# Trouble with biofeedback--quite desperate



## veronica_delk (Nov 13, 2001)

My mom has been suffering from constipation for several months now. The problem came on very suddenly. She feels the urge to go quite strongly every morning, but nothing--or very little-comes out. Her doctor has told her she as "anismus"--the sphincter muscle is tightnening when it should be relaxing. He told her to do biofeedback.The biofeedback involves tensing and relaxing exercises. The problem is that when she does the tensing part of the exercises, she triggers really bad body aches and stiffness. She's told her therapist about this and her therapist told her not to try so hard, but if she tries at *all* this horrible stiffness sets in. (My mom is a senior, by the way.) The body pain has stopped her from doing biofeedback. What can she do now? Is there any other way to address this problem? She tried the muscle relaxing ointments; they had bad side effects. Also, she's already done everything she can dietarily.Help!!!!!!!


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

how old is senior in this case? I'm 59you might want to try another biofeedbackperson - sometimes technicians aren't real good at patient care.tom


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## PeacefulHart (Jun 26, 2002)

Tom is right.... not every therapist is right for every person. Also... is your Mom's doctor a gastroenterologist or a G.P. ?Another recourse might be to check into antidepressant or anxiety treatment on a small scale. It might enable her to relax enough that the discomfort the exercises cause aren't interpreted as pain by the brain.


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

if she had a hypnotist that knew what he was doing he or she might be able to get her to relax enough to be able to do the biofeedback. she might be dealing with a technician who only knows one thing.tom


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