Help for Insomnia
by Lesley Solomon, M.A., L.P.C.
As seen on The Today Show NBC Wednesday, January 30, Temperature Biofeedback
About 7 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders.
Biofeedback is an effective technique to help with insomnia.
The Today Show has included temperature biofeedback in their series called Mini Medical Miracles, Possible Cures for Insomnia.
One of the best predictors to falling asleep is the temperature of the hands and feet relative to the temperature of the core of your body. As you learn to warm your hands through biofeedback-assisted relaxation methods, you draw heat from inside the trunk of you body to the extremities. As the core temperature cools, the body communicates to the brain that everything is slowing down and is ready to go to sleep.
When learning temperature biofeedback, the therapist measures hand temperature with a thermistor attached to one of your fingers. This temperature is fed back on a computer monitor in the form of graphs or other visual images, and you learn to warm your hands using visualization and breathing. Once this is learned in the office, you can use it at home.