Latest:
The British Medical Journal has produced a video which explains clearly
what the Alexander Technique is and how it appears to be the most
effective treatment for back pain. Highly recommended.
Recent research, led by Dr. Paul
Little of Southampton University and
published by
The British Medical Journal, showed
'One to one lessons in the Alexander technique from
registered
teachers have long term benefits for patients with
chronic
back pain'. While the causes of back pain are still not understood, one
explanation of how the technique helps is offered in
research by Dr Timothy Cacciatore et al.
The team 'observed significant reductions in axial and proximal
stiffness during standing in subjects with chronic idiopathic low back
pain following a course in Alexander Technique lessons... While the
causes of such back pain are poorly understood, these results are
consistent with decreased loading of the spine and related tissues,
which could plausibly underlie pain reduction'.
How The Alexander Technique reduces back pain
Within the body are many layers of muscles. Mostly they are movement
muscles- bulky fast twitch muscles designed to move the skeleton at its
joints.
The muscles shown in the diagram are the postural
muscles- small delicate, slow-twitch muscles which work in groups to
keep the upright balance of the skeleton. these muscles are built for
endurance. If not worked properly, they will atrophy. If these muscles
are weak or not used well, the body will compensate by tensing some of
the fast twitch outer muscle groups.
This causes a multitude
of problems. The outer muscle groups are designed for movement only,
not for sustained endurance (such as maintaining posture); they fatigue
easily. If your movement muscles are unduly tense, you will also feel
tense. If you use fast twitch muscles inappropriately (for posture),
your slow twitch muscles will become weak.
When all movement muscles are relaxed, the
posture muscles function easily, with little effort. If we start to
use our movement muscles when they should be free, our posture
becomes distorted. The posture muscles then start to overwork, in
particular to brace joints that are no longer aligned.
Once this
unnatural use of movement muscles is habitual, it becomes very
difficult to 'unlearn'. When misusing the muscles in back, neck or
limbs in this way, we can experience back pain, headache, neck-ache,
and many other ills.
This unlearning of the habits- of holding and misusing the movement
muscles in the back and neck- is the basis of
The
Alexander Technique. The Alexander teacher gives the student
the
experience of how their body feels when movement muscles relax, and
postural muscles can resume their resting role. As the lessons
progress you as the student are able to allow this 'undoing'
yourself, allowing the muscles in your back to return to an easy,
pain-free state.
the Alexander Technique
re-teaches us to use the deep postural muscles, rebuilding their
strength and endurance. When the body is properly balanced, a relaxed
uprightness feels almost effortless, and can be easily sustained.
One key way the Alexander
Technique addresses back pain is this, the
semi-supine position. It is the position of maximum rest for the spine.
The Alexander teacher will often work on the student while she is in
this position.
The books create a little passive traction for the upper back and neck;
placing the knees up does the same for the lower back. 