Bowen Therapy for Arthritis

​Arthritis is often worse during the cold, but so many people are in significant pain from arthritic joints all year round.  And it is not necessarily the aged that experience pain from arthritis.

​Arthritis can start at any age, but it commonly begins or worsens as we get older, and there is no cure.  Regardless of the age, it hurts, it gets worse in cold weather, often there is no relief, and it’s definitely no fun.  Long-term pain can severely impact people’s quality of life, stealing their joy and often leading to depression.
 
Most of my clients who see me for arthritic pain get significant to moderate pain relief with Bowen Therapy, and use regular fortnightly, monthly or bi-monthly Bowen treatments to manage their pain or their tolerance of it.  A few of my arthritic clients have even become pain free!  I do not believe that Bowen (or I) can cure arthritis, but I now believe that arthritis does not necessarily have to hurt.
 
When we feel pain in one area, our body will try to use it as little as possible and over-use other parts, causing a cascade of compensating patterns throughout the whole body.  Often people who present with arthritis in one area have developed chronic pain in other parts of their body as well. 
 
Here are some of the ways I think Bowen influences arthritic pain:

• Bowen improves lymphatic drainage in swollen joints, and helps release uric acid, relieving stiffness and pain.
• Bowen relaxes tense muscles allowing joints to align properly, restoring space in the joint capsule so that the cartilage can renew and the joint has room to repair.
• Bowen relieves tension in the compensatory muscles, helping to restore balance to the body.
• Bowen restores muscles to the correct length and tension, allowing firing patterns of compensatory muscles to normalise, thereby interrupting the compensatory patterns of the body.
• Bowen stimulates the part of the brain that monitors the internal environment as well as that part of the nervous system that switches the body from flight and fight to rest and digest, triggering the body’s innate self-healing process to begin.

 
Bowen Therapy is a safe, effective and gentle form of bodywork that can successfully treat arthritis and many other aches and pains.  It is a soft tissue therapy characterised by a series of gentle, precise moves carried out in a rolling motion, and is usually done with the person lying in loose clothing on a massage table although can be adapted to treat people in a sitting position if they are unable to lie down comfortably.  It is very gentle, with no vigorous rubbing or excessive joint mobilisation techniques involved. It is safe for everyone of all ages.
 
There isn’t any cure for arthritis but if you suffer from this painful condition a few things that can help are:

1. Gentle exercise like hydrotherapy, yoga or pilates;
2. A healthy diet of non-inflammatory foods;
3. Adequate restful sleep;
4. A gentle bodywork modality that works for you.

 
I believe that Bowen Therapy can contribute to making every body feel better. If you or a loved one are suffering from arthritis or chronic pain, book them in for a session with me.  I wonder if you’re one of those people with arthritis who doesn’t need to be in pain?  As one of my clients said recently:
 
“Bowen can’t work if you don’t give it a go.”
 
Visit my website, www.bowentherapydubbo.com.au for more information,
or give me a call on 0427 143 743 to book a Bowen treatment soon.

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