A COMPREHENSIVE MIND AND BODY PROGRAM FOR HEALING AND MANAGING PAIN

Pain occurs for many reasons. It may be an injury, an illness or the accumulated toll of everyday stress, tension and lack of sleep. When you engage in certain physical movements repeatedly it can cause specific muscles to become fatigued. Over time, this can lead to tissue damage and pain. Whatever the initial cause, pain is maintained or worsened by any imbalance in the body; be it physical, or emotional!

Injury and pain by itself can cause muscle bracing which increases tension, and metabolic activity. This bracing becomes automatic. It directly affects pain levels. Furthermore, this process impacts blood flow, and the body's ability to heal itself.

A frequent companion to pain is poor sleep causing fatigue, and an impaired ability of the body to repair itself. Sleep problems also affect how the brain functions leading to emotional difficulties, including depression.

Stress, as well as emotions, cause an increase in muscle tension and nerve excitation. This further affects the experience of pain.

The program gives the patient new tools to interrupt and reverse this cycle of pain, tension, insomnia, depression and fatigue. Biofeedback technology displays levels of body tension and arousal on a monitor. This helps the patient develop a fine awareness of their unconscious holding. Also, for the first time, the patient makes the connection between his or her thoughts and feelings and changes in tension levels in the body.

Biofeedback teaches strategies for relaxation. As the patient follows the instructions, changes in tension are reflected on the monitor, giving immediate feedback as to the effectiveness of his or her behavior. Whenever a reduction in tension is noted on the monitor, the patient is more likely
to repeat this behavior, further reducing tension. In
this method of bio-feedback, the patient begins to learn how to lower tension levels. Through ongoing practice it becomes easier to lower tension. For some pain patients this is the first sense of success, which helps restore hope and reduce depression.

Along with biofeedback, negative stress is also addressed. As noted above, stress impacts levels of tension and pain. It impacts sleep and the body's ability to recuperate. Patients learn to eliminate some stresses from their lives and to have more appropriate reactions to other stresses. The three variables of stress are addressed: intensity, frequency and duration of the stress response.

Treatment incorporates neurofeedback, in which brain waves referred to as EEG, are monitored. There are certain brain wave frequencies that are associated with different attentional and excitatory states. Through the reinforcement of certain brain wave frequencies, brain mechanisms of pain and relaxation are also addressed.

Chronic pain results in the creation of habitual patterns of behavior - and in the EEG - that tend to perpetuate the pain itself. Thus, even after relaxing or focusing on a muscle area, that muscle will go right back to the holding mode. Neurofeedback addresses the representation of these chronic patterns in the brain.

By using a cueing system, the program helps the patient transfer relaxation and other skills learned in the office, to real life situations.

For some stressful situations, a procedure referred to as desensitization is employed. This combines deep levels of relaxation with the visualization of various stresses. By associating the stress with the state of relaxation, it loses some of its ability to cause tension and pain.

For information call Dr. Sideroff at 310-828-1113


Dr. Sideroff is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA's School of Medicine. He is a Qualified Medical Evaluator and Certified Biofeedback Therapist. He was Founder and Clinical Director of Stress Strategies of Santa Monica Hospital and on the Board of Directors, Biofeedback Society of California. 1998-2002

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