Abstract
The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of a single Feldenkrais Awareness through Movement (ATM) intervention on a functional reach task on symptomatic subjects. Twenty-three subjects with upper back, neck, or shoulder discomfort were randomly assigned to the Feldenkrais ATM treatment (12 subjects) or sham Feldenkrais treatment (11 subjects) groups. The Feldenkrais ATM group followed the audiotape instructions of a lesson titled “Shoulder Clock”. The sham Feldenkrais group followed the taped instructions of a series of general upper body exercises. Subjects received a single application of the respective treatment. A hook-lying, functional reach task was measured after 4 warm-up reaches before and after the treatment. Subjects were asked to notice and remember the level of exertion it took to perform the reaching tasks. They rated the level of perceived exertion for the pre- and posttreatment reaching tasks on a visual analog scale. A one-way analysis of variance was used for data analysis, and the p level was set at 0.05. A reduction in perceived exertion after the intervention was significant for the Feldenkrais ATM group (p < 0.05). No significant difference in perceived exertion occurred with the sham treatment group (p > 0.05). No significant difference existed between the pre- and posttreatment functional reach measurements in the Feldenkrais or sham treatment groups (p > 0.05). Based on the results of our study, we conclude that a single Feldenkrais intervention (“Shoulder Clock”) was effective in reducing perceived exertion in subjects with upper back, neck, and/or shoulder discomfort.