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News and Events Archive »
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At Last, the Cure for Back Pain?
Sam Murphy writes:
A new study has shown that the Alexander Technique may be more effective than other common methods of treating back pain....
Back pain. If you haven't got it now, the chances are you've either had it in the past or will get it in the future. Statistics show that seven in 10 of us suffer from it at some time in our lives. And it is one of the most common causes of sickness absence and disability in the western world. In fact, research from the British Chiropractic Association earlier this year found that in the UK, back pain is on the increase, rising from 47% of people "currently suffering" in 2007, to 52% in 2008.
Although the days when bed rest was the standard treatment for chronic back pain are long gone, the medical profession has yet to find a single effective solution that it can uniformly prescribe, thanks to a dearth of scientific evidence and, where studies have taken place, conflicting findings. But one back-pain treatment option for which there has been little funded research in the past (and therefore, scant evidence to support its use) is now making news in the medical community - the Alexander Technique (AT).
A study published this week in the British Medical Journal reports the results of a large-scale trial on the effects of AT on back pain. The study, which took place at GP practices in Southampton and Bristol, hypothesised that AT could alleviate back pain by limiting muscle spasm, strengthening postural muscles, improving coordination and flexibility, and decompressing the spine. One year on, the results bear this out: subjects who received 24 AT lessons reported an average of three days of back pain per month, compared with 21 days per month in the control group. The AT group also reported better function and quality of life...
Excerpt from The Guardian, Thursday August 21st, 2008
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"You all believe that you must know whether you are right or wrong if you are to make progress."
- F M Alexander
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