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I have helped many people to successfully manage their chronic pain. In many cases the pain has been long standing over a number of years prior to learning good management. This has included lower back pain, sciatica, shoulder pain, leg and joint pain. I am very hopeful that the skills that I can teach you will significantly help to reduce your pain and possibly even eliminate it altogether.
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There are many ways that we can influence our pain levels and I use my understanding from both Alexander Technique and Hypnotherapy to help you get to grips with exactly how and why your pain gets worse sometimes (or better) and what you can do about it.
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We know that pain is negatively affected by stress which increases cortisol and other stress chemical levels that turn up pain signals in your whole system. We know that pain causes stress and so how can you find your way out of this loop? I will teach you simple strategies that you can use immediately to start to find your way.
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There are many studies that show the effectiveness of both Alexander Technique and Solution Focused Hypnotherapy for pain management, I have outlined some below. The two systems work on similar principles but come from different angles and so are very effective when used in combination.
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Research on the effectiveness of Alexander Technique for Pain Management:
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There have been various rigorous studies made over the last 80 years that have shown that Alexander Technique is effective for the management of chronic pain conditions. These include but are not exclusive to back pain, neck pain, general pain, improving balance and coordination, RSI and Parkinson’s disease.
These studies can be found on the Society for Teacher of Alexander Technique website (STAT)
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I have outlined a couple of these studies below:​
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Back Pain
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The Medical Research Council & NHS funded trial (BMJ 19 Aug 2008) showed the Alexander Technique provides long term benefit for back pain sufferers.
24 Alexander Technique lessons led to a reduction from 21 days a month in pain to 3 days a month and to an improvement in functioning and quality of life.
Alexander Technique is included in the May 2009 NICE guidelines for low back pain.
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Neck Pain
The ATLAS trial (2015 Annals of Internal Medicine) on 517 people with non-specific chronic neck pain found that Alexander Technique significantly reduced neck pain and associated disability by 31% following 20 lessons. The pain relief was long term with the improvement lasting at least a year to the end of the trial.
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Musculoskeletal Pain
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Human Movement Science 2011 Feb;30(1):74-89. Cacciatore TW, Gurfinkel VS, Horak FB, Cordo PJ, Ames KE. Neurological Sciences Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR, USA.
Study to show that AT changes muscular tone in response to gravity causing a more efficient muscular support. It also shows that AT increases dynamic tone, that is appropriate tone in response to requirements particularly in respect of rotation of the hips, neck and torso, rather than being fixed and stiff.
British Medical Journal 2008;337:a884. Little P, Lewith G, Webley F, et al.
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Helpful Links
Pain Is Volatile: Clear article includes a couple of well known links to a video and a TED talk which are worth watching.
I have also found Pain Reframed Facebook Group interesting.
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Alternative Therapies & Alexander Technique for Chronic Pain Management
