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Biofeedback is a way to help people learn to control their own body responses. It can be used to help improve body functions that aren't under our normal (voluntary) control. This includes things like heart rate, blood pressure, and skin temperature.
But it can also be used to help train or retrain the muscles. Injury, disease, or surgery can get the sensory-motor loops out of balance. Biofeedback helps restore messages between the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system.
A new type of noninvasive feedback is available now to rehab specialists. It's called rehabilitative ultrasound imaging (RUSI). The therapist uses a transducer or soundhead over the skin. Using sound waves, an image of the deep muscles of the trunk is projected onto a screen or monitor. By seeing this image, the patient is able to contract and hold the muscle. This is done during specific activities or movements.
Over time, the goal is to be able to control the muscle without relying on the RUSI to show that the muscle is contracting. Feedback of this type can help improve motor control and motor performance.
Studies show that biofeedback with selected deep muscles of the trunk and spine can decrease pain. Patients who have participated in this type of rehab program have fewer repeat episodes of low back pain, too.
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