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Reproduced below are some introductory
articles:
Hope for people with RSI
Author: Sahana Charan
Bangalore, The Hindu, Sep 9, 2005
http://www.healthlibrary.com/news/2005/4-10-sep05/news16.html
Finding it hard to move your stiff neck after a hard day's work?
Or do you have shooting pain in your fingers and hands every time
you touch a computer keyboard? People with repetitive strain injury
(RSI) or musculo-skeletal disorders (MSD) often lose valuable
time at work and home and their quality of life is affected. According
to a study by Deepak Sharan, consultant, Bangalore Children's
Hospital and an expert in RSI and paediatric orthopaedics, 75
per cent of the computer professionals suffer from this disorder.
Repetitive strain injury is a work-related disorder which affects
the neck, lower limb, lower back, legs, jaws, chest and vocal
chords. But now there seems to be hope for such people. Thanks
to Dr. Sharan, "Alexander Technique," which is fairly new to India,
is being introduced in the city. A number of experts from the
U.K. and the U.S. are coming here at regular intervals to teach
this technique to those affected by RSI so that they can lead
productive lives. One such expert, who was in the city recently
and worked with persons affected by RSI for a month, was Nick
Mellor, an Alexander technique teacher based in Leeds, U.K.
"Alexander Technique (AT) is not a medical treatment for RSI
but a set of skills for improving your performance. It essentially
involves learning how to meet a stressful situation and to deal
with it constructively," explained Mr. Mellor, who was an RSI
patient himself. AT helps in improving personal and professional
effectiveness, mainly through better self care. One of the main
principles of the technique is to teach people to exercise choice.
"Whenever we move or think, we have a choice: we can use ourselves
either intelligently or carelessly. AT lessons can teach you to
use yourself with intelligence promoting freedom from injury,
rapid recovery and a better overall standard of health," he said.
The lessons, which are mostly one to one, train you to take care
of your head, neck and back. We teach people to use their big
joints, their hips, ankles, knees, head and neck joints appropriately
instead of bending their spines too often," he added. He worked
with around 30 persons here and 75 per cent of them started feeling
a positive change after a few lessons.
Learning the Alexander Technique
Author: Dr Deepak Sharan
Bangalore, The Times of India, August 21st, 2004
Over the past few weeks, I have been learning the Alexander Technique
(AT) from a British teacher. Although unheard of in India, AT
is well established in USA, Europe and Australia.
AT is an educational method that shows people how they are misusing
their bodies due to work habits that create excessive amounts
of static loading and how to reduce the unnecessary muscular force
they are applying to their bodies. AT was developed by Fredrick
Matthias Alexander (1869-1955), an Australian farmer-turned-actor
with no academic or medical background.
Alexander was a sickly child who barely survived a stormy childhood
to become a Shakespearean stage actor. Unfortunately, he developed
a voice disorder and was unable to recite his lines. His doctors
advised voice rest for a few months. When he returned to the stage,
the problem persisted. Multiple tests turned out normal and he
was told there was nothing wrong with him and was advised more
rest cure. After unsuccessfully visiting a variety of medical
and not so medical practitioners, he decided he had to find out
for himself what was wrong because penury beckoned. Alexander
figured out that the problem had something to do with what he
did on stage, as he did not have any trouble with his voice when
he was not acting. His co-actors told him that he made a gasping
sound as he breathed in between lines.
Alexander then set up mirrors at strategic locations and observed
himself when he spoke normally and when he recited. He discovered
that when he got ready to recite he drew in air with a loud gasp
and tensed his neck muscles pulling his head back and down. He
also made his entire body shorter and tenser, restricting his
breathing and freedom of movement. By means of prolonged, tedious
experiments Alexander found a way of preventing this pattern from
initiating during recitation. He subsequently found new and better
ways of using the various parts of his body involved in reciting.
The final result was that Alexander's voice trouble vanished and
thus was AT born.
Benefiting from an AT Lesson
Author: Dr Deepak Sharan
Bangalore, The Times of India, August 28th, 2004
What is common between Paul Newman (actor), Roald Dahl (author),
Sting (singer), John Cleese (comedian), George Bernard Shaw (playwright)
and a host of musicians and opera singers worldwide? All of them
practice(d) Alexander Technique (AT) in their daily lives. Dr.
William Barlow, a Consultant Rheumatologist in UK, was a prominent
AT teacher, and AT is still practiced in several NHS pain clinics
in UK. Yet, unlike many complementary modalities AT makes no sale
pitch at being a cure-all.
AT is not a therapy, though it has therapeutic effects, but an
educational process. It is not something where you just lie down
passively and let a practitioner treat you. It teaches you not
facts, but how to learn about yourself, for yourself, what habits
of body use you have and how you can prevent the harmful misuse.
During the lesson, the teacher guides a student to improve coordination
in activities like getting up from a chair and sitting down, and
lying down without tensing the muscles, skillfully using his hands
to provide the tactile feedback. AT prevents or inhibits misuse
due to subconscious, habitual directions and then builds up the
primary control with consciously chosen directions, leading to
a more effective use of the body. After each lesson, I could experience
enhanced body flexibility, and a subtle perception of increase
in the length of spine and limbs. Like me, many people take AT
lessons, not because of health problems, but because they find
it a valuable tool for improving their wellbeing and self-knowledge.
Some also take it for painful conditions like RSI.
Most people need about 30 lessons of 45 minutes each before they
can successfully begin applying AT on their own. I think the key
to success with AT lies in finding a highly skilled and experienced
teacher, and by taking individual (rather than group) lessons.
At present there are no AT teachers in India, but I plan to have
an eminent teacher from the UK visit Bangalore twice a year to
give lessons.
