Parents of children with ADD, ADHD and other brain based disorders are increasingly searching for non drug treatment options for their children. They are right to be concerned. For over 20 years, researchers have studied the long term effects of drugs used to treat the symptoms of these conditions. Several years ago, our search for ADD ADHD non drug treatments led the doctors at Team Health Care Clinic to Neurofeedback.
Neurofeedback therapy has proven to be safe and effective for individuals with brain based disorders like ADD, ADHD and Autism. At our Champlin, MN clinic, we have successfully used neurofeedback training to address the cause of these brain based disorders.
Understanding the ADHD Brain
To determine if Neurofeedback training is an appropriate course of action, we use an EEG test to understand the electrical activity of the brain. An EEG test is conducted when electrodes are attached to scalp to measure brainwaves in 19 different locations. The electrodes only receive information and do not put electricity into the brain. People with brain based disorders have commonalities in their EEG test results that help us to understand when a treatment protocol using Neurofeedback is necessary.
Neurofeedback: ADD ADHD Non Drug Treatments
Think of neurofeedback training like a brain that has a mirror to itself. When the brain receives cues about itself, it is able to self correct. It is not magic. The self correction happens through a visual or auditory feedback in the form of a TV screen or music. When the brain does the correct thing, the patient is rewarded with watching a movie or listening to music. There is no medication used and nothing introduced into the body.
Although it’s a few years old now, this CNN news story does a good job of explaining how neurofeedback works.
Neurofeedback is Effective
- A search of the Pubmed website (National Institute of Health) revealed 152 medical studies for neurofeedback ADHD and 54 for neurofeedback and anxiety. These are just two of the more common symptoms of a brain not functioning as it should.
- Neurofeedback trains the brain and doesn’t treat symptoms, so it can potentially have a benefit to most abnormal brain symptoms.
- Incredibly, there were 830 medical studies on neurofeedback and its effect for a wide variety of brain conditions.
Neurofeedback brain training is just one of the methods we use at Team Health Care Clinic to help the brains of patients of all ages to function better. I have been fortunate enough to see some remarkable changes in my patients with ADD ADHD non drug treatments and I encourage anyone looking for a natural treatment option to check out Neurofeedback.
In our clinic, we offer a free consultation to those who are interested in learning more about brain based therapies for the treatment of Anxiety, ADD, ADHD, Autism, and other conditions. Click here to request an appointment.
Jay Bertsch, DC