Bowen Technique

[Catherine]

Dont know if anyone has ever heard of this kind of therapy. I hadn't until a few months ago when I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. I had been suffering with pains in my arms and leg muscles and extreme tiredness and I had not been sleeping because of the pain my doctor prescribed a mild antidepressant. This was back in December. I was loath to take the tablets so I set about trying to find an alternative remedy. I had the Bowen Technique suggested to me by a former ballet dancer who used it for her aches and pains and highly recommended it.

Well I had six sessions and I have to say that my pain has reduced almost to nil. I still get the pain if I get very stressed, so I make sure that I dont do that too much. It is a very gentle manipulation of the muscles and tendons in your body, through your clothes you just lie on the bed and relax. The therapist does several movements then leaves the room for a couple of minutes then comes back and does some more movements. I can honestly say that I have regained my energy and I have almost no pain whatsoever. I can really recommend it.

The point of my post is that I have hurt my hip and the doc says it is my sacroiliac joint. It is two weeks now and I keep thinking I am getting better and then I make a movement which puts me back to square one and the pain is horrendous a bit like having very bad toothache in the cheek of your bottom!!

I have just rung up to make an appointment to have Bowen treatment and I really hope that this works because I cant stand the pain much longer. On a scale of 1 - 10 my pain threshold is 3 so you can see what I mean. If anyone is interested I will keep you posted. Sorry for the rambling post.

[Tiltonblue]

Catherine

Please keep us updated, my wife has lots of problems pain wise, tiredness, and i have mentioned this technique to her.

Mike

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Catherine, well i would certainly be interested, anything that is an alternative to painkillers and sleeping tablets has got to be good.

Hope you get on all right.

When i was suffering with a similar pain in my cheek, the physio used to put his elbow on the muscle in my cheek, and with all his weight rotate it.
This used to really hurt, but i was determined not to let it show. He asked me if it wasn't hurting as i was showing no exspression, when i replied it was, he said i should take up poker playing.

[alan refail]

Old Herbaceous aka Poker face

[oldherbaceous]

And i told them not to take that photo until i had had a shave.

[Primrose]

I have a friend who is a Bowen practicioner. Because I suffer a lot of back pain as a result of earlier disc rupture surgery, I volunteered to be one of her guinea pigs when she was doing her "test cases" during her training. Unfortunately it didn't make any difference in my case although others did experience improvements in their respective conditions. I'm glad it gave you some relief Catherine. There's nothing more debilitating than constant pain. I'm still trying to figure out why it worked for some people and not for me. I suspect that just lying still for 30 minutes causes the muscles to relax, which in itself probably reduces bodily tension & triggers a certain well-being, but the therapy and pressure is applied so lightly that I still can't understand what causes the subsequent physical improvement in some cases.

[Catherine]

Update on my hip pain. I went for Bowen treatment on Tuesday morning. I havent taken any painkillers since then and I have had very little pain. I am suprised because it was really bad on Tuesday morning so much so that I struggled to get on the bed for treatment.

I cant recommend this treatment highly enough. If any one is interested send me a private message and I can give you more information on what happens. There are websites you can look at to find out more as well.

I know not everything works for everyone I had accupuncture for a bad back which had no help at all.

[June]

Hello Catherine.
I don't know if my experience of Bowen is typical or not. I came upon it by complete chance twelve years ago when out at a function and just mentioning to someone there the problems I was having with my jaw. The woman I spoke to gave me a treatment there and then (sat in the ladies powder room!!) and it worked like a miracle. Since then I've had Bowen for my shoulder, knee and back. The people I used years ago no longer practice and the last person I used (for my back) did no good at all. I really couldn't say why it has worked so differently at different times but I'm very interested to hear it has helped your back. I've been trying to find someone as good as the first person I had, I'd been keen to know how you get on.
June

[Catherine]

Hi June I dont know why it works I just know it does. I have been pain free from Tuesday to today. I have had a couple of twinges today but yesterday I was on my lottie from 9.30 to 5.30, I took sandwiches and have a kettle there (and a bucket) I took things very carefully but today I must say I think it might be wearing off. I had Bowen for Fybromyalgia in January and yesterday I started to feel a couple of twinges in my shoulder.

But: if you go to Bowen they say that you must not go to physio, I went to physio a week ago and have not felt right since.

I wondered if I have upset my body by having physio. I am definately going to book another session on Tuesday. My Bowen practitioner said contact me in a 5 to 10 days if necessary. I think I might need it again.

I have been told that some treatments only need one session others need up to five. They dont tell you that you need to keep coming back because they know that it works quickly.

But I can truthfully say that I have had no pain in my hip since Tuesday. I have, however felt a bit of an ache in the area where the pain was.Before Bowen I could at times barely get out of the car much less drive.

If anyone has the opportunity to try it I would suggest they do.