Bowen Technique

[Doraflora]

Hello everyone. It’s me again!

I’ve had lower back pain for quite a while (on one side only & just above my hip bone). I’ve put it down to sitting on a temporary sofa for 6 months while waiting for our new suite (which arrived a few days ago).

But just a few days prior to the new suite arriving my back pain worsened such a lot, it felt like a trapped nerve or something similar. Once I’m up in the morning & been walking around it eases gradually and appears pretty normal then. Being in bed is the worse thing so I’ve taken to sleeping on another bed & that seems to have improved things slightly.

I phoned the surgery on Friday & managed to see a physio the same afternoon who, after examining me, said it was “muscular “. (I could have told him that!)

My sister has strongly recommended Bowen’s Technique and I just wondered if anyone on here has had experience of it?

Sorry for the ramble but I just wanted to give you the background. Oh, im on 5mg Pred and been on that dosage for 2/3 months now.

[SnazzyD]

I like Bowen because I have found it effective and there’s no risk of hard in approaches that can stir things up. It’s not like a massage as such but like fleeting contact with pauses. I thought it sounded like mumbo jombo when we had a therapist at the cancer centre I ran so I walked for a quick demo. I was greatly surprised. What sort of pain is yours and where does it go, if anywhere? Any positions that make it worse?

[Doraflora in reply to SnazzyD]

Hi Snazzy D.

Well,,it’s been horrendous getting out of bed, believe me. The pain has been excruciating. It just feels like something is locked, but when I get up in the morning I sit with a hot water bottle for a while & it eases it considerably. It then gradually decreases during the day to almost normal, and then the pattern begins again when I go to bed.

The pain is in my right side, just above my hips. Hubby & I are now thinking it could be our bed, especially as it’s not quite so bad this morning after having slept in another bed.

I’m strongly thinking of trying Bowen.

[Slowdown]

In my experience Bowen therapy has been very effective for various aches and pains, lower back pain included. I was sceptical that such a light touch therapy could make a difference but after the recommended three weekly sessions the benefit was evident. I had the best sleep for a long time after the first session, and the succeeding weeks definitely alleviated targeted areas.

Find a good therapist, they are very knowledgeable and will focus on your particular needs - it's relaxing if somewhat strange as they spend time on gently manipulating, say, leg muscles and then leave the room for a little while to allow the body to reset before working on another area. I hope you try it with success.

A firm mattress makes a big difference - I've just changed mine! But I still love my Bowen, it just makes my body and mind relax.

[Doraflora in reply to Slowdown]

Thank you so much, Slowdown. Your story is reassuring 😀

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Until I moved here to Italy I used Bowen technique for similar back muscle problems - I have a history going back many years, PMR just adds to the myofascial pain syndrome effects as it can be associated. I credit Bowen and my osteopath, together with Pilates and aquafit, for keeping me upright and mobile for 5 years of unrecognised and untreated PMR. It also improved the acute pain - not the chronic PMR pain so much.

My Bowen practitioners in the northeast of England were particularly good and down-to-earth women - unfortunately the option here is rather more "fluffy" with dim lighting and candles not to mention rather more expensive as a result I want it for more than the relaxation aspect - though that is usually wonderful too.

What you describe sounds a bit piriformis in origin - these are 2 good articles about it:

cedars-sinai.org/health-lib....

spine-health.com/conditions...

and prevention is better than cure if you can find a good physio who will actually do something hands on rather than just say "do this" - hope springs eternal!

I ended up at A&E recently - I live alone so if I am stuck, I am REALLY stuck! A&E weren't much use - even a tramadol infusion only reduced the pain marginally but it did get me to the hospital for the appointment with my rheumy a bit later and he sorted it out! It has taken 3 weeks to get anywhere near back to normal - at first I couldn't stand from sitting without crutches! I now know how to get directly to the rheumy for next time and with transport.

I find an 800mg flooding dose of ibuprofen and the hot water bottle is usually fairly effective. Needed more this last time and it has happened before. Living where I do I have options available that you are unlikely to find in the UK and certainly not in the NHS. But Bowen may well be your answer - if they are good.

[Slowdown in reply to PMRpro]

So sorry to hear you've had such a hard time, sometimes it seems there's just no let up. I do hope Spring will work its magic and bring us all a respite from 'just about managing' to the 'sunny uplands' (now where have I heard that...probably best to leave that alone..) Just wanted to wish you well after a very tough year, and to thank you for those two articles as well as all the other information about life, the universe and everything 😊

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Slowdown]

I walked into the village this morning to get milk - and became very aware of my right achilles tendon!!!! Didn't notice anything over the weekend - not that I did much as we had a couple of inches of snow on Saturday - but I do have to confess the thoughts were less than cheerful! Talk about falling apart and one thing after another

[Slowdown in reply to PMRpro]

Left achilles tendon here, bloomin' painful when on Pravastatin so pharmacist said give them up for 2 weeks, seems to have improved, unsurprisingly. Loathe statins, I think you had a really bad reaction to them. Not much left to fall apart/flare up/give gyp - in fact, rather more of me than I'd like with winter plumage (i.e. too much of all the 'wrong' edibles) Hey ho, on we go 🤣

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Slowdown]

The annoying thing is it was the left when it was the antibiotic/methyl pred saga. One is enough!

[Doraflora in reply to Slowdown]

I always think PMRpro is a mine of information, Slowdown. She seems to have the answer to everything. That’s why I love this forum, all the knowledgeable people, the advice - and not to mention the humour!

[Doraflora in reply to PMRpro]

What an horrendous time you’ve had, PMRpro, especially the 5 years of untreated PMR. It’s a wonder you’ve not gone delally with all the things you’ve suffered.

But spring is on the horizon: we just want these easterly cold winds to leave us here in the north east of England.

Onwards and upwards for us all.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Doraflora]

I have no doubt there are plenty who do think I'm doolally

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to PMRpro]

As if!😂🤣

[Doraflora in reply to DorsetLady]

🤣

[Doraflora in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks for those articles, PMRpro. I don’t really think I’ve got that as the pain is pretty much just above my hip bone and doesn’t affect my buttocks or thigh. We’re pretty confident that it is our bed maybe, for some reason after all this time. Or unless I’ve “overdone” an exercise class and the bed isn’t helping.

Since getting PMR 2 years ago I seem to get one thing or another, or am I just deluding myself that I will be 70 next month and slowly ageing (gracefully I hope😂).

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Doraflora]

"for some reason after all this time."

Mattresses get old too

[Doraflora in reply to PMRpro]

Yep, but we’ve only had it about 6 years and it was such a reputable make....

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Doraflora]

Then that shouldn't be a factor really unless it is faulty. Mind you, I would be surprised if it were the bed - more likely you have developed a problem that the mattress isn't compensating for, maybe it can't, Have you tried a mattress topper?

But the best thing - before spending a fortune on the bed - would be to identify if there is a musculoskeletal problem.

[Doraflora in reply to PMRpro]

Well the problem has eased “slightly “ by sleeping in another bed, but the pain is still there until I’ve sat with a hot water bottle when I first get up, moved around a lot, and it gradually gets back to normal until the pattern starts again the following am.

I’m convinced there’s something trapped. The physio at our surgery was no help. I’ve never been referred to a rheumatologist since my PMR diagnosis 2 years ago (& that diagnosis was made over the phone). I think I’m going to bite the bullet and find a Bowen therapist, or even a chiropractor.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Doraflora]

I'd certainly try it - I have similar low back problems but I have a wonder rheumy who is working on it.

[piglette]

In my case Bowen technique was not really effective. It is possible because the lady doing it was not my cup of tea. She used to do three of us in different rooms at the same time and just alternate between us at sixty pounds an hour each.

[Doraflora in reply to piglette]

Good work if you can get it, Piglette. £60 an hour x 3. Wow! I took the wrong vocation obviously!🤣

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to piglette]

Rip-off! Joanne sometimes did 2 patients in adjacent room - because it does fit quite well with the resting bits. But if you "shared" you got well over an hour - it still saved her time. And she knocked £5 off.

[Doraflora in reply to PMRpro]

That’s more feasible, PMRpro.

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

I cast the evil eye on her and she broke her wrist!