My skin was so hot, my trainer was sure the temperature sensor would melt. Well, maybe a slight exaggeration. She did think it was going to show a much-higher temp than usual. I didn't. I was right, but I didn't know why, especially since my skin was prickling painfully from the heat waving out of…
Category: Health
Writings on health and nutrition, the health care system, doctors and therapists, heck, anything to do with health.
LORETA After A Record-Breaking Storm
I broke the 190 barrier! Woot! Phew. Every so often, my LORETA neurofeedback trainer mentions that when I reach 190 consistently for each five-minute screen, they'll drop the z-score from its current 2.1 to 1.9 or thereabouts. In other words, reaching 190 consistently means I am ready to train at a harder level. At the…
A New Protocol for the Next Phase of LORETA Neurofeedback
This week, the new protocol for my LORETA neurofeedback began. Since April, the protocol was based on the symptoms I’d listed as being at a 10, the worst ones of all my symptoms. This time, it was based on my top six symptoms, not all the ones rated at 10, and on the working memory…
A Substitute Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback Trainer
Having a substitute brain biofeedback trainer is a bit like having had a substitute teacher when you were a kid, except as an adult you’re nice to them, maybe even nicer than to your regular trainer. No hard questions for the substitute, guiding them on the usual way of doing things, that sort of thing.…
A LORETA Setback . . . Maybe
Last week, I had an average day at LORETA neurofeedback, that is, I achieved a string of scores like most others have. An uptick from the first screen to the second, then down down down. Sigh. At least I ended in the same place as the previous session; doing that required a Herculean effort to…
#LoveYourBrain, The Crash Reel Campaign
A few weeks ago, BrainLine tweeted: “Join the #LoveYourBrain campaign.” I asked them what that was about, and @TheCrashReel replied that it’s a campaign to educate others about brain injury, concussion, and safety. There are a few of these kinds of awareness campaigns going on in Canada, the US, and other countries, but I was…
Problems with Time Management? Use The Devices Jobs Gave Us
I hear people with ADD have a problem with time and showing up to appointments on time, just like people with brain injury. The solution is to get an iPod Touch or smartphone with a decent calendar app, stick a claxon alarm on it (like my therapist did the first day she worked with me…
Brain Biofeedback and Drive, Initiation, Motivation
Drive, initiation, motivation are three aspects of our human-ness I didn't think much about, except for drive, till after my brain injury. Rehab talked about brain injury inducing a loss of motivation; learned articles acknowledged there’s such a thing as initiation deficit post-brain injury. But the one thing my father talked about a lot (ok,…
Even When Sleepy, It’s Still Possible to Train the Brain
Five and a half hours sleep makes gamma brainwave training difficult. Stupid back. Biofeedback day is not a good time to slowly devolve into stripes of pain, I said to my back. It shrugged and stiffened up more. As I had anticipated with my back going all stiff and tense on me, my muscle tension…