Posture lessons cured my backache
Emily Heath, 28, a supply teacher from Brighton, suffered excruciating back pain until she found a therapy that helped her realise what was causing the problem.

Feature: Jo Waters

I was working in Spain on a bi-lingual project when I suddenly began suffering lower back pain. It was so severe I couldn't stand up straight. My Spanish doctor prescribed strong anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers, which allowed me to carry on working, but it only blocked the pain. I wasn't told what was causing it.

The flight back to England was quite horrific; sitting down for even a few hours was unbearable. Back home, my GP prescribed more painkillers and suggested physiotherapy, but there was a one-year waiting list for NHS treatment. By this stage the pain had got so bad I couldn't work and I was feeling low - I felt I was too young to be suffering such chronic pain. I got so desperate that I decided to pay to see an osteopath. He said one of the discs in my spine was herniated, bulging out, and putting pressure on nerve roots. He manipulated my back and stretched my hamstrings. The treatment started to work, but I couldn't afford to pay £54 a week for two sessions, so I went back to my GP. However, she said I was too young to have a herniated disc. I then tried several months of private physiotherapy and more osteopathy before another GP agreed I had a herniated disc. An MRI scan confirmed it and a specialist recommended I continue with painkillers, but also try the Alexander Technique, a type of postural awareness that teaches you how to move properly without putting strain on your skeleton and muscles. At my first appointment, my AT teacher asked me to stand in front of a chair, then she put her hands on my back and stomach and asked me to sit, stand and walk. She immediately picked up on the fact that I was tensing my stomach muscles and explained this was straining my lower back muscles and restricting my diaphragm, affecting my breathing. These were the main things that were contributing to my pain and they were habits I had probably had for years. I lay on a table with books under my head and the teacher showed me how to be aware of the tension in my muscles and how to release it. After the lesson, I was relieved I finally knew what I could do to help myself. It cost £32 a session, but it worked. I saw her twice a week for three weeks and practised the exercises she suggested. The pain gradually lessened and by Easter last year I felt it was under control with only one AT lesson a month. By early summer, after a year off work, I started teaching again and by August I stopped taking anti-inflammatory drugs.

The Alexander Technique made such a difference to my life and I'm so impressed I've now decided to train as an AT teacher. I'd recommend it to anyone who suffers recurrent back pain.