Other Treatments, Part 2

For those of you who like non invasive treatment alternatives here are three to consider.

These are primarily for stress related incontinence.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy has shown some good results with approximately 95% of those who use it. The treatment uses post hypnotic suggestions along with reinforcement visualizations. It is simple, painless & free of side effects. The client is taught basic induction methods for auto hypnosis with various testing methods to test trance levels. S/he is trained in several deep relaxation & pain relief techniques suitable to their needs. S/he is then taught methods & use of post hypnotic suggestions to reinforce & maintain the initial suggestions.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a way to help teach a person how to control the bladder and/or anal muscles. The technique involves the feedback of a variety of types of information not normally available to the person, followed by a concerted effort on the part of the person to use this feedback to help alter the physical process in some specific way. Biofeedback can help with urinary or fecal incontinence.

Biofeedback is a learning strategy that enables persons to alter their brain waves. The human brain is set up with the feedback information we need to regulate our systems, if we will pay attention to it. When information about a person's own brain wave characteristics is made available to him/her, he or she can learn to change them. You can think of it as exercise for the brain. Here is a simple example of biofeedback; In cold weather, when you are shivering, imagine what it would feel like if the warmth of the sun were shining on your back, between your shoulder blades and your neck. Done correctly, you will immediately stop shivering, for as long as you imagine the warmth of the sun shining there. A bit more useful, if you are subject to anxiety attacks, imagine what it would feel like if you drew an ice cube from the center of your lower lip, down your neck to your chest and stomach. Suddenly your heart is not racing, and you have control over yourself, from moment to moment at least.

Thanks to the study of the mind-body connection over the last thirty years there are several forms to choose from including: EEG [Electroencephalogram], GSR [Galvanic Skin Resistance] & HRV [Heart Rate Variability].

Acupuncture

There has also been good success for many using acupuncture. Traditional Chinese medical theory holds that acupuncture works by redirecting qi "vital energy" in the body. Pain or illnesses are treated by attempting to remedy local or systemic accumulations or deficiencies of qi. Pain is considered to indicate blockage or stagnation of the flow of qi, and an axiom of the medical literature of acupuncture is "no pain, no blockage; no blockage, no pain". Modern acupuncture uses one time use needles which are thinner than a human hair and are inserted just beneath the first outer skin layer.

Treatment of acupoints may be performed along the 12 main or 8 extra meridians located throughout the body. 10 of the main meridians are named after organs of the body (Heart, Liver etc.) two after so called body functions (Heart Protector or Pericardium, and San Jiao, "triple heater"). The two most important of the eight "extra" meridians are situated on the midline of the anterior and posterior of the trunk and head.

The acupuncturist will decide which points to treat by thoroughly questioning the patient, and utilizing the diagnostic skills of traditional Chinese medicine, such as observation of the left and right radial pulse.

Although accepted as a medical treatment in Asia for millennia, acupuncture's arrival in the West has sparked much controversy. Acupuncture has eluded scientific explanation to some degree. However, in 1997, the NIH issued a consensus statement on acupuncture that concluded that there is sufficient evidence of acupuncture's value to expand its use into conventional medicine and to encourage further studies of its physiology and clinical value. The NIH statement noted that the data in support of acupuncture are as strong as those for many accepted Western medical therapies.

Of course each of these alternative treatments requires a trained and qualified professional to get you started.

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