can bowen technique help those with cfs

[Gavman]

I have had cfs for four years now. And at one stage i couldn't get out of bed, without pain and bow legs. My schoolfriend with cfs carries a cane around. I probably would have been at that stage but i found bowen technique.

I couldn't stand massages or anything harder, especially chiropractory and their cracking moves.

I felt such relief. And i have taken it up to study. The main areas which seem locked in with me and most others suffering long term problems are the diaphragm and the kidney area (liver gets targeted with the kidney move too). After releasing these, i feel amazing. It hasn't been a long term result. Other things like my hips have been though.

Its an Australian therapy branching out internationally and works on triggering a muscle, which sends a message to the brain and back. The way i see it working is like an update system, hello - this area here hasn't been updated for three years, then the mind and body become connected to process that problem.

I think its like most things in the cfs world, it helps but it alone isn't a cure. Great for muscle aches and pains though as its gentler than massage and great for people who are overly sensitive.

 

[ukxmrv]

It didn't help me Gavman, brought on my normal post exertional malaise big time. Got worse over time and the more that I did.

 

[Gavman]

I did some on myself last night. Felt real good.
Has any specific body therapy work for you? Its strange how some therapies work for some people, while completely the opposite for others.
Since getting more potassium and upping my calcium/magnesium, im finding my body is looser and feels better.

 

[ukxmrv]

I've not been able to find a body therapy because I have post exertional problems after any exercise. It's a hallmark of having ME.

Potassium/magnesium etc do help with muscles but not with post exertional. It's had magnesium injections and various by infusion.

Sore throats and swollen glands and increased viral symptoms occur even after the smallest effort.

It's quite well covered on the ME literature i.e. Dr Ramsay write about it

There is a big difference between ME patients who have this severe post exertional exercise problem and CFS patients who may not have this particular symptom.

 

[Phil]

Hi ukxmrv
I want to be sure I understand your response to body work. Are you saying that even if you do something which consists mostly of light touches (Bowen has a rather neurological orientation and the work I had did not have any heavy anything no deep tissue work or even massage in it) that you get PEM from that? Also could you tell me what other types of body work have caused PEM for you? Thanks

 

[moblet]

My sense is that structural intervention can only help if there is a structural component to one's illness. I have fibro, not CFS, and my problems are fundamentally structural, thus cranial osteopathy is my primary treatment. I have PEM but cranial osteopathy is even more subtle than Bowen so there's no extertional component to the treatment, however it's not uncommon to experience something akin to shock and be fairly well immobilised for a while when membranes release and shift in the days/weeks following a treatment.

As to whether Bowen is the right therapy, it's part of a family of structural therapies ranging through Alexander Technique, Rolfing, cranio-sacral therapy, and osteopathy, among others, they developed independently but are all related. Most of these therapies have a fairly limited toolset and I wonder what the chances are that someone with a tractable structural problem will be helped by any one of them, e.g. if one's structural problem doesn't respond to the specific Bowen moves then there will be no improvement, and I don't know what percentage of structural problems of which kinds would respond to Bowen. I haven't tried Bowen or any of the non-professional therapies but as in my case the fasciae are mere victims of the dura (something I'm not sure anyone outside cranial osteopathy would recognise), and to my knowledge cranial osteopaths have by far the most complete toolset, I don't see any point in trying them, especially as I would have to suspend my current treatment in order to do so.

I am in the habit of recommending to anyone who is a medical mystery (as I am) that they get a structural assessment, preferably from an experienced cranial osteopath as I reckon they're least likely to miss anything. Some people who fit the CFS et al profile have tractable structural problems as a major component of their illness, not everyone though. Bowen is something I would say can be tried if it's handy and if it works, great, the issues for me are that the practitioner isn't able to do a complete structural assessment, and that failing to respond to Bowen does not rule out the possibility that treatable structural problems exist, so I would say that not much gets learned in that case. If it doesn't work it doesn't do any harm, it's just a loss of money and the energy it took to get there.

 

[valentinelynx]

I tried Bowen therapy for quite a while some years ago. I can't say whether it made a significant difference, mainly because there is so much fluctuation in my symptoms. I was certainly overall doing better at that time than now, but had been before I started the treatment. I felt very relaxed after treatment, but that's not surprising, given that you lie in a dim quiet room between gentle touches. The one thing I can comment on clearly is that it did not help my hand pain, which was one of my first symptoms and has persisted throughout the 18 years of my illness. The woman who did the long series of treatments on me was surprised and frustrated that she was unable to help this symptom. I know she did some research trying to find the "key" to this. I kinda felt bad for her, she was so frustrated about it.

What I eventually found that makes a huge difference for my body pain is Thai massage. I highly recommend this for anyone with fibromyalgia or myofascial pain syndrome (two different things, often confused by physicians). For people with fibromyalgia or ME/CFS I suggest that a well-trained therapist with a strong intuitive ability is a necessity to avoid having a substandard or even harmful treatment by a beginner or someone working from a "cookbook." Not for anyone who cannot tolerate bodywork, however.

 

[ukxmrv]

Hi Phil,

I saw a Bowen therapist 3 times and the light touch caused PEM and increased pain when we tried to work on my posture and painful points. Lying down for anything very bad - even with pillows, towels etc. We tried different things.

(also alexander technique a long time ago, plus massage too painful, oasteopathy too painful, cranial OK but lying on a table a disaster, T chi, yoga etc - all done in expert hands from long qualified and often native experts)

Dry needling the best for me for FM pain and stiffness

 

[imabath]

There is a free Bowen study in Salt Lake/Utah Valley (Utah) area. Anyone interested in trying Bowen send your contact info to imabath@yahoo.com.