Many people face back pain in their everyday life. Almost every adult has suffered at least once by an episode of pain in the back that took days to be healed. Sometimes this pain might last hours, but it can also last months or even years or having episodes that come and go.

But what are the reasons for the back pain? There is not always an obvious answer on this, however, there are multiple factors that can lead to an episode or frequent episodes of back pain. Back pain could be considered as one of the conditions that have increased during the last years.

This might be because nowadays people are less active, they do more of office work, they don’t have much of musculoskeletal involvement in their everyday life, they don’t train, they sit for many hours in a chair using computers or mobiles, etc. Their back muscles are not trained enough, thus they cannot easily accept any unusual load of activity of weight. Sometimes the pain might be caused because we lift something heavy or we do a very sudden movement.

On the other side, even athletes who are trained enough to mention back pain as one of the most frequent pains during and after their training sessions. Even our posture at home or at work might lead to pain in the back.

Many professionals and specialties are involved in the treatment and relief of the back pain. Physiotherapists, medical doctors-especially orthopedics, chiropractors, trainers, yoga-pilates teachers etc. They use different kinds of methods, including physiotherapy, body training, painkillers, anti-inflammatory medication, ice application, spa, massage, gels, swimming, back training, and many other techniques or products. However, there are still people suffering from back pain, not finding a satisfying way of relief or facing episodes of back pain so frequently that they cannot work efficiently, cannot train efficiently and generally living with the back pain and having a lower quality of life because of it.

During the last years there is an increasing interest in the application of the Bowen Therapy for back pain. The Bowen technique was firstly introduced by Tom Bowen in Australia. It is characterised as a soft tissue holistic therapy, were the therapist uses mainly his fingers or thumbs and makes specific moves in parts of the body, aiming at the target muscle, tendon, ligament or other involved to the problem connective tissue. Therefore, it is considered as a personalised treatment according to the facing problem of the patient, and his body’s structure and response to the pain and the applied techniques. According to previously published studies, there are numerous of benefits reported after the application of Bowen Therapy, including pain relief, quicker injury recovery, reduction in edema and increased range of motion¹. There is even a published study about the positive effects of Bowen Therapy for migraine relief².

Studies and Research

Many of the studies on Bowen Therapy, highlight its beneficial effect on back pain. In a 2011- study researchers examined “The effects of the Bowen technique on hamstring flexibility over time”. Hamstring muscles are closely related to back pain. Researchers found that people who received a single Bowen treatment noticed “continuing increases in flexibility levels of the hamstring muscles” and they also concluded that Bowen Technique “maintains this level of increase for one week”¹. There is also a 2015 published study highlighting that the Bowen Technique reduces pain and improves the range of motion in the inflamed trapezius muscle which is on the top of your back³. In a more recent study(2016), researchers noticed that after the Bowen Therapy application the severity of pain was decreased, even the pain noticed at night, inconvenience in the use of the lower back, inconvenience in daily movements and work and these changed were noticed after the application of the therapy for three times⁴. There was also a difference in the severity of low back pain which significantly decreased after the application of the Bowen Therapy. On top of that in a (2018) study researchers investigated the effectiveness of Bowen Therapy in patients with non-specific lumbar spine pain syndromes⁵. They found out that “The number of patients who are very satisfied with the effectiveness of the treatment increases from the procedure to the procedure”.

To sum up, back pain is a problem that we all face in different periods of our life no matter how healthy we are. There are plenty of techniques and treatments applied. Lately the Bowen Therapy has shown some very promising effects, confirmed by scientific studies. The results of the studies show that the benefits increase by the number of Bowen therapy procedures so you should not just remain with the satisfaction of the first session but target on more Bowen Therapy sessions to benefit the most out of it!

References

1) Marr M, Baker J, Lambon N, Perry J. The effects of the Bowen technique on hamstring flexibility over time: A randomised controlled trial. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. 2011;15(3):281-290.

2) Gustafson, MHS, BSN, RN S. Bowenwork for Migraine Relief: a Case Report. International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork: Research, Education, & Practice. 2016;9(1).

3) Gurudut, Peeyoosha & Kothari, Neha. (2015). The effectiveness of Bowen Technique as an adjunct to conventional physiotherapy on pain and functional outcomes in subject with Acute Trapezitis – a clinical trial.. Romanian Journal of Phsiotherapy. 21. 5-11.

4) Park S, Kim M, Moon D. A Study on the Effects of Bowen Therapy on Low Back Pain Relief. The Korean Society of Beauty and Art. 2016;17(2):117-129.

5) Kopczyńska E, Malak R, Kostiukow A, Samborski W. Bowen Technique for patients with low back pain [Internet]. Psjd.icm.edu.pl. 2018 [cited 24 February 2020]. Available from: http://psjd.icm.edu.pl/psjd/element/bwmeta1.element.psjd-9a01b3f9-7565-47ec-a7f3-c694bbc79438