What is Biofeedback?

Biofeedback is a technique you can use to learn to control some of your body's functions, such as your heart rate, breathing rate, and temperature. During biofeedback, you're connected to electrical sensors that help you receive information about your body and are given instant feedback to help you subconsciously correct and control your body’s actions.

This feedback helps you make subtle changes in your body to achieve the results you want, such as reducing pain, reducing anxiety, conquering panic attacks, and mastering day to day functions. In essence, biofeedback gives you the ability to practice new ways to control your body, often to improve a health condition, physical performance, or mental health disorder.

How Does Biofeedback Work?

During a biofeedback session, electrodes are attached to your skin (Finger sensors can also be used). These electrodes/sensors send signals to a monitor, which displays a sound, flash of light, or image that represents your heart and breathing rate, blood pressure, skin temperature, sweating, or muscle activity.

When you're under stress, these functions change. Your heart rate speeds up, your muscles tighten, your blood pressure rises, you start to sweat, and your breathing quickens. You can see these stress responses as they happen on the monitor, and then get immediate feedback as you try to stop them.

A biofeedback therapist helps you practice relaxation exercises, which you fine-tune to control different body functions. For example, you might use a relaxation technique to turn down the brainwaves that activate when you have a headache.

As you slow your heart rate, lower your blood pressure, and ease muscle tension, you'll get instant feedback on the screen. Eventually, you'll learn how to control these functions on your own, without the biofeedback equipment.




What Does Biofeedback Treat?

  • By helping you identify tight muscles and then learn to relax those muscles, biofeedback may help relieve the discomfort of conditions like low back pain, abdominal pain, temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ), and fibromyalgia. For pain relief, biofeedback can benefit people of all ages, from children to older adults.

  • Headaches are one of the best-studied biofeedback uses. Muscle tension and stress can trigger migraines and other types of headaches, and can make headache symptoms worse. There is good evidence that biofeedback therapy can relax muscles and ease stress to reduce both the frequency and severity of headaches. Biofeedback seems to be especially beneficial for headaches when it's combined with medications.

  • Anxiety relief is one of the most common uses of biofeedback. Biofeedback lets you become more aware of your body's responses when you're stressed and anxious. Then you can learn how to control those responses.

  • Evidence on the use of biofeedback for high blood pressure has been mixed. Although the technique does seem to lower blood pressure slightly, biofeedback isn't as effective as medication for blood pressure control.

    • Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

    • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

    • High blood pressure

    • Raynaud's disease

    • Injury

    • Asthma

    • Constipation

    • Epilepsy

    • Rheumatoid arthritis

Is biofeedback right for me?

Complete our pre-screening form to see if Biofeedback is right for you. Someone from the Enhanced Edge team will reach out in 24-48 business hours.

What are the risks with biofeedback?

In over 50 years of usage, no long-term negative effects have ever been identified with neurofeedback training. Sometimes a person may notice a short-term increase in symptoms as the brain adjusts to a new pattern. This increase in symptoms usually goes away rapidly on its own or can be minimized easily by a trained clinician’s adjustment of the treatment protocol.

How many sessions does it take to see results?

Changes to the brain typically happen slowly and over time. For that reason, it can take many sessions to achieve long-term changes in symptoms and brain functioning. Like all forms of exercise and therapy, it’s best to do biofeedback training on a regular schedule, usually 2-3 times a week.

-To determine response to treatment: Most systems may take between 10 - 20 sessions before a patient can tell if treatment is helping.

-To consolidate long-term benefits: 30-40 sessions are typically recommended for all systems. For more complicated conditions, more sessions may be needed.

Are biofeedback training results long lasting?

Yes. In the same way you learned a new skill like driving a car, our patients finish their treatment regimen and do not typically need to return. However, some people opt to continue periodically as a “tune-up” or return later on to address new challenges.

How does biofeedback help in the long-term?

Since we teach techniques to help you learn to control your body’s response to stress and pain, you will be able to use these skills in other parts of your life.

Does biofeedback interefere with current medications?

No. We encourage you to continue taking any medications recommended by your physician. Over time, we will work with you and your prescribing physician to determine if you may be able to reduce or eliminate medications, based on your results.

Can biofeedback eliminate the need for medications?

Yes. After undergoing biofeedback training you may find you need less medication or are able to discontinue it altogether, in concert with your physician.

What ages can benefit from biofeedback?

Biofeedback can help adults of any age and children as young as three.

How much does biofeedback cost?

When it comes to the brain, every brain is different, and every case is unique. Generally speaking, brain training sessions are comparable to or less than the average cost of counseling or other therapies.

Visit the pricing page on the website for more information.

Is biofeedback covered by insurance?

Enhanced Edge does not accept insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid, and we request payment at the time of service.

However, some insurers do reimburse for our services, but reimbursement depends on your plan and whether it offers out-of-network coverage for behavioral health. If so, we encourage you to file a claim (we are an out-of-network facility). Feel free to contact us if you have any questions on the reimbursement process.

Enhanced Edge offers interest free financing options through the CARE Credit Healthcare credit card. Please contact us for more information.