Has anyone heard of the Alexander Technique?
Alexander Technique
- Thread starter oldfatman
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No but a google search tells me it a stress/anxiety reduction technique. Probably can't hurt. Might help some people.
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A friend of mine swore by it before, during and after her long and debilitating episode of back pain.
She does has excellent posture, but I don't know whether that is cause or effect.
She does has excellent posture, but I don't know whether that is cause or effect.
D
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I did a search about a year ago for "Alexander Technique" on the PM&R forum and was surprised that nothing came up, then. I would encourage all Physiatrists to learn as much as they can about AT -- and this is coming from someone who thinks chiropractic and alternative medicine is (mostly) a joke. AT is not alternative medicine.
I took a course on the Alexander Technique through my college's music school (I'm a violinist). It was excellent -- to add to the post above, AT is about becoming conscious of the use of the body in real time and "balancing" (for lack of a better word) tension throughout the body. I still take private lessons here and there, and I can't say enough about how much good it has done not only for my violin playing, but for how I use my body in all aspects of my life. I never realized how much tension I naturally use, especially in my back, until I was taught how to become aware of this tension and get rid of it. The technique uses the concepts of "inhibition" and "direction" to achieve this.
A 2008 BMJ study found AT lessons to be very effective in the treatment of chronic back pain.
Additionally, the Feldenkrais Technique is another option that has strong advocates in the field of performing arts medicine. Dr. Alice Brandfonbrener at RIC has evidently used this with her many patients successfully.
And no, neither of these techniques have anything to do with the control of stress. They are both about using the body more effectively and efficiently.
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