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Alexander Technique for Herniated Discs
Alexander Technique for Herniated Discs / TreatmentAlexander therapy actually has fairly good treatment results with herniated disc patients. This is due to one simple fact… Most herniated discs do not cause any pain or related symptoms. Most degenerated discs also do not cause any pain or symptoms. Patients who enjoy significant relief using Alexander methods are typically suffering from oxygen deprivation back pain, which ties in perfectly to the treatment philosophy embraced by Alexander practitioners…They might demonstrate the physical signs of a herniated disc or degenerative disc disease, but these conditions are not the source of their pain. They are merely coincidental and innocent scapegoats on which symptoms are blamed by the medical establishment.Alexander Technique teaches that most pain conditions are a result of internal bodily tension. This feeling of tension is a common feeling shared by the majority of back pain patients, regardless of their particular diagnosis. Ischemia is the number one cause of unresolved long term back pain and this oxygen deprivation process is known for creating tight, tense and uncomfortable muscles. Alexander therapy teaches patients how to rid their body of this tension and therefore works very well for this common, but often mistakenly identified form of chronic disc pain. Alexander Technique for Herniated Discs / TherapyI think a combined program of knowledge therapy and Alexander technique is an ideal treatment for patients who are likely to be suffering from a psychosomatic back pain process which is using ischemia as the actual source of physical symptoms. Alexander therapy will help the individual to lose the physical tension, while knowledge therapy will work to resolve the emotional sources of pain. Alexander therapy on its own might be less effective, since the underlying emotional causes remain unchecked and will not go away from any purely physical or medical treatment alone…Advice on Alexander Technique for Herniated DiscsI have sometimes been hard on this particular treatment option in the past, but now realize that it is quite enlightened in many aspects of its beliefs. The one thing which would increase its efficiency in my eyes would be the recognition that this internal tension so often referred to in practice is a direct result of an emotional process, not a purely physical, structural or postural one. While some Alexander practitioners do welcome this idea, others simply refute the mind/body link, akin to their brethren in the medical back pain industry.I recommend Alexander technique as a means of overcoming the physical ramifications of oxygen deprivation once the psychological issues have been sorted out. The technique will work even better if you are lucky enough to find a therapist who understands the common link between internal bodily tension and the subconscious repressive process behind the epidemic of psychosomatic back pain. 9/11/08 Revised 12/5/09
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