Anyone tried Bowen Therapy?

I've been looking into natural/alternative remedies (albeit sceptically), and have found a lot of websites claiming that Bowen Therapy offers relief for migraines.

This page (http://www.thebowentechnique.com/content/migraine.htm) describes a study of 39 migraine sufferers who underwent Bowen Therapy, and apparently 31 experienced a positive result.

I always think these things are a scam, but I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has tried it

There is another thread about Bowen on here somewhere.
I had it. It made me feel really weird and did nothing for me at all.
Personally I wouldnt waste your money, but others will hopefully tell you different.

Pen

what do they do?

Looks like massage technique. I suppose it depends on the cause and if you are carrying a lot of tension. I can see it being helpful but not necessarily a cure....

It is a sort of circular movement done with the thumbs.
It is pretty gentle, but can still be uncomfortable.

They do a bit, then leave you and come back and do more.

See here.
http://www.healthandgoodness.com/article/what-is-bowen-therapy.html

Bringing up an old posting on Bowen Therapy. Here is a website that describe a Bowen technique for dealing with headaches:

http://www.mytherapypractice.com/therapies/bowen-migraines.html

Note, that the author states that many migraineurs have a spot on ther head that is warm to the touch and then describes a Bowen technique for taking care of the headache. My warm spot is on my left ear.

Anybody else notice a warm spot on top of their head?

Part of my ongoing search for answers.

Martin

Martin

I'm a total skeptic and I don't feel there is enough information provided to assess the merits of that study. However, I did some work with a girl whose mother suffered migraines for years, went to a bowen therapist, and BOOM. None. Migraines gone. Fact is it's not that expensive, it's not invasive, so it can't really hurt to try it I guess. I haven't, but I haven't ruled it out since that girl told me her mother's story. And she was a massive skeptic too.

I have bowen therapy quite regularly - once a week. No it hasn't stopped my migraines but it definitely relieves the intense pain and muscle tightness through my neck, shoulders and back. Bowen works at stretching the muscle fibres to improve blood flow and release metabolic toxins. He also does a technique called dorn spinal which works at applying pressure to painful areas and use your own body (e.g arm or leg) movement to relieve the pain. I actually really like these techniques as the application of pressure relieves the pain. Yes, sometimes it hurts like hell but I always feel better after. I have so much more movement in my neck after too! Not a cure for me be helps me cope so worth a try anyone!

I forgot to mention if you try Bowen, make sure you drink loads of water that day to flush out your body - like a massage it can stir up the toxins.

lissy said:

Yes, sometimes it hurts like hell but I always feel better after.

I thought the Bowen treatments were not suppose to hurt?

Somatic exercises, also are not suppose to hurt. However, at my last session, my somatic practitioner put me throught some movements that were suppose to release some very tight muscles that might be causing the shoulder to tighten; thereby causing the headaches. As soon as she tried to manupulate the SCM, I had a shooting pain up the side of the head. That session set me back weeks, with a tight shoulder muscles and an increase in my headache pain level for several weeks.

Thanks for providing me some input.

Martin

bowen is one treatment i missed. knowing how i respond to plain old massage, which i LOVE, confirms that bowen would also make me worse. i'm sort of glad to know that i may not be the only one for whom gentle massage and hardly-touching-me physical therapy, puts me in intense pain and sets me back for weeks.

never again, she says. of course, now that i have ruined my right knee ligaments 3 weeks ago, i will have p.t. on the leg when it heals enough to be moved. right now, OUCHIE when moved at all, and leg is in ankle to hip brace.

i think it's only head/neck/upper body manipulations that are contraindicated, as this part of me is highly sensitive. the rest of me seems ok that way, and i shall found out in a few more weeks.

dianne

diane, I knew better than to let the practitioner try to work on those particular muscles; the left SCM and scalene. I had been feeling good with very light headaches, so I thought, maybe it is time to work on those muscles. What a mistake. Any thing below the shoulder is ok.

Here are what I feel are the problem areas, that I feel may be causing my headaches: tight left SCM muscle with pain behind the ear, tight left shoulder, tight left Serratus Anterior (under arm pit) which may cause additional stress on the scalene, SCM,, and serratus posterior (I think under shoulder blade) muscles, tight sub-occipitals, tight upper trap., and tight left multifidus (along the spine) muscles.

With all the trigger point massage therapy and somatic sessions, the muscles are looser, but I guess still tight enought to cause headaches (assuming that my chroinc daily headaches are a muscle problem).

I broke a knee cap, about a couple of months after the headache started. So, I am familar with the ROM knee brace and the pain of such an injury. There is a forum for knees, out of the UK, called "knee geeks" that may be of interest.

Martin

I finally tried Bowen Therapy. When I first started the sessions, I told him not to touch he neck muscles (SCM and sub-occipitals), since that would increase the level of my headache pain and cause dizziness/nausea.

The first session, sure enough, he tried the neck muscles: a week of headache pain levels of 3 to 5. Second visit, he did not touch the neck; just shoulder and below. I had three or four days of headache pain levels of 1 and then pain levels went up to the normal 2-3 with one night of a bad pillow headache. Third session, he only worked below the shoulder blades; that week the pain levels were only 1-2, but mostly in the one range. When I went back, a week later, the pain level was about a 2.

The fourth session, I again told him do not touch the neck, sure enough he had to work the neck muscles. pain levels are now back to 3 to 4. Mind you, he lightly worked on the neck, just one or two presses on the SCM muslce. I cancelled the fifth session.

On the sixth day after the fourth session, I finally took an Epridrin to break the headache cycle, slept great and the headache is down to a 1-2 level again. Based on past experience that will last a couple of days. The muscle relaxant, Baclofen, does not seem to help much at the higher levels of headache pain.

I guess the book on chiro, trigger point massage therapy, and Bowen Therapy says that the neck msucles are the cause of headaches and they have to work on the neck muscles.

What I was hoping with the Bowen therapist, to find out which muscle area is causing the headaches. Me, I believe the left shoulder muscle is the main source of my problem.

I may see another Bowen therapist and speak to him about trying to find which muscle area is the cause of my headaches. This is the course of action, I continue to follow; it's a muscle problem.

Martin

P.S. I should add that my Bowen Therapy experience was not all negative, my lower back stiffiness and the range of motion of my legs is now much improved. However, when the headaches got worse, the muscles started to tightned up again. Not as bad as before, but still enought so that I could feel the left side shoulder and the muscle along spine getting tight.

thanks for posting this, martin. egad, even when you tell them not to touch your neck, they do anyway. yes, i agree that the neck muscles are involved in head pain, but manipulation always makes me worse, also. therapists just don't get that some of us are too sensitive for even mild touching.

for an update on my knee: i found knee geeks to be very helpful, and i'm thankful for their support during the worst of my knee woes. it's been 5 months now, since my injury; the pain has mostly gone away, although at times my leg aches.

i measured it, and the injured knee is still 1/2 inch bigger/swollen. i went back to work after 3 months, and continue physical therapy on my own, at home, since the medicare payments ran out after $1800 worth. i'm grateful to be mobile once again, and functional, even while forever missing a part of my knee! (the ACL)

dianne

Dianne: Thanks for the update. over the last few months, I wondered how the knee was doing.

The knee geeks forum was also helpful for me, with my broken knee cap. That is why, I am on these headache forums, for the support that I receive and I also to find what med or therapy others have tried.

You might try bowen therapy for the knee, even after all this time since my broken knee, it has lessen the tightness of the knee quads and surrounding muscles. The Bowen sessions are much less expensive than physical therapy, trigger pain massage therapy, or acupuncture. And it takes less sessions, before you feel the results.

Martin