Around 2011 I was one of the Alexander Technique teachers who took part in the ATLAS trial, a large research study run by the University of York and funded by Arthritis Research UK. It set out to answer a simple question: can Alexander Technique lessons help people living with long-term neck pain?
The study
517 people with chronic neck pain, most of whom had lived with it for years, were recruited through GP practices in Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and York. They were randomly placed into one of three groups: usual GP care; usual care plus up to 20 one-to-one Alexander Technique lessons; or usual care plus up to 12 acupuncture sessions.
What it found
A year later, people who had Alexander Technique lessons had, on average, a 31% reduction in neck pain and the difficulties it caused in everyday life, compared with 23% for those who had usual care alone. Acupuncture gave a very similar result (32%). The researchers described these as significant, longer-term benefits, and the results were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2015.
up to 20 lessons31%
up to 12 sessions32%
People in both treatment groups also became more confident in managing their own pain, and the Alexander Technique group showed the largest gain. In both groups, that growing confidence was linked with greater improvement a year later.
Wasn’t acupuncture the quicker option? Not really. Both groups were offered the same total time, about 10 hours. Acupuncture was up to twelve 50-minute sessions, and Alexander lessons were up to twenty 30-minute lessons, so they are simply shorter and more frequent. The difference is in what you come away with: acupuncture is something done to you, while in Alexander lessons you learn to change the habits that keep your neck under strain, and you can keep using that long after the lessons end.
Why this matters
The Alexander Technique is something you learn rather than something done to you. You come away with practical ways of noticing and releasing the tension that feeds pain, so the benefits can continue long after your lessons end. Together with the earlier ATEAM trial on back pain, published in the BMJ in 2008, ATLAS adds to the growing evidence that learning the Alexander Technique can make a real, lasting difference.
If you live with neck or shoulder pain and would like to find out whether lessons could help you, I teach in Sheffield, in Hathersage on Tuesdays, and online. Book a free 15-minute call and we can talk it through.
Source: MacPherson H, Tilbrook H, Richmond S, et al. Alexander Technique lessons or acupuncture sessions for persons with chronic neck pain: a randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine 2015;163(9):653–662. doi:10.7326/M15-0667