Biofeedback and It’s Uses For New Athletic Trainers

1. Biofeedback and It’s Uses For New Athletic Trainers By Sean Ceci

2. What is Biofeedback? • The process of making unconscious or involuntary bodily processes perceptible to the senses • A wide variety of different techniques can be utilized on patients • Important part of the rehabilitation progress • Works hand in hand with proprioception

3. Why is Biofeedback Important? • During injury, not only are bones, ligaments, and muscles hurt, but special nerve receptors are hurt as well • These receptors, found in muscle, send information back to the brain about where the bodies joints are while in motion, and how hard they are working • If these receptors are not retrained during rehabilitation, injury is much more likely to reoccur Uh oh!

4. Biofeedback and Its Uses in Athletics • Used to retrain joints after injury • Used to improve posture • Used to improve poor throwing mechanics • Used to improve gait patterns • Used to improve balance • Get creative!

5. Techniques – EMG Devices Electrodes are placed directly on the skin! The patient uses the EMG device for both auditory and visual feedback

6. EMG Devices cont’d • EMG or electromyograph devices use surface electrodes to detect electrical activity in skeletal muscle • They can be used one of two ways • To retrain injured muscles • To calm down over-active muscles Small and large numbers of pads both work well!

7. EMG Devices cont’d • When a muscle is injured, it can lose the ability to contract at a maximal setting • Muscles need to be able to have powerful contractions in order to prevent injury and achieve maximal performance • EMG devices are hooked up to the muscle in questions, and give auditory and visual feedback to a patient while they are training

8. EMG Devices cont’d • When retraining muscle, as the patient contacts, they will now have a concrete visual cue as to how hard they are working • This allows them to have statistical improvements, as well as increased neuroceptor activity • When attempting to calm down over-active muscle, the process works the opposite • The electrodes are placed on firing muscles, and the patient attempts to lower the EMG feedback

9. Techniques - Videotaping • Videotaping has a wide variety of uses in biofeedback training • One of the most popular uses is to retrain poor throwing mechanics • Many times, pitchers may have a successful throwing technique, but that technique can be dangerous and lead to weakness or injury • I.e. – side arm throwing, submarine throwing Submarine throwing puts lots of unwanted stress on the elbow!

10. Videotaping cont’d • Many times, pitchers have a hard time changing their mechanics • After years of using a specific technique, the brain has become trained in that specific way • Biofeedback can be used to help retrain both the receptors in the throwing arm, and the throwers brain

11. Videotaping cont’d Proper throwing mechanics are necessary to prevent injury! • Many times, the way a pitcher visualizes their throw in their head and how they actually perform it are different • A video of the pitcher’s poor mechanics will allow them to have visual cues for what they are doing wrong • This will allow them to begin retraining their brain and their proprioception

12. Techniques - Mirrors • Another useful and cheap biomechanical tool is a simple mirror • Mirrors are very popular when trying to improve lifting mechanics as well as posture • Lifting mechanics and posture are very important for athletes trying to prevent injury Ever wonder why gyms have so many mirrors? Cheap and effective!

13. Mirrors cont’d • A large part of the rehabilitation process is strength training • Athletes often engage in heavy or demanding lifting exercises when they are close to returning to play • Some athletes though, have poor lifting mechanics • This can lead to injuries from lifting, and muscular imbalances • Muscular imbalance is one of the main pre-disposing factors to injury!

14. Mirrors cont’d • Just like with pitching, an athlete might not understand they are lifting incorrectly because they cannot see themselves perform the lift • A simple mirror can solve this problem Visual cues can easily improve mechanics

15. Techniques – Taping and Bracing • Another form of biofeedback that most athletes don’t realize they are using are tapes and braces • These tools work by giving the athlete extra sensatory feedback that they would otherwise not have during activity • An ankle brace wrapped tightly helps give the athlete extra support, but it also helps give the brain more feedback • Subconsciously, the brain will understand that the tape is around the ankle joint, and thus, will subconsciously provide more support to the joint

16. Taping and Bracing cont’d • Tape, while relatively cheap, comes in many different sizes and varieties • With a creative athletic trainer, it can be applied to almost any part of the body and remain effective

17. Taping and Bracing cont’d ‘Tear Drop’ taping for arch support ‘Closed Basket Weave’ taping for ankle support ‘Thumb Spica’ taping for thumb and wrist support

18. Taping and Bracing cont’d • Braces are often used after an athlete has injured themselves and needs extra support • Braces can be a great tool to help athletes returning from injury Many high-profile athletes use braces Wes Welker after he tore is ACL

19. Why Use Biofeedback? • Most biofeedback tools are relatively cheap • Most can be reused by many athletes • They are easy to use and are clinically proven to help • The brain is often a forgotten part of a patient’s rehabilitation • These tools give you more direct contact with your patient

20. Useful Links • Here are some links to aid in your understanding of biofeedback • http://bio-medical.com/news/2011/02/biofeedback-in-sports/ • http://www.medica.de/cipp/md_medica/custom/pub/content,lang,2/ticket,g_u_e_s_t/oid,31694 • http://www.peakperformancetraining.org/sitefiles/articles/optimal.htm • http://www.livestrong.com/article/399220-why-football-players-tape-their-shoes/