Back pain - Feldenkrais
Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.
More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.Some back pain patients benefit from the Feldenkrais method. This form of body therapy aims to improve one's own body awareness and self-awareness through passive and active sequences of movements. Find out more about the Feldenkrais Method and how it can help with back pain here!
ICD codes for this disease: ICD codes are internationally recognized codes for medical diagnoses. They can be found, for example, in doctor's letters or on certificates of incapacity for work. M54
The whole person in view
The Feldenkrais method, which is recommended against back pain, among other things, was (intensively) developed in the 1950s by the Israeli physicist Moshé Feldenkrais. It builds on the strong body experiences that he made during his judo training, as well as on the findings of the then blossoming scientific branches of neurophysiology and neuropsychology.
Feldenkrais teachers not only focus on specific physical complaints such as back pain, but also on the whole person - i.e. body and soul. Feldenkrais courses are offered, for example, by appropriately trained (physical) therapists and at some adult education centers.
Discover new movements
The focus of exercise therapy according to Feldenkrais is not muscle training, but the body awareness of the back pain patient. More important than the movement itself is the question of how fast or slow, how harmoniously and with what force it is carried out - in short: the perception of the movement. The aim is to feel individual movement patterns and the effects of the smallest changes through a journey of discovery in your own body.
The next step is to regain or regain unused opportunities for movement, which can alleviate existing back pain. This happens through alternative movement sequences and movement variations. They increase your own range of motion and can replace unfavorable movement patterns that contribute to back pain.
In addition, people with back pain learn as part of the Feldenkrais therapy to loosen their attention fixed on the pain and instead to understand themselves as a whole organism again.
Alone or together
There are two basic concepts in Feldenkrais work:
- The functional integration takes place in individual lessons and takes place largely in silence. The teacher gently pushes, stretches and moves different parts of the patient's body. In this way, this unused movement skills can develop.
- The method of awareness through movement takes place in the group. The participants consciously feel simple everyday movements such as bending over, walking or standing and try out variations. The therapist supports them with explanatory words and gentle touch.
effectiveness
In evaluating various studies on the effectiveness of Feldenkrais (also for back pain), researchers rated the method as promising. However, the studies all showed methodological deficiencies, according to the experts. A final assessment is therefore not yet possible.
Technical assistance: Dr. med. Jean-François Chenot, general practitioner
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