36
Coastal View & Moor News Issue 19 ... your well-being in our hands I
t seems from talking to people at Mind, Body & Spirit show, and people who come to my clinic, that a very common problem is Frozen Shoulder. It is a condition that can be quite diffi cult to treat, and takes quite lengthy timescales, often involving cortisone injections. Bowen Technique has become quite renowned as being pretty good at helping the problem with many people, and several years ago a study was done by the Research Director Helen Kinnear and Julian Baker, Director of the European College of Bowen Studies. They wanted to investigate the effect of the Bowen Technique on patients with long term shoulder pain and stiffness. They used qualifi ed Bowen therapists and set up a clinical trial to monitor the effect of treatment over a six-week period. They also wanted to gather evidence that would clearly address the frequently expressed that complementary medicine works purely as “a placebo”.
This was the fi rst UK Bowen study to be completed, and took place in late 1997. Bowen is a complementary soft tissue therapy and although it has been in use for some time, there was then a shortage of data to quantify its effect. The Bowen Technique is a remedial and holistic form of ‘hands-on’ bodywork, gentle and effective.
The practitioner uses thumbs and fi ngers on precise points of the body to perform Bowen’s unique sets of rolling-type moves which stimulate the muscles, soft tissue and energy within the body. These careful moves prompt the body to reset imbalances and heal from injuries and even long- standing complaints, promoting relief of pain and recovery of energy. The experience of a treatment is gentle, subtle and relaxing. There is no manipulation and no force is used. A very wide range of complaints can be resolved with The Bowen Technique. The body normally responds quickly to The Bowen Technique, making it a very time- and cost-effective treatment option. Julian Baker says: “It is often described as physical homoeopathy. It allows the client’s body to restore its own physical well-being without relying too much on the diagnosis or the intervention of the therapist. It is adaptable to any situation or circumstance with no contra-indications”. There were 100 patient volunteers in the clinical trial, and existing, experienced Bowen therapists around the country, were all specially trained in the research therapy itself and the assessment methods that were going to be used in the clinical trial. Patients were randomly assigned to either a treatment or placebo group and the actual treatment procedure depended on
which group the patient was assigned to - treatment or placebo. The placebo group did not receive Bowen treatment but was given non-Bowen work in a way that would suggest a true treatment. The trial was blind and the patients did not know whether they were receiving treatment or not, as none of the patients had received Bowen therapy before. Both groups of patients received three sessions over a six-week period, the normal Bowen protocol for shoulder pain. They were also given exactly the same aftercare advice.
Patients were initially assessed for overall joint function and specifi c range of motion for six shoulder movements. The therapists noted the extent and quality of the movement and the patients conducted a self- assessment of their pain level throughout the movements. These assessments were repeated before each session. The results provided a good indication of the effect of Bowen on non-specifi c chronic shoulder pain and its associated restricted range of motion. They showed that Bowen signifi cantly improves shoulder function through increasing range of motion and reducing pain, and that those patients who had Bowen treatment improved signifi cantly more than patients who received the placebo. Shoulder fl exion (lifting your arm straight out in front of you) and shoulder
abduction (lifting your arm out sideways) showed the most improvement; not only did they see an improvement in actual range of motion and function but a reduction in pain as well. These results were seen to be particularly important as restriction in these movements is a particular problem with this condition. In shoulder fl exion the average range of motion improvement was 23° for the treatment patients and only 8° for the placebo group; the range of motion of shoulder abduction improved in 78% of patients compared to just 22% of the placebo patients. Locally, Bowen can be tried at Smart Therapies, with clinics in Guisborough and Moorsholm, with home and workplace visits available. If you would like to see if your shoulder problem can be improved in just three sessions, get in touch with us on 01287 660745 to discuss your problem to see if we can help. Judith Watson
Smart Therapies .....your well-being in our hands
01287 660745/660462
www.smart-therapies.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48