New research: Learn the Alexander Technique to improve how you live and care for yourself, and so reduce pain

Neck pain self efficacy pulicationMy colleagues and I have just published new research from the ATLAS clinical trial of Alexander lessons or acupuncture sessions for people with chronic neck pain [1]. The research concludes that Alexander lessons lead to long-term improvements in the way people live their daily lives and manage their pain. It reports the positive effect of learning the Alexander Technique on people’s self-efficacy and ability for self-care, and the way in which this is linked with long-term reduction in chronic neck pain. These findings illustrate nicely one of my favourite descriptions of the Alexander Technique – a way of looking after yourself better in daily life and for the long term.

 What were the detailed findings?

Compared with the control group (usual care alone), trial participants who had attended Alexander lessons reported significantly greater improvements across eight self-efficacy/self-care measures, including the ability to reduce pain in daily life – and this improvement was maintained at 12 months, several months after the lessons had ended. At 6 months, 81% of the participants who had attended Alexander lessons reported significant improvement in the way they lived and cared for themselves (compared with only 23% of the control group) and this increased to 87% at 12 months (compared with 25% for control). These improvements in self-efficacy and the ability to reduce pain during daily life were found to be related to the long-term clinical outcome of reduced neck pain and associated disability [1].

More on the ATLAS trial

ATLAS was a randomised, controlled trial that recruited 517 patients with chronic neck pain and evaluated one-to-one Alexander Technique lessons with a STAT-registered teacher, or acupuncture, each plus usual care, compared with usual care alone. The main clinical findings of this trial are published in the prestigious Annals of Internal Medicine [2]. The trial demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in neck pain and associated disability for both interventions compared with usual care alone. Read more about the study here.

What do people say about these new findings?

Professor Hugh MacPherson from the University of York, who was the principal investigator of the ATLAS trial and one of my co-authors on the current publication, says it ‘really does set out the role of self-care and self-efficacy as key components related to the benefits of the Alexander Technique’; and describes it as a ‘landmark study for many years to come’.

 Find out more

Our article is published in the European Journal of Integrative Medicine, read it here.

  1. Woodman J, Ballard K, Hewitt C, MacPherson H. Self-efficacy and self-care-related outcomes following Alexander Technique lessons for people with chronic neck pain in the ATLAS randomised, controlled trial. European Journal of Integrative Medicine 2018; doi: 10.1016/j.eujim.2017.11.006
  2. MacPherson H, Tilbrook H, Richmond S, Woodman J, Ballard K, Atkin K, Bland M, Eldred J, Essex H, Hewitt C, Hopton A, Keding A, Lansdown H, Parrott S, Torgerson D, Wenham A, Watt I. Alexander Technique lessons or acupuncture sessions for persons with chronic neck pain: A randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine 2015;163:653−62.