The Definitive Guide to The Alexander Technique provided by STAT - The Society of Teachers of The Alexander Technique

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teachers of the
Alexander Technique

Established 1958


Significant long-term benefit for low back pain has been demonstrated by a major study published by the
British Medical Journal on 20th August 2008 at www.bmj.com.

Randomized controlled trial of
Alexander Technique lessons,
Exercise And Massage (ATEAM)
for chronic and recurrent back pain

To summarise: §

  • 24 AT lessons proved to be most beneficial
  • Six lessons followed by exercise were about 70% as effective as 24 lessons
  • Long-term benefits unlikely to be due to placebo effect
  • Lessons were one-to-one, provided by experienced STAT teachers
  • This was a scientific randomised controlled trial
§ 579 patients with chronic or recurrent low back pain; 144 were randomised to normal care, 147 to massage, 144 to six Alexander technique lessons, and 144 to 24 Alexander technique lessons; half of each of these groups were randomised to exercise prescription.

The trial
This research trial compared the long-term benefits of the following groups:

  • Six lessons in the Alexander Technique (AT)
  • 24 lessons in the AT
  • Six sessions of a classical massage
  • GP-prescribed aerobic exercise
with a control group which received normal GP care, for NHS patients with significant chronic or recurrent non-specific low back pain.

Half the patients in four groups (Six AT lessons, 24 AT lessons, massage and control) were provided with a GP prescription for taking general aerobic exercise (mainly 30 minutes of brisk walking or the equivalent each day) with practice nurse behavioural counselling. The prescription was given six weeks after patients entered the trial so that exercise followed the six massage sessions and 6 AT lessons, but often overlapped with most lessons for the 24 AT lesson group.

579 patients were recruited from 64 GP practices and 59 Alexander Technique teachers participated in the trial.

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Visit the British Medical Journal website to read the research

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