Regulation of the sensory system: balancing the senses for optimal functioning
The human sensory system is a marvel of complexity, allowing us to perceive and communicate with the world around us. From the sense of touch to the perception of sound and sight, our senses play a crucial role in our daily lives. However, like any complex system, the sensory system requires careful regulation to maintain balance and functionality.
In this article, I will review the regulation of various sensory systems, including deep touch, cutaneous touch, and the vestibular system. The valley with examples of imbalance and overbalance in every sense, and exercises that will help restore the balance of the sensory system.
What is the sensory system?
A sensory system (or sensory system) is the part of the nervous system responsible for transmitting sensory information. A sensory system contains sensory receptors that convert energy, neural pathways and parts of the brain involved in sensory perception. Translates the outside world and also the physical face into messages that reach the brain, and it responds to what reaches it in the form of reactions that the body performs. The most familiar sensory systems are hearing, sight, smell and taste.
Beyond the four senses, there are three more that are generally unknown to those who are not involved in a therapeutic field.
In this article, I will begin with explanations of the three written senses.
deep touch:
Deep touch, also known as proprioception, is related to the feeling of the relationship of body parts and the force of effort exerted in movement. It can navigate the world with precision and control.
imbalance:
An example of an imbalance in deep touch can be manifested in proprioceptive deficits, visitors to the account in the coordination of movements maintaining balance. This can cause clumsiness or frequent falls.
Overbalance:
Excessive proprioceptive input can overwhelm the system of systems, causing hypersensitivity or heightened awareness of bodily sensations. This can lead to discomfort or even pain on movement.
Balance exercise:
1. Pressure and compression of joints: it is recommended for activities that involve deep pressure on the joints, such as yoga, weight lifting, it is also recommended to use a weight blanket for sleeping. These activities provide sensory input that helps provide proprioceptive feedback.
2. Weight balance training: Practice a balance exercise such as standing on one leg or walking along a balance beam even if it is on the floor. These activities challenge proprioceptive abilities and improve coordination.
3. Body awareness exercises: activities that activate body activity, conscious activity or tai chi. These practices encourage focused awareness of body sensations, and encourage better proprioceptive regulation.
skin contact
Skin contact, or tactile sensation, claims to the tea of pressure, vibration, substance and pain through the receptors of the skin. It allows us to interact with our environment and experience the world around us.
imbalance:
Lack of electrical skin contact cause hypothesia, when people have reduced sensitivity to contact stimuli. This can lead to activity in recognizing sensations until or distinguishing between textures.
Overbalance:
Hypersensitivity to touch, known as hyperesthesia, can cause people to experience discomfort or pain even with mild touch stimuli. This heightened sensitivity may be associated with conditions such as sensory processing disorder.
Balance exercise:
1. Desensitizing techniques: gradually expose the skin to different textures and pressures through activities such as brushing, massage or tactile discrimination games. It helps desensitize hypersensitive skin and improve tolerance to contact irritations.
2. Texture exploration: activities in various texture exploration activities with the hands, such as playing with sensory bags filled with rice, sand or textured fabrics. It promotes sensory integration and improves tactile discrimination skills.
3. Material regulation: Experience temperature-based sensory activities, such as dipping control hands with hot or cold water. It helps regulate sensory responses to heat stimuli and promotes sensory regulation.
vestibular system
The vestibular system contributes to our sense of balance, orientation in space and coordination of our movement. It consists of fluid-filled structures in the inner ear that detect changes in head position and movement.
imbalance:
Vestibular dysfunction can cause dizziness, or feelings of instability, accompanied by nausea or disorientation. This can significantly affect a person's ability to maintain balance and perform daily activities.
Overbalance:
Excessive vestibular input, eg intense spinning or fast movement, can overwhelm the system and lead to motion sickness or vertigo. It can cause feelings of nausea, dizziness and loss of spatial orientation.
Balance exercise
1. Gaze Stabilization Exercises: Practice general exercises maintaining focus on a stationary object while moving your head or body, for example tracking a finger or tracking a moving target. It helps improve vestibular-ocular reflexes and reduce dizziness.
2. Balance training: engaging in activities that challenge balance, standing on uneven surfaces, walking on a balance board, or practicing yoga poses that require stability. These exercises strengthen the vestibular function and improve balance control.
3. Slow motion movements: Perform slow and controlled head and body rotation movements, for example, tai chi or yoga flows in motion with me. This allows the vestibular system to adapt to changes in position gradually and reduces the risk of overstimulation.
These were three senses, the five senses were seen as rules among as part of the five known and familiar senses.
Now we will learn about the regulation of each of the five senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch - we will learn about imbalance and overbalance and we will do exercises to promote balance.
sense of sight:
The sense of sight allows us to see light, color and shape, and provides essential information about our environment. We see our environment and receive the information to the brain with the help of the visual system.
imbalance:
Visual impairments, for example, myopia, nearsightedness or hyperopia, farsightedness, can cause problems with productions on various objects, which leads to blurred vision and closing of the eyes.
Overbalance:
Excessive exposure to bright lights or screens, such as prolonged use of electronic devices, can lead to eye fatigue, headaches and great strain on the eye muscles.
Balance exercise
1. Eye relaxation techniques: Practice the 20-20-20 rule - every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something about 6 meters away. It helps reduce eye strain and fatigue.
2. Eye exercises: Do eye exercises to improve focus and coordination, such as eye circles, blink exercises or changing the distance of a pencil.
3. Time outside: Spend time outside in natural light to give your eyes a break from artificial lighting and stimulate visual acuity.
sense of hearing
Hearing allows us to receive sound waves, and allows us to communicate, navigate our environment and enjoy music and speech.
imbalance:
Hearing loss, whether due to age, injury or exposure to loud noises, can impair communication, social interaction, and the ability to recognize important auditory cues.
Overbalance:
Hyperacusis, an increased sensitivity to certain frequencies or loudness of sound, can cause discomfort, pain, or anxiety in response to everyday noises.
Balance exercise:
1. Audio training: Engage in activities that challenge auditory processing, such as listening to audiobooks, and lectures, playing music, or participating in conversations in noisy environments.
2. Treatment with sound exposure: gradually expose yourself to sounds of increasing volume to desensitize the auditory system and reduce hyperacusis.
3. Hearing Protection: Use earplugs or noise-canceling headphones in noisy environments to protect your hearing and prevent damage.
Sense of smell:
The sense of smell allows us to identify and distinguish different smells, which affect our perception of taste, emotion, and memory.
imbalance:
Anosmia, the loss of the sense of smell, can result from conditions such as sinus infections, head trauma, or neurological disorders, which affect a person's ability to detect smells and enjoy food.
Overbalance:
Hypersomnia, an increased sensitivity to smells, can cause discomfort or aversion to certain smells, leading to nausea, headaches or anxiety.
Balance exercise:
1. Aromatherapy: Experience pleasant aromas using essential oils, scented candles or herbal sachets to stimulate the olfactory system and improve mood.
2. Odor Exposure: Gradually expose yourself to different odors in controlled environments to desensitize sensitive olfactory receptors. Do this gradually in increasing or decreasing concentrations according to sensitivity, lack or excess.
3. Mindful Smelling: Practice mindful smelling by focusing on the aroma of the food as you eat, paying attention to the nuances of taste and aroma.
sense of taste
Taste allows us to distinguish the flavors of foods and drinks, and influences our dietary choices and enjoyment of meals.
imbalance
Dysgeusia, a distortion or change in the perception of taste, can result from conditions such as infections, medications, or nutritional deficiencies, leading to a decreased sense of taste or unpleasant taste sensations.
Overbalance:
Supertasters, people with increased taste sensitivity, may find certain flavors repulsive or unpleasant, affecting their dietary preferences and enjoyment of food.
Balance exercise:
1. Taste testing: Experiment with different flavors and textures in your diet to expand your palate and improve taste discrimination. Combine the flavors you don't like or are repulsed by by increasing the percentage of the flavor that repels you, the change must be in very small portions. Likewise, if you have an excessive desire for a certain taste, for example sugar, reduce the percentage of sugar step by step in as small portions as possible.
2. Oral hygiene: observe good oral hygiene practices, such as brushing and flossing regularly, to ensure optimal taste perception and prevent changes in the sense of taste.
3. Mindful eating: Practice mindful eating by savoring each bite, paying attention to taste, texture, and aroma, to increase enjoyment of meals and promote healthy eating habits.
Sense of touch
The sense of touch encompasses various tactile sensations, including pressure, temperature, pain, and texture, which allow us to interact with our environment and experience physical sensations.
imbalance:
Peripheral neuropathy, a condition characterized by damage to peripheral nerves, may cause a decrease in tactile sensitivity, numbness, or tingling sensations, and impair a person's ability to detect changes in touch or temperature.
Overbalance:
Allodynia is pain induced by a stimulus that usually does not cause pain, such as light touch or even caressing, wearing clothes, the feel of the sheets in bed, mild heat or cold, or normal muscle movement. The pain lasts as long as the stimulus (touch) lasts and stops when the stimulus disappears. That is, a person suffering from allodynia will interpret a non-painful stimulus as a painful stimulus.
Balance exercise
1. Tactile stimulation: Engage in activities that provide varied tactile sensations, such as exploring different textures with your hands or feet, playing with sensory materials such as sand or play dough, or receiving massages.
2. Temperature regulation: Experiment with temperature-based sensory activities, such as hot baths or cold compresses, to regulate sensory responses and promote relaxation.
3. Desensitizing techniques: gradually expose yourself to light touch stimuli in a controlled manner to desensitize tactile receptors and reduce the perception of pain.
In conclusion, achieving a balance between the senses is essential for optimal functioning and well-being. By understanding the signs of imbalance and overbalance in any sensory modality and implementing targeted exercises and strategies, people can promote sensory regulation and improve quality of life. Whether through eye relaxation techniques, auditory training, aromatherapy, mindful eating, or tactile stimulation, embracing sensory balance fosters a deeper connection with the world around us and supports overall health and vitality.
It is possible with the help of minimal assessments and exercises to bring about a huge change in the imbalance of the sensory system. Probably in most cases we will not reach a complete balance, but we will definitely reach a situation that will significantly improve the quality of life of those who are in an imbalance of the sensory system.
This article was written by:
Koby Avraham (MA) Social change in the arts deciphers children's drawings, an expert, diagnostician and qualified therapist in the sensory system.
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