Bowen Therapy for Back Pain

Back pain is one of the most common types of pain experienced by people all over the world. Eighty percent of people have experienced back pain, and 20 to 30 percent of people have back pain at any given time. It can be caused suddenly by an injury or be brought about slowly by poor posture or conditions at work. Bowen Therapy is one alternative therapy that has helped many people relieve the pain in their backs.

What is Bowen Therapy?

Bowen Therapy is a type of bodywork that involves gentle, precise movements. It differs from massage in that there is no intense rubbing; rather, a Bowen Therapist uses a series of gentle rolling movements of his or her fingers or thumbs over the muscles and fascia, or the flexible web-like covering of the muscles. Bowen Therapy also differs from chiropractic: the focus of the therapist’s movements is not the spine or joints, but the muscles and fascia.

Bowen Therapy was conceptualized by Australian Thomas Bowen, who developed a method of gentle soft-tissue bodywork during the 1950s. Word of mouth drew patients to Bowen, who found relief from back pain and other ailments at his gentle hands. Bowen Therapy has grown in popularity since its inception and is now used to treat many types of pain, including chronic pain and back pain.

How Does Bowen Therapy Treat Back Pain?

Bowen Therapy rests on the concept that signals constantly circulate throughout the body, telling the various parts of the body how to respond under certain conditions. A Bowen Therapist uses rolling movements of the hands over muscles and fascia to disrupt the signals that tell the body to respond in the wrong, or unhealthy, ways. Then, the therapist will allow the body to relax in order to reestablish healthy connections in the body before continuing with a Bowen Therapy session.

Bowen Therapy is a holistic therapy, so it treats the entire body. It establishes healthy responses in all areas in the body including the back, thus relieving the causes of back pain. It can also relieve the causes of other types of pain, like neck pain and chronic pain.

What Happens at a Bowen Therapy Session?

A Bowen Therapy session begins with the practitioner talking with the patient to gain a medical history and determine the nature of the patient’s medical concerns. The patient then sits in a chair or lies on a bodywork table.

During a treatment, the practitioner uses a series of specific movements, called procedures, on various parts of the patient’s body. The practitioner moves his or her hands laterally along the muscle (perpendicular to the direction of the muscle fibers). Instead of a stretch or compression, this movement “challenges” the muscle and its fascia. The practitioner applies stimulation to two to eight points at a time, pausing for a few minutes between each set to allow the body to respond.

The practitioner begins working with the center of the body and then progressively works outward. Commonly, the points that are stimulated in the first session include the back, neck, shoulders, buttocks, hamstrings and knees. If the patient has told the practitioner about other troublesome areas, such as the forearms, the practitioner will work on those areas, too. A Bowen Therapy session lasts between 15 and 45 minutes.

Bowen practitioners counsel their patients to avoid other types of bodywork for several days after a session, including additional Bowen technique treatments. Patients are told to drink plenty of water to help the body eliminate toxins that were released during the Bowen Therapy session. Practitioners may also suggest walking for 30 minutes outdoors.

Some patients report improvement after a single session. Most conditions see lasting improvement after three to five sessions. Some who suffer from chronic conditions benefit from a tune-up session every three to six months.

Can Bowen Therapy Relieve Back Pain?

Studies have found Bowen Therapy to be successful in treating several types of pain. Because of the gentle movement and touch involved with the Bowen Technique, the procedures do not cause additional pain. Some patients do report increased pain the day following a Bowen session, but those patients report that the pain dissipates on the third day.

Is the Bowen Technique Safe?

Bowen Technique is a gentle therapy and is said to be safe for most patients. Due to concerns about causing pre-term labor, a certain procedure of Bowen Therapy, the coccyx procedure, is not recommended for treating lower back pain in pregnant women. However, it seems to be safe for all other patients.

What Causes Back Pain?

Back pain is a widespread problem. Back injuries can be caused by trauma, such as accidents, or by straining the back when picking up an object. Back pain can also be a symptom of a serious underlying condition affecting one of the abdominal organs; for example, back pain can be a symptom of appendicitis. Back pain could signal a serious infection or damage to the spinal discs, so you should see a medical doctor to eliminate these causes before seeking alternative therapy.

Back pain that lasts for a short time is called acute back pain; back pain that lasts for more than a month is said to be chronic. Traditional allopathic treatment of back pain includes pain relievers, such as ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). However, long-term use of NSAIDs can cause damage to the lining of the stomach. Other treatments include bed rest, which can lead to loss of muscle tone and depression; exercise, which is useful in chronic cases; topical rubs; and the application of hot or cold packs.

Additional Resources

Bowtech, the Original Bowen Technique, provides additional information from direct students of Tom Bowen, the creator of Bowen Therapy.