Showing posts with label headache. Show all posts
Showing posts with label headache. Show all posts
Biofeedback: Using your mind to improve your health
By Mayo Clinic staff
Have you ever wished you could simply will your symptoms to disappear? With biofeedback you may be able to do just that by harnessing the power of your mind to help improve your health.
Biofeedback defined
Why it's done
Biofeedback may appeal to you for several reasons:
Risks of biofeedback
What you can expect
Types of biofeedback
Finding a biofeedback therapist
Results of biofeedback
SA00083
Jan. 25, 2008
By Mayo Clinic staff
Have you ever wished you could simply will your symptoms to disappear? With biofeedback you may be able to do just that by harnessing the power of your mind to help improve your health.
Biofeedback defined
Biofeedback is a type of complementary and alternative medicine called mind-body therapy. It's designed to enable you — in mind-over-matter fashion — to use your thoughts and will to control your body. Biofeedback is based on the idea, confirmed by scientific studies, that people have the innate potential to influence with their minds many of the automatic, involuntary functions of their bodies.
To help you develop this ability, a biofeedback specialist uses signals from special monitoring equipment to teach you to control certain body functions and their responses, such as:
- Brain activity
- Blood pressure
- Muscle tension
- Heart rate
- Skin temperature
- Sweat gland activity
You can use biofeedback to help treat many physical and mental health problems when you've learned to recognize and control these functions and responses.
Biofeedback can be particularly useful in treating stress-related conditions, and clinical trials are evaluating it in the treatment of many other conditions, including:
- Asthma
- Headaches
- Hot flashes
- Raynaud's disease
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy
- Irregular heartbeats (cardiac arrhythmias)
- Chronic low back pain
- Chronic constipation
- High blood pressure
- Incontinence
- Epilepsy
Biofeedback may appeal to you for several reasons:
- It may reduce, or even eliminate, your need for medication.
- It has the potential to help conditions that have not responded to medication.
- It helps put you in charge of your own healing by providing measurable feedback, which allows you to monitor your progress and learning.
- It may decrease your medical costs.
Risks of biofeedback
Biofeedback is generally considered safe. It should generally not be used, however, if you have depression, psychosis, or another major mental health disorder. Biofeedback can potentially interfere with some medications, such as insulin, so patients with diabetes should exercise extra caution. Talk to your doctor to see whether biofeedback therapy is an appropriate treatment for you.
What you can expect
You can receive biofeedback training in physical therapy clinics, medical centers and hospitals. A growing number of feedback devices and programs are being marketed for home use as well. But working with a therapist, initially, may provide the best long-term results.
Preparation depends on the type of biofeedback therapy used. A typical biofeedback session lasts 30 to 60 minutes. The length and number of sessions will be determined by your condition and how quickly you learn to control your physical responses.
During a biofeedback session, a therapist will apply electrical sensors to different parts of your body. These sensors will monitor your body's physiological response to stress — for instance, your muscle contraction during a tension headache — then feed the information back to you via cues such as a beeping sound or a flashing light. The feedback will allow you to begin to associate your body's response — in this case, headache pain — with certain physical functions, such as your muscles tensing.
Once you begin to recognize that your headache is a result of tense muscles, the next step is to learn how to invoke positive physical changes in your body, such as relaxing those specific muscles, when your body is physically or mentally stressed. Your eventual goal will be to produce these responses on your own, outside the therapist's office and without the help of technology.
Types of biofeedback
Your therapist may use several different techniques to gather information about your body's responses. Determining the one that's right for you will depend on your particular health problems and objectives. Machines and techniques include:
Electromyogram (EMG). An EMG uses electrodes or other types of sensors to measure muscle tension. By the EMG alerting you to muscle tension, you can learn to recognize the feeling early on and try to control the tension right away. EMG is mainly used to promote the relaxation of those muscles involved in backaches, headaches, neck pain and grinding your teeth (bruxism). An EMG may be used to treat some illnesses in which the symptoms tend to worsen under stress, such as asthma and ulcers.
Temperature biofeedback. Sensors attached to your fingers or feet measure your skin temperature. Because your temperature often drops when you're under stress, a low reading can prompt you to begin relaxation techniques. Temperature biofeedback can help treat certain circulatory disorders, such as Raynaud's disease, or reduce the frequency of headaches.
Galvanic skin response training. Sensors measure the activity of your sweat glands and the amount of perspiration on your skin, alerting you to anxiety. This information can be useful in treating emotional disorders such as phobias, anxiety and stuttering.
Electroencephalogram (EEG). An EEG monitors the activity of brain waves linked to different mental states, such as wakefulness, relaxation, calmness, light sleep and deep sleep. EEG may be used to treat insomnia, epilepsy and other neurological disorders.
Look for a qualified therapist if you decide to try biofeedback. Many biofeedback therapists are licensed in another area of health care — for instance, as a registered nurse or physical therapist — and may work under the guidance of a doctor. Some biofeedback therapists attain certification from the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America (BCIA). You may obtain a list of names of people in your area who have been certified by the BCIA by contacting the organization.
Gather information about each of the potential therapists you identify prior to making an appointment. Ask the therapists to provide references, whether they are licensed in biofeedback or another health care field, and what experience they have treating your specific condition and symptoms. If you can't find a BCIA-certified therapist in your area, ask your doctor or another health professional with knowledge of biofeedback therapy to recommend someone who has experience treating your condition. Check, too, on whether your health insurer will cover the cost of treatment.
Experts aren't entirely sure how the biofeedback therapy works. Many people who've tried it can't explain how they're able to control their bodies, yet experience improvement in their symptoms. Biofeedback may enable you to reduce the amount of medication you take, or even help a condition that hasn't responded well to medication.
Keep a daily diary to monitor your use of the treatment as well as how you feel before, during and after the therapy to assess whether biofeedback is effective in treating your particular symptoms. By learning to control your involuntary body functions, biofeedback may improve your medical condition and teach you valuable techniques for living a healthier life.
SA00083
Jan. 25, 2008
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Betel leave
Botanical name: Piper Betle
a.k.a Betel Pepper
Piper sermentosum syn. Chavia sermentosum
F. Piperaceae
Description
Ingredients
Benefits
Precautions
References:
http://www.instah.com/herbs/health-benefits-of-betel-leaf/
http://herbs.ygoy.com/health-benefits-of-betel-leaves/
http://www.herbsarespecial.com.au/free-herb-information/betel-leaf.html
http://www.nzhealth.net.nz/herbs/coriander.shtml
http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/betel_leaf.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betel
Botanical name: Piper Betle
a.k.a Betel Pepper
Piper sermentosum syn. Chavia sermentosum
F. Piperaceae
Betel is a leaf of the vine that belongs to Piperaceae family which includes kava and pepper. It is a mild stimulant and has medicinal properties. It is a creeper and is evergreen. It has glossy leaves that are heart-shaped as well as white catkin. It originated from the South as well as South East Asia (Sri Lanka and India).
In Urdu, Bengali and Hindi, the betel leaf is known as Paan. Being a creeper it requires a pole or a compatible tree to grow. Fertile as well a high lands are best for cultivating betel leaves. Saline, waterlogged and alkaline soils are good for growing this plant.
Betel plant is slender and aromatic, which roots at the nodes.
Description
A green leafy vine growing as a ground cover or small climber, very similar in growth habits to pepper. The betel leaf plant is a branching vine (that may climb as high as 10-15ft) although it often grows as an understory ground cover.
Ingredients
- Protein (3.1%)
- Fat (0.8%)
- Minerals (2.3%)
- Fiber (2.3 %)
- Carbohydrates (6.1%)
- Calcium
- Riboflavin
- Carotene
- Niacin
- Thiamine
- Vitamin
- Sugar
- Tannins
- Diastases
- Also contains essential oil
Benefits
- The never-ending list of health properties of betel leaves is about as long and intriguing as the River Ganges. In Ayurvedic medicine (that holistic system of healing that originated in India some 3,000 to 5,000 years ago) the leaves are said to be an aphrodisiac (of course they are) and a breath freshener, which clearly helps in the amorous department
- Beyond the bedroom, betel leaf has been used since ancient times as an aromatic stimulant and anti-flatulent.
- In India, the betel leaf is used as a suppository to cast out worms.
- In Indonesia it is said to rid a warm body of Candida, blemishes and mouth ulcers and is praised for its digestive powers.
- Betel leaf juice is credited with diuretic properties. Its juice, mixed with dilute milk and sweetened slightly, helps in easing urination.
- Betel leaves are beneficial in the treatment of nervous pains, nervous exhaustion and debility. The juice of a few betel leaves, with a teaspoon of honey, will serve as a good tonic. A teaspoon of this can be taken twice a day.
- The betel leaf has analgesic and cooling properties. It can be applied with beneficial results over the painful area to relieve intense headache.
- Consumption of betel leaves instantly relieves Constipation.
- Applied locally, betel leaves are beneficial in the treatment of inflammation such as arthritis.
- Betel leaves can be used to heal wounds. The juice of a few leaves should be extracted and applied on the wound. Then a betel leaf should be wrapped over and bandaged. The wound will heal up with a single application within 2 days.
- The herb is also an effective remedy for boils. A leaf is gently warmed till it gets softened, and is then coated with a layer of castor oil. The oiled leaf is spread over the inflamed part. This leaf has to be replaced, every few hours. After a few applications, the boil will rupture draining all the purulent matter. The application can be made at night and removed in the morning.
- A hot poultice of the leaves or their juice mixed with some bland oil such as refined coconut oil can be applied to the loins with beneficial results in lumbago.
- Betel leaves are beneficial in pulmonary affection in childhood and old age. The leaves, soaked in mustered oil and warmed, may be applied to the chest to relieve cough and difficulty in breathing.
Precautions
Cancer of the mouth and lips has been found to be more frequent in areas where the betel chewing habit is widely prevalent. Other ill-effects of pan-chewing like dyspepsia, cancer of the tongue and cheeks have also been observed amongst excessive chewers.
References:
http://www.instah.com/herbs/health-benefits-of-betel-leaf/
http://herbs.ygoy.com/health-benefits-of-betel-leaves/
http://www.herbsarespecial.com.au/free-herb-information/betel-leaf.html
http://www.nzhealth.net.nz/herbs/coriander.shtml
http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/betel_leaf.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betel
Labels:
arthritis,
benefits,
betel leaves,
colon cleanser,
diarrhea,
facts,
headache,
herbs,
nervous,
preparation
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