http://www.ashafoundation.org/asharehab/emgbiofeedback.htm
So what is EMG biofeedback?? Surface electrodes are placed over muscles which have limited or no function. These electrodes do not provide any stimulation, but actually receive the motor neuron activity from the brain, brain stem and spinal cord as it arrives at the muscle site. These electrodes are connected to specially designed computers which process these motor signals accurately and rapidly and present them on a monitor in front of the person. In this way, an individual can actually see how they are utilizing brain, brain stem and spinal cord cells. The feedback is usually in the form of visual or audio signals. This goes hand in hand with physiotherapy.
The process itself was quite intimidating. Yatish would have these surface electrodes connected at specific areas on his body which needed to be stimulated and in his case they were working on the neck muscles and every time he would lift his neck, there would be a beep and if he held it longer, the beep would go longer. Yatish was still too small and it was a big effort to keep the electrodes in place. Each session would cost about 1000Rs and would be done once weekly. The success of the feedback depends a lot on the therapists involved and even though there was an enthusiastic team which was in charge of rehabilitation, we were not sure about their competency levels. So we had to let go of one more attempt.
Yatish had his summer holidays and we thought we should try Ayurvedic treatment. We went to Ayurvedic College run by Adichunchungiri Mutt and the doctor there suggested an oil massage and hot fomentation with some medicinal leaves followed by rubbing the body with rice porridge which had special herbs and a hot water bath. The whole process was laborious to say the least. But for any treatment to be effective we have to give some time to experience any visible changes. They suggested a masseur who would come home to do the massage. He also did Basti or enema therapy which involves introduction of medicated oils or medicinal preparation to the rectum. My study table doubled up as the massage table. The onus of getting the porridge ready and cleaning up the mess after left me completely exhausted. We did this for almost four months, but it showed no visible results in Yatish.
We were really getting desperate, while the mainline therapies were not giving us result; every alternative therapy we tried to follow was equally not working. Somebody suggested us Pranic Healing. It is a healing system developed by Choa Kok Sui. His healing method is derived from ancient yogic and chinese medical systems which helps in accelerating the body’s inherent recovery process. So off we went every weekend to Master Iyer to take healing sessions for Yatish. Hubby and I also did basic and advanced courses in Pranic Healing. I am not sure if it helped Yatish, but for me it was a good distraction.
http://www.pranichealing.com/what-pranic-healing
I also took him to Yoga Therapy at Vivekananda Yoga Kendra and there was this old grandmotherly lady who actually took care of few mentally challenged older children, whom Yatish called “OM Ajji “, because she made him do OM chanting.
A friend of mine suggested Dr. Ramakrishna, who is a renowned homeopath in Bangalore. While I am not sure it helped his condition, it definitely helped his immunity. He was much healthier than before and slowly the doctor became our family physician.
My journey of demystifying alternative therapies left me totally confused and disillusioned. My observation is that these therapies are very subjective and every person’s experience is different. It may work for some and may not for some. It did not for me!
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