What's Biofeedback Therapy (and how is Neuro Therapy different)?

Several of our clients have recently asked how Neuro Therapy is different than something else they had heard about, biofeedback therapy.  If they had that question, I thought some of you may also be interested in learning more about the differences between the two.
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In some ways, Neuro Therapy is similar to biofeedback, but in other ways it is very different.

When the body is under stress, the following response can occur:  increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, aches and pains, increased muscle tension, inflammation, and decreased recovery rates.  Sometimes, the nervous system can get stuck in the "stressed state", even when there's no true threat, causing this response to last longer than necessary (i.e. persistent pain).  ​

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Both biofeedback and Neuro Therapy aim to re-train the nervous system's response to stress, but in slightly different ways.  

Biofeedback therapy basically consists of two things:

-A quantitative measurement of your body's stress (ex:  blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, etc)
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-Manual techniques to bring these measurements into a more normal range

As an example, you might sit in front of a computer screen (above) that is showing a readout of your blood pressure.  Your biofeedback instructor might teach you a specific breathing technique to help you relax the nervous system and bring your blood pressure down.  The data on the screen would help you see whether or not the breathing technique is working.

Over time, and with consistent practice, your body may learn to relax the nervous system, helping to control blood pressure better, even when you're not using the breathing technique.

By providing a visual readout of data, it gives you and your nervous system the ability, consciously and subconsciously, to learn how to control the parameter (even under stress).. really cool stuff!

From a high level overview, Neuro Therapy works in a very similar way. We are also re-training the nervous system to respond differently to stress.  

The biggest difference is that we are not using a visual readout that provides quantitative data.  Rather, we are using your qualitative response to the stress (how intensely you are feeling the current).  See the video below for a visual of how/why the body responds differently from a qualitative standpoint.

We then use movement/exercises to help the body to start re-interpreting this stress (the current) and re-train the nervous system to stay relaxed, even under stressful conditions and positions.  

Simply put, biofeedback allows you to visualize the stress response through data, while Neuro Therapy allows you to simultaneously feel and control the stress response.

In both cases, the goal is to transition the nervous system from being stuck in that "stressed state" (which can be a contributor to persistent pain) to a more relaxed state, which minimizes persistent pain and promotes tissue recovery.

More questions about Neuro Therapy or biofeedback therapy?   Shoot me an email at:

[email protected]

​or comment below!

Local to the Towson, Lutherville-Timonium,
Cockeysville, or Hunt Valley area?

CLICK TO REFER
FRIENDS & FAMILY

Friends & Family receive a FREE
Discovery Session at Premier!