Fybromyalgia and EEG Biofeedback

It has long been known that meditation-based stress reduction is effective in the control of a number of medical disorders, including fibromyalgia (for further information see Kaplan, et al, General Hospital Psychiatry 1993).  The marriage of modern technology and meditation has resulted in the broad field of biofeedback.  This technique teaches the participant to control (on a conscious or unconscious level) various bodily functions, and thus the pain or irregularity that might arise from the selected area.  Modern technology speeds up the learning process, from time measured in years (as in eastern yogas' learning) to time measured in weeks or months.  Today,we divide biofeedback into two broad categories:  Peripheral Biofeedback, and Central Biofeedback, more commonly known as EEG Biofeedback.

Peripheral biofeedback is very effective in the control of numerous painful conditions associated with arthritis, such as migraine and Raynaud’s phenomenon.  This form of treatment has also been successfully used in fibromyalgia (see Goldenberg, et al J Musculoskeletal Pain 1994).  In our experience, however, it does not have the theoretical or practical appeal of EEG Biofeedback.  This is because we know, from other research, that FMS patients have significant abnormalities in brain function (sometimes referred to as "fibromyalgia fog"), and that this problem is one of the main disorders in FMS.  If, then, we are going to get at the root of the problem in fibromyalgia it makes sense to use biofeedback on the brain.

For that reason we set out a number of years ago to explore the use of biofeedback on selected FMS patients.  All of these patients had been selected for treatment based on their disease (to be sure they had FMS) and had other medical conditions controlled prior to training (in our experience the majority of FMS patients have very significant accompanying medical disorders which often require physician attention prior to entering biofeedback).

To our delight, nearly all of our patients have had very significant recovery of function and have become either pain free or nearly so with this modality.  Because of this we are in the midst of a number of clinical research projects pertaining to EEG Biofeedback.

We assume that EEG Biofeedback works because the human brain remains trainable until we no longer walk the face of the earth.  This, so called, neuroplasticity is the basis for this powerful technique.  Because of this many practitioners interested in biofeedback refer to it as Neurotherapy rather than biofeedback.

In brief, this technique uses desktop computers to measure brain wave activity (EEG activity, that is), and to provide the participant with feedback about this activity.  Since the areas of the brain being trained are deep brain structures (rather than higher "thinking" areas) the training is rather passive and quite simple (from a patient point of view).  It is also completely safe (we have never seen a complication of the training).

Interestingly, while we aim to relieve the pain of fibromyalgia, and are quite successful at that goal, we commonly see that other, brain related functions improve also.  So, we often hear patients say that their sleep disorder, fatigue, and thinking (especially short-term memory and attention) also improve.