What is Electromyographic Biofeedback?

Electromyographic biofeedback is a technique that uses precise instruments to measure electrical activity in muscles. This information can be used to help patients learn control over muscle tension, which is normally an automatic and unconscious process. By using electromyographic feedback through numerous sessions, a patient learns to consciously control muscle tension in order to relieve pain. It is especially effective for pain that is associated with stress, such as tension headaches.

What Conditions Can Be Treated with Electromyographic Feedback?

Electromyographic biofeedback is effective for treating a number of disorders. Therapeutic applications of EMG biofeedback include:

·         Chronic headaches, especially tension headaches

·         Temporomandibular and dental pain

·         Tender point pain in fibromyalgia patients

·         Stress-induced tension in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

How is Electromyographic Biofeedback Carried Out?

During an electromyographic biofeedback session, surface electrodes are placed on the skin over the relevant muscle areas. These electrodes act as sensors, detecting the action potentials that appear when muscles are contracted. The EMG machine provides “feedback”, in the form of a representation of the action potentials’ strengths and patterns. Using this information, electromyographic biofeedback sessions train patients to learn to control muscle contraction.

Learning to relax the muscles at will can be a difficult process. Electromyographic biofeedback therapy is generally carried out in a series of 10 to 24 sessions. The initial session is often kept short, with subsequent sessions increasing in duration. After a session is completed, doctors ask the patients to give a self-report of perceived relaxation, muscle tension, and pain, generally on a scale of 1-10.

In order for electromyographic biofeedback therapy to be effective, it is important for a patient to feel relaxed. During EMG biofeedback sessions, patients are coached to use relaxation strategies, including:

·         Imagining relaxing scenery

·         Repeating relaxing phrases

·         Slow, deep, rhythmic breathing

·         Focusing on, and becoming more aware of, the particular sensations of tightness versus relaxation in the muscles

·         Clearing the mind completely

Electromyographic biofeedback therapy has been shown to effect lasting changes within the brain that persist long after the treatment is completed. Over time, the patient can develop the ability to increase and decrease muscle tension at will, even without feedback from the EMG equipment.