CENTENNIAL, Colo. (KDVR) — Marcy Baker has been dizzy for nine months. The Fort Collins woman was diagnosed with something called MdDS (Mal de debarquement syndrome) after she got home from a cruise. “Got off the ship and my sea legs stayed with me,” Baker said.
She went to McWhorter Chiropractic and Neurological Rehabilitation in Centennial for biofeedback/neurofeedback treatments that are successfully addressing her physical complaints.
Now she is also tackling her mental health with the mind-body connection.
For her assessment, Dr. Ryan Phillips wired her up and measured her physical response to things like a traumatic memory or a video of someone climbing a tall tower.
“The state of our body affects our mind, and the state of our mind affects our body, and it does it in a very measurable way. So, with biofeedback we measure that dialogue through markers like our heart rate, our respiratory rate, our sweat response, muscle tension, heart rate variability,” Phillips said.
Each patient, he says, has their own unique response. “This is all about becoming more aware of that mind-body connection, then learning tools and strategy to be able to self-regulate your stress response,” he said.
The tools can include breathing exercises, meditation, the retraining of muscles and more.