The Bowen Technique and Sports
A Winning Formula
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The Bowen Technique
and Sports: A Winning Formula
Author: Alastair Rattray
Published: in July/August 2002 -The Massage and Body Therapists Magazine
When my phone rang one day, I was surprised to find a well-known
international footballer from a London First Division club on the line.
"Can you give me a Bowen treatment as soon as possible?" he asked. It
would have been less of a surprise if he had asked for a massage, as
footballers are addicted to massage. While it is true that the Bowen
Technique is an excellent therapy that could well be of great help to
him, it is not yet a mainstream therapy in professional football
circles. However, he was very specific: it was a Bowen Technique
treatment he wanted.
When I saw him at his West London hotel, I asked him what his injuries
were. He told me that he had often been injured and missed matches and
training just as other players had until, three and a half years
previously, he had been introduced to the Bowen Technique. Since that
time, he had had a Bowen every week wherever he was in the world. As a
result, he had not missed a single match or training day in three and a
half years.
There have been many articles in professional journals and the press
accurately describing the Bowen Technique as a gentle, holistic therapy,
which would seem to make it a rather unusual therapy for the world of
sport. It was developed by Australian Tom Bowen, a remarkable man who
lived in Geelong, New South Wales. Although Tom left school at 14 and
had no medical training, he became so busy that he had to give up his
job at the Geelong Cement Works and set up a full time clinic. He also
took great pleasure in treating the footballers for his local team.
The technique itself is very simple. The practitioner uses thumbs and
forefingers to make small, rolling-type movements across muscle and
tendon at very precise points on the body. There are a number of
theories as to how the technique actually works. As it has such
far-reaching results, it would be difficult to set up a complete
scientific programme to prove any of them. However, what does seem to
happen is that the gentle moves across muscle and tendons cause a
disturbance that the brain does not recognise. In checking out what is
happening, adjustments take place where and when things don't seem to be
functioning correctly. This results in the body being re-balanced;
something many clients will comment on after their treatments. An
example of this would be a 'frozen shoulder'. Some frozen shoulders can
stay the same for many years. Often, the original cause of the condition
went away many years before, yet the muscles around the shoulder are
still in spasm trying to protect it. The client has no pain, but just
cannot raise their arm beyond about 30%. After some simple Bowen
treatment, the spasm is released and the arm begins to function
normally.
So why does our international footballer find that his body is so well
adjusted it can take the increasing pressure of matches at the highest
levels, longer seasons, and much physical impact without being sidelined
with injury? The main point about his regular Bowen treatments is that
the whole body is treated and the balancing is of the complete body.
Many injuries in sport are sustained when the body has been unable to
cope with sudden, additional stress. Common amongst these is the
hamstring injury. If the pelvic area is not properly balanced, and there
are many reasons for this to happen as the body constantly adjusts to
various stresses, then there is an additional load on the hamstring. It
only takes further stress to cause an injury, even when the hamstring
has been properly warmed up and stretched. At one club, all players
received a weekly Bowen treatment. Historically, the club suffered an
average of 7 - 8 hamstring injuries each season, yet after regular Bowen
treatments were introduced, they didn't have a single one all season.
C A S E H I S T O R Y
FOOTBALLER
"I was asked to try Bowen therapy by my
football physio as I had been having problems with my back, groins and
upper leg muscles for most of the season. I'd been to a chiropractor a
few times and on my last visit she had advised there was nothing really
wrong with my bone structure. I continued to play but still felt
restricted in my movements so I decided to give Bowen a try. "I didn't
really know what to expect but I was determined to keep an open mind and
give it a go. I can't explain how it worked but after a couple of
treatments the problems I had been having virtually disappeared. I was
able to touch my toes with the palms of my hands - something I'd not
been able to do for a long while and I seemed to be able to go the
duration of a game easily where I had been struggling before. "When
people ask 'does it work?' I find the best way to tell them about it is
my scoring ratio since having Bowen. I'd only scored 5 goals in 27 games
before Bowen treatment. From the time I started having treatment until
the end of the season, I scored 10 in 12 and from my point of view, that
says it all! I also didn't miss a game through injury." -
Danny Adams,
footballer
A key feature of Bowen Technique treatment is that the therapist will
make a couple of moves and then leave the room for a few minutes. This
short break gives time for the body to respond - to "take on board" -
the very precise and effective stimulation of the gentle moves. These
breaks are unique but essential: they allow the body to start the work.
However, what is a very important feature of Bowen is that the work,
started during the treatment, will go on for at least a week and
sometimes longer. It is not unusual for a client to report that on day
three the condition was a bit better and by day five it had disappeared.
Because of these breaks, practitioners can have two treatment rooms
going at the same time without compromising the treatment to either of
the clients.
Massage has many excellent benefits, amongst them producing a feeling of
relaxation and well-being. Clients report the same sensations after a
Bowen treatment. The difference is that massage, like many other
therapies, is an intervention where the therapist produces the results
and the body takes on the treatment. Bowen, however, relies completely
on the body doing all the work. As a result the treatment is the start
of a process that carries on, with the benefits of well-being continuing
far longer than a massage would have achieved. The results at a drugs
rehabilitation centre in London have shown that Bowen is the only
therapy offered which produces really long-term results. Often, clients
report feeling calmer and able to see important decisions through, often
for the first time in years.
What is so remarkable about the Bowen Technique is that it is both completely safe and very gentle, yet can be used to treat virtually any condition. The results therapists achieve are quite remarkable. Apart from muscular-skeletal problems being successfully addressed, other conditions such as tennis elbow, frozen shoulder, RSI and carpal tunnel, constant headaches and migraine, asthma (with children responding remarkably quickly), sleeping problems, irritable bowel syndrome, PMT and period problems, colic and many more. It is therefore not surprising to find more and more qualified masseurs, physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, nurses and doctors joining courses to learn the technique. Just how many treatments can you give in a day? With the Bowen Technique it is perfectly possible to give 12, 15, 20 a day, using the breaks to treat a second client at the same time and still feel fresh afterwards. As there is no pressure used, nor massage, it is a very gentle technique on the therapist as well.
C A S E H I S T O R Y
RUNNER
"I recently changed my running shoes and
began to notice an uncomfortable strain down my left Achilles. On
finishing each run the area would burn and be painful for some hours
later. "This developed until running became impossible without pain.
Direct work with massage and other hands-on approaches to the area
created little relief. On seeing a Bowen practitioner a suggestion was
made that the problem could be coming from the sacroiliac joint in the
lower back. Three sessions working in this area gave permanent relief. I
now see the Bowen practitioner only if I am preparing for a big race."
David Jacobs, 32
If the re-balancing of the muscular skeletal system can have such a very
positive effect on sports people, it also has a similar effect on people
not involved in anything more taxing than a visit to the local gym.
However, what has become apparent is that the Bowen Technique affects
all the body's systems so many surprising results take place in addition
to fixing some injury. For example, a client reported suffering from an
infection for 18 months, receiving antibiotics every three months. The
condition never improved much despite the drugs. Yet, after just one
Bowen treatment, the condition improved by 50% in a week and was totally
clear in two weeks and has not returned. Clearly, the immune system was
not defending the body and had now been re-balanced and was doing its
job again.
As a Doctor said on a radio interview about complementary therapies,
"Before you have that operation, try the Bowen Technique. I have seen it
work. I don't know why, but it does!"
Alastair Rattray has held the Football Association Treatment of Injury
Certificate since 1972 and is a member and secretary of the FA Medical
Society (SE). He was Club Physio to semi-professional clubs, Amersham
Town and then Chesham United for 10 years. He is a qualified masseur and
added the Bowen Technique in 1997. He practises both near Tonbridge, and
in London. He teaches the Bowen Technique in London and the South East
for the European College of Bowen Studies. For courses in London &
SouthEast: 01892.547.703 or e-mail: [email protected] For courses in
the rest of the UK: European College of Bowen Studies, 01373.461.873 -
Or visit www.TheBowenTechnique.com
