The Stanford Study

Spine (back and neck) pain is one of the most common and debilitating health conditions in the United States, affecting nearly 80 percent of Americans and exceeding $86 billion in spending annually.

The Egoscue Method (TEM), a specialized form of postural therapy that eliminates or mitigates chronic pain while increasing functional mobility, is part of a national study by researchers from Stanford Medicine and Harvard designed to assess the comparative effectiveness and efficiency of three different approaches to managing treating spine pain. The study is managed by The Clinical Excellence Research Center (CERC) at Stanford Medicine, and currently underway in four locations, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Nashville and Houston.

A completed Pilot Study done by the same organization found that patients treated by The Egoscue Method experienced a significant reduction in spine pain, as demonstrated by participant-reported outcomes comparing their status at the beginning of Egoscue treatment and eight weeks later. On average, patients reported a 62% decrease in disability and 41% decrease in pain.

The larger, national study, still underway, will compare the effectiveness of TEM to conventional medical care for spine pain over a longer period following the onset of treatment. That study is scheduled to conclude next year.

Update December 2022 – The study was published in JAMA and results are available on the Our Difference page.