work?  Sensors are placed on the patient’s head.  These sensors measure the electrical activity that is produced by the brain as it transmits signals across neurons.  The electrical signal is separated into the different frequencies which include Delta, Theta, Alpha, SMR (Sensory Motor Rhythm), Beta, and Gamma.  The signals are displayed on a computer screen.  Goals are set for each frequency that we want to reduce or increase.  Visual and or auditory feedback is presented when the goals are met that signal the brain that it is producing the desired pattern.   In the case of brain injury when there is excess delta and theta activity the feedback would be given when the power in these frequency ranges decreases.  Over time this tends to improve the symptoms.  Depending on the type of protocol, frequency of sessions, and the individual anywhere from 10 to 40 or more sessions of neurofeedback training might be needed to achieve lasting results.

Increasing numbers of medical and mental healthcare providers are beginning to offer this as a service to their clients.

Harry L. Campbell

President, Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

More Info Click Here :  Neurofeedback Training For Traumatic Brain Injury

Neurofeedback Training in Florida

 

Florida is an important place for neurofeedback.  It is the home of the Florida Biofeedback Society which is based in Boynton Beach, Florida.  This is one of the most active biofeedback organizations in the nation.  It is a resource for potential clients looking for biofeedback and neurofeedback providers.  The website is  http://www.floridabiofeedback.org/  They also have workshops where providers can receive training and continuing education credit.  The Florida Biofeedback Society offers a membership that includes a subscription to its Florida Biofeedback publication, networking opportunities, as well as other perks.

Applied Neurosciences Inc. is an EEG software company based in Saint Petersburg, Florida.   They develop software for clinical and research applications of EEG including brain mapping and neurofeedback training.  The company was founded by Robert Thatcher.  Their flagship software product is the NeuroGuide software program.  It is one of the most known and important software programs in the neurofeedback field.  Many neurofeedback practitioners use NeuroGuide and other Applied Neurosciences software.

There are many drug treatment centers in Florida partly due to the continuing opioid problems there.  Neurofeedback is also used as a therapy for substance abuse.  Although only some centers currently offer neurofeedback, I expect that more of these centers will be offering this service.

Florida is a popular retirement destination.  Incontinence is a problem that many older people suffer with.  Biofeedback is an excellent therapeutic intervention for incontinence.  Its efficacy is highly rated.

Many older people are also concerned with loss of cognitive function and memory.  Neurofeedback is effective for improving cognitive function and shows promise in the area of memory because of its ability to stimulate neuronal connections.

Another important connection between biofeedback and Florida is Dr. Bernie Brucker.  He was the director of the Brucker Biofeedback Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.  He served as past president of the Academy of Rehabilitation Psychology, past President of the State of Florida Brain and Spinal Injury Advisory Council Association, and president of the Academy of Rehabilitation Psychology and the Florida Brain Injury Association.  He was known for using surface EMG biofeedback and operant condition protocols for helping people with paralysis and other disorders, regain muscle function in Southern Florida.

As you can see, neurofeedback and biofeedback training are well established and important in the state of Florida.  I am looking fo biofeedback training rward to continuing to help people get started in learning these skills by offering training in the area.  Training opportunities are posted at www.biofeedbackinternational.comas well as www.bcia.org

Harry L. Campbell

914-762-4646 – Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

More Info :  Neurofeedback Training in Florida

Neurofeedback Equipment Applications

 

What is neurofeedback equipment used for?  It is used for assessment, clinical therapy, and performance enhancement/peak performance.  There is also medical EEG equipment that is used diagnostically without the purpose of using the EEG measurement therapeutically.  I will not be addressing medical EEG equipment in this article.  Neurofeedback means that the EEG is being measured and the data fed back to the subject in a way that they can learn to regulate the activity.

There are a variety of devices from ones that measure from one location on the head to ones that measure up to 32 or more locations on the brain.  The ones with 19 or more channels are designed for doing brain mapping.  During this process, EEG data is recorded from 19 or more sites.  The accompanying software compares the data to that from a normative database to determine which locations have “normal” activity and which have an activity that is 1, 2, 3, or more standard deviations lower or higher than normal.  This information, along with information from a client intake, is used to determine if dysregulated EEG activity is associated with presenting symptoms.  A protocol is recommended or developed to then train the brain using the neurofeedback equipment to a more regulated state with the hopes of decreasing symptoms.

The follow-up neurofeedback training sessions may be done with the same 19 or more channel systems or equipment with fewer channels.  Even 1 channel can be used to train EEG activity to change in a single area.  Some other protocols require 2-4 channels so that the left and right and or front and back of the brain can be trained at the same time.  19 or more channels may be trained so that the entire brain is trained including certain networks, or different areas that work together can be trained together.

Examples of the clinical applications of neurofeedback equipment include ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder), Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia, TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and Substance Abuse.

Examples of non-clinical peak performance/performance enhancement applications include improving cognitive function for academic performance, reducing test anxiety for academic performance, reducing anxiety and improving focus for sports or other types of performance, and using neurofeedback equipment as an aid for helping people to get into a meditative state by monitoring brain wave activity and giving feedback when the brain is in a meditative state and when it is not.

Harry L. Campbell

914-762-4646 – Harry@biofeedbackinternational.com

Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com

Biofeedback Resources International Corp.

www.biofeedbackinternational.com

More info :   Neurofeedback Equipment Applications

Performance/life Enhancement Training Integrating Biofeedback with Special Emphasis on Neurofeedback

 

R. Adam Crane BCIA Senior Fellow, BCIAEEG, NRNP Diplomate

This is an edited excerpt from our forthcoming book, The Process, and given as a talk at the Palm Springs Neurofeedback conference in February 1998.

I’m Adam Crane, president of American BioTec and CapScan corporations. We have decided to substantially increase our commitment to the emerging art and science of Peak Performance, Optimum Functioning, or as we prefer to call it Performance / Life Enhancement. We have introduced the term MindFitness which we believe will work well as informal language for the general public. BioFeedback and especially NeuroFeedback is a critically important component of our first program, which is called The Process- MindFitness- Stage I .

We believe that NeuroFeedback provides a niche opportunity in the MindFitness, sub clinical symptom, educational market for those practitioners ready and able to enhance their own lives by making a place for themselves in this already huge and growing field. Those of you who want to get into the nitty gritty of our program, The Process, can come to our workshop or even better our three-day training program in June. But the purpose of this talk is to try to overview the big picture together and perhaps suggest some ways we can improve cooperation, creativity and productivity in our field.

As we enter this adventure of the mind (body & spirit) one of the earliest challenges we face is communication – what we really mean with each other. There already exists and is evolving both a formal and an informal language. The better we understand and use that language the more the phenomenon of intelligence unfolds in our own individual lives and like a stone hitting the water spreads in waves touching the lives of others. In some cases igniting these concepts in their minds, in other cases adding fuel to a flame already begun. For me the term Peak Performance refers to a subset of what we are so excited about. I prefer the admittedly awkward / double barreled term of Performance/Life Enhancement . Optimum Functioning has a nice feel to it as well, but for this talk let’s adopt Performance Life Enhancement or MindFitness. The director of the Center for Performance Enhancement at West Point military academy recently joined our faculty. Note they have been using the term Performance Enhancement for many years.

I’m sure everyone in this room already understands there is something extraordinary emerging out of the marriage of MindFitness and sublclinical symptoms with NeuroFeedback. It is also clear that we are all doing rather different versions of it. Frankly, I believe our version, dubbed The Process, may be self limiting because we are extremely aggressive about making it as heuristic a program as possible (define) and we have some unusual ideas about the role that winning and competition play in determining quality of life. We define heuristic as the method in which the learners discover for themselves while reducing dependence on past experience and outside authority to the minimum wisdom deems necessary.

Now, we think we can adapt our program to a number of different markets (Business, Education, Sports, Art and Personal Growth) and still stay true to heuristic principles but the proof is in the doing. Rob Kall challenged me to outline our two-hour workshop in one paragraph and although we go much further than this.

That paragraph reads:

1. Garfield is correct, the most important thing is a sense of mission. NeuroFeedback can play a powerful role in the alignment of that sense of mission with highest personal values. This adds power.
2. MindFitness is already a substantial industry. NeuroFeedback is adjunctive and provides a niche opportunity if used extremely skillfully. We are tiny tree frogs ambitiously contemplating conquering the sea.
3. One of the critical keys to success in this field is a training program that stands on its own with or without NeuroFeedback. Being forced to walk the talk is an uncomfortable blessing of infinite potential.
4. MindFitness transcends the limitations of managed care and attracts trendsetters thereby feeding the clinical practice at the same time.
5. The NeuroFeedback component of Performance Life Enhancement requires more training time than clinical NeuroFeedback. Therefore, equipment and per capita training costs must dramatically decrease in order to reach more of the population. This means group training and quality personal trainers.

The purpose of this brief talk is to share with you our view of the big picture and some sense of the underpinnings of our model. Some of these thoughts may be repeated in the workshop since a number of the people coming to the workshop are not with us today. Our view of the best way to deliver The Process is to script the entire 20 hour program… i.e. so many minutes for this concept or exercise, etc

More info :  Performance/life Enhancement Training Integrating Biofeedback with Special Emphasis on Neurofeedback

Slow Waves, Profound Attention, a Compass for the Gifted Thinker

 Presentation at 2nd Annual SSNR Meet Las Vegas May 1994

The late Edward’s Deming is arguably the most inspiring statistical engineer and business thinker of the century. He introduced the term “Profound Knowledge” in order to differentiate between the kind of knowledge which really breeds quality and healthy growth and far less effective even counter productive forms of knowledge.

The historian Oswald Spengler said that a hypothesis does not have to be absolutely correct as long as it is useful. A number of people have told me they consider the following hypothesis useful.

This hypothesis holds that thought is matter and (like movies) thinking is a material process and an image making process based on memory. Furthermore, high order, what could be termed the capability for “Profound Attention” is probably the most important asset a human being can have.

The Capacity for “Profound Attention” can in many if not most human beings be enhanced. This enhanced, “Profound Attention” carries with it the capability of conscious observation of thought and the implications of this are that this ability to watch oneself think is the healthiest possible way to manage and improve the quality of thought. This observation itself is a kind of “field”. Einstein said, “The field is the soul governing agency of the particles”. In this case the particles are thought. The implication follows that one of the most effective ways in the history of learning to enhance this “Profound Attention” and improve the quality of thought is slow wave, relatively synchronous Neurofeedback training.

This hypothesis further asserts that as cartographers of consciousness, we are now being forced to define much more carefully terms that have hitherto been taken far too much for granted. We must now come to much more precise definitions of intelligence, thinking, imagery which transcends thinking, attention, etc in order to clarify what we really want to reach for.

If the ancients (and many of the modern masters) are correct and the problem is that psychothenia, over thinking, “unconscious” or unobserved thinking is the fundamental barrier to the natural intelligence and creativity latent in humans and if it is true that in most “normals” slow wave (ALPHA/THETA) but mostly mid-range ALPHA training can enhance the ability to profoundly attend to internal (thought, archetypical imagery, etc) and external phenomena simultaneously, in real time, then indeed ALPHA/THETA Neurofeedback, skillfully managed is one of the most valuable educational tools ever developed.

More info :  Slow Waves, Profound Attention, a Compass for the Gifted Thinker