Bowen Therapy and the Million Dollar Question

The question that so many people ask is "How does Bowen Therapy work?"

In order to help us answer this question, and to help clients (as well as Therapists) get a better idea of what is happening to the body during a treatment of Bowen Technique; I have attached a short video of the Principal of the European College of Bowen Studies, Julian Baker describing in straightforward terms what goes on following a 'Bowen Move' and why such a gentle rolling type move can have such profound effects on the body's ability to heal.

Watch and Enjoy.

It's Official! Bowen Therapy & Hamstrings

R E S E A R C H    A B S T R A C T

Effects of The Bowen Technique on Flexibility Levels:
Implications for Fascial Plasticity

Michelle Marr, MSc BSc (Hons) PgCertEd MCSP
Chartered Physiotherapist and External Lecturer for Coventry University

Nicky Lambon, MA MCSP SRP DipTP
Principal Lecturer and Programme Manager at Coventry University, UK

Julian Baker, Director of The European College of Bowen Studies
Corsley Centre, Wiltshire BA12 7QF 
Phone: 01373 832340
email: info@thebowentechnique.com

BACKGROUND:   Hamstring strains are the most common sport-related injury in the lower limb, with high recurrence rates and lengthy recovery periods. Causal links between lack of flexibility and development of muscle strain injury are frequently reported. The financial implication of treating such injuries provides a continual drive to deliver more effective, evidence-based treatment.  Since 1994, a complementary therapy called ‘The Bowen Technique’ has been used to treat inflexibility and many other conditions. The technique provides gentle rolling moves over fascial interfaces without heating, stretching or specific joint mobilisation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the Bowen technique, on the hamstring flexibility of healthy subjects, over time.

METHOD: A single-blinded, longitudinal, RCT was performed on 116 male and female volunteers. Participants were randomly allocated into a control group or Bowen intervention group. Three hamstring flexibility measurements were taken from each subject over one week, using an active knee extension test and an electrogoniometer. An independent assessor verified the


RESULTS: Data were analysed using independent t-tests. Significant increases in hamstring flexibility were demonstrated in the Bowen group immediately post-test (p<0.0005). These increases maintained for one week (p<0.0005) without further treatment.


CONCLUSION: A single treatment of the Bowen technique significantly increases the flexibility of the hamstring muscles in healthy subjects and maintains this increase for a period of one week in the absence of tissue heating, stretching, or specific joint mobilisation. Previous quantitative research has reported sustained flexibility increases for a maximum of twenty-four hours. This study has provided new information relating to the subject of flexibility. The superficial and gentle nature of the Bowen Technique invalidates explanations of tissue creep yet provides implications for plasticity following proprioceptive stimulation along the thoracolumbar and lumboeplvic myofascial slings. Further research is required into such proprioceptive mechanisms in relation to manual therapy techniques.
January 2008

This research was published in the Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies in July 2011.

A New look at Anatomy: The Cutting Edge - Exeter 7th March £25

This is going to be a one off special.
I must be insane, as I am going to be holding my signature 1 Day seminar 'A New look at anatomy: The Cutting Edge of Fight or Flight, Fat & Fascia' which is an FHT Accredited CPD course for an unbelievable £25!!!

There are so many Therapists out there who just can't afford the ever increasing CPD requirements, yet it is vital that they do so with growing regulation. So I am giving everyone the chance to learn something spectacular, new and exciting in the world of Human Anatomy.

For those of you who have not attended before, my presentation are informative, visually entertaining, and most of all FUN.

It all happens on Wednesday, 7th March at the Holmedale Health Centre. We start at 9.30am and aim to finish around 4.30pm.

I look forward to see you there.

FHT Accredited Full Day Course - 7th march exeter - Only £25

This is the only chance to attend "A New Look at Anatomy" fully FHT accredited CPD course for therapists in Exeter for a staggering £25. Yes just £25 for 6 hours of cutting edge discoveries about the human body. everything fro the History of Medicine, the Fight or Flight Mechanism to tensional anatomy and ground breaking dissections. Only 12 places available - Book Now

New Seminar - The Successful Therapist: How to get yourself noticed

Hold on to your breaches, ABJ is back in Bath! 29th February. The latest Metabolics seminar from that barking mad Therapist Lecturer (with fluffy dog). All new 1 day course "The Successful Therapist:How to Get Yourself Noticed" - Everything from simple marketing techniques to branding and networking! The best kept secrets to making a success of your therapy business without breaking the bank. Book your place now! contact philly@metabolics.co.uk

What Grandma Used To Say

Granny used to say that a bath in Epsom Salts at the end of a hard day worked wonders! Was this just a quaint folk remedy or was there truth behind this rather effective approach, that many a welsh miner swore by?

When we exercise or do hard physical labour Calcium builds up in our system, as Calcium is used to tight our muscles. Magnesium is in essence it's opposite, as Magnesium relaxes muscle tissue.

Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulphate) Soaks can be extremely
helpful for many muscular conditions and are often recommended.
Amongst many other functions Magnesium helps

nerve and muscle function
joint health
digestive processes
helps to reduce swelling / pain of muscle strain
relaxes
can be mood-elevating

Soaking in a nice warm (not hot) bath containing about 250g of Epsom Salts
once or twice a week can be an excellent aid to easing aches and
pains.   If you do this last thing before going to bed you may have a
better night’s sleep.

Feet can also be soaked in a wash-up bowl of warm water
containing a few tablespoons of Epsom Salts if bathing is a problem.

N.B.  contra-indication of using Epsom Salts is if you have High Blood Pressure, if in doubt consult your Doctor.

Epsom Salts can be found in most good pharmacies and health shops.
If you have difficulty locating them, please contact me.

Granny was right then, although I would say that Epsom Salt should really only be used externally.

TTFN

Cut Down on Fruit and Eat more Lard!

Perhaps you may think that by creating the above title that I may have finally lost the plot.
well as bonkers as this statement may sound, there is in fact a certain method to what appears on the surface to be Madness.

Lard is a Saturated Fat, which for nearly 50 years has been labelled as being bad for us. However given that our brain is made of just Saturated Fat and Cholesterol it seems somewhat odd that it should be labelled as such. Coupled with the fact that so many other aspects of our system rely on Saturated Fat rather than unsaturated is again a puzzle. Every time we breathe, the lubricant that allows us to do that is ....saturated fat.
Mothers milk is 54% Saturated 46% Unsaturated. This is not a mistake. Our bodies need roughly a 50/50 split of Saturated and unsaturated fats. There is growing evidence that out very obsession with unsaturated and trans fats is possibly a major contributing factor to alzheimers, dementia and parkinsons, as well as many others.

Fruit Sugars (Fructose) quite literally make us fat.
if you were to consume 100g of glucose, your liver doesn't have to work very hard to process it, as glucose happily potters about in our blood stream. Of that 100g, about 4g-6g of that is 'held back' as Fat.
If however you were to consume 100g of Fructose, you liver have to run practically at full tilt to process it, and of that 100g, about 40g of it will become Fat.

Most fruit tend to be a combination of Fructose, Sucrose and Glucose.
A good portion of them tend to be mostly Fructose - hence 'Fruit Sugar'.

The new line of thinking is that Unsaturated and Saturated fats are good for you, as are vegetables - particular cruciferous one (broccolli, cabbage, then green ones etc). However Trans fats (fats that have been messed with) and High Fructose Fruits are a no no.

Hence my original title: 'Cut down on Fruit and Eat more Lard'


This leads me on nicely to my next seminars in Exeter and Bath on this very subject, and entitled appropriately enough: 'A New Look at Fat: The Good, The Bad, and the Zebra'


watch the Video, then book a place.

For details about the Exeter Seminar please contact me on 07811 518351


For the Seminar in Bath please contact philly@metabolics.co.uk


TTFN