Biofeedback therapy helps individuals learn to control physiological functions ranging from blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and brain activities and therefore can offer benefits to a variety of health conditions. Listed below are conditions that have shown improvement with the use of biofeedback therapy.

• Asthma: Evidence has linked acute and chronic asthma with anxiety and emotional stress. Therefore, benefits can be received from biofeedback therapies stressing the relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing. A study by Lehrer (2004) from the Robert Johnson Wood Medical School, found that biofeedback reduced dependence on steroid medications. Click here for more information on biofeedback and asthma.
  
• Binge Eating and Obesity: The obesity epidemic in America is a problem with many root causes. One of these causes has been linked to stress and binge eating. Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is a relatively newly defined classification of eating disorder. This condition is highly correlated with stress and anxiety. A study by Kristeller (1999) from Indiana State University on meditation and binge eating found that by integrating the practice of meditation into the lifestyles of BED sufferers, their binges were reduced from an average of 4 per week to 1 per week. Furthermore, participants of this study noticed improved mindfulness, perceived control of eating, awareness of hunger and satiety cues, as well as reduced anxiety and depression. Click here for more information on meditation and binge eating.
  
• Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease: Stress is directly associated to hypertension which is directly associated to cardiovascular disease. These interrelated conditions can all receive benefits from biofeedback. A study by Yucha (2001) from the University of Florida College of Nursing showed that biofeedback lead to a 6.7 reduction in systolic blood pressure and a 4.8 reduction in diastolic blood pressure. These reductions are enough to take an individual with a low risk back to the healthy category. Click here for more information on biofeedback and hypertension.  
  
• Headaches and Jaw Pain: Biofeedback has been known to reduce frequency and duration of headaches in children and adults. For migraine headaches, thermal biofeedback and a process called hand warming are often used. Tension headaches can be benefited by the use of electromyography (EMG). Jaw pain can be treated if the problem is rooted in the muscles associated with the jaw, but not the jaw itself.  Use of these biofeedback devices is often facilitated by relaxation exercises. Click here for more information on hand warming and migraines.
  
• Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): The most successful type of biofeedback treatment for this condition is neurotherapy or using an electroencephalogram (EEG). Neurotherapy measures brainwave activity and allows patients to learn to redirect brainwave activity in order to increase alertness and behavioral control and decrease daydreaming and loss of focus. To create this change in brainwave activity participants play computerized games in which actions are performed when the patient stimulates certain parts of their brain. The goal is for the participants to eventually learn how to redirect these brain waves themselves. A study by Monastra (2005) found that from past research about 75% of patients respond to biofeedback treatments like these. Click here for more on EEG and ADHD.  
• Incontinence: Biofeedback therapy has been very successful in the area of women with stress urinary incontinence. A study by Neumann (2006) found that 73% of women were cured from biofeedback and 97% had improvement in their symptoms. Improved symptoms from biofeedback may also occur in men after prostate surgery, fecal incontinence, and constipation. Click here for more information on biofeedback and incontinence.
  
• Other conditions that may benefit from biofeedback: Raynaud’s Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Hot Flashes, Epilepsy, & Cancer-Treatment Related Symptoms like: Insomnia, Chronic Pain, Vomiting, & Nausea. Click here for more conditions that may benefit from biofeedback.

Sources: Calderon, K.S., & Thompson, W.W. (2004). Biofeedback Relaxation Training: A Rediscovered Mind-Body Tool in Public Health. American Journal of Health Studies; 19(2): 185-194.;  Lehrer, P.M., Vaschillo, E., Vaschillo, B., Lu, S.E., Scardella, A., Siddique, M., & Habib, R.H.(2004). Biofeedback Treatment for Asthma. Chest. 126(2): 352-61; Kristeller, J.L., & Hallett, C.B.(1999).  An exploratory study of a meditation-based intervention for binge eating disorder.  Journal of Health Psychology. 4: 357-363. Yucha, C.B., Clark, L., Smith, M., Uris, P., LaFleur, B., & Duval, S. (2001). The effect of biofeedback in hypertension. Applied Nursing Research. 14(1):29-35.; Rains, J.C,, Penzien, D.B., McCrory, D.C., & Gray, R.N. (2005). Behavioral Headache Treatment: History, Review of the Empirical Literature, and Methodological Critique . Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 45(2): S92-S109; Monastra, V.J., Lynn S., Linden M., Lubar J.F., Gruzelier, J., & LaVaque, T.J. (2005). Electroencephalographic Biofeedback in the Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. 30(2): 95-114.; Neumann, P.B., Grimmer, K.A., & Deenadayalan, Y. (2006). Pelvic floor muscle training and adjunctive therapies for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women: a systematic review. BMC Women’s Health. 6(1):11