Bowen, have you heard about it? No, well neither had I!

Details

Category: General

Created on Wednesday, 17 August 2011 14:12

Published on Wednesday, 17 August 2011 14:07

Hits: 11969

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia last July. I have two children, a 1 year old and a 2 year old, and a new job which I loved, so my life and career were looking great. Then 2 weeks into training for my new job I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Since then I have battled with coming to terms with it. In February this year I had to give up my job caring for other people.

My state of mind has been all over the place, as I felt my life was over. I tried to end my life several times and turned to self-harming. I thought my life was over; I was a failure at my job, as a mother and as a wife. I put my family through so much over the last year. Some days I could not get out of bed. I could not work. I could not care for my kids. I was just a burden on everyone. They would have been better off without me, or so I thought at the time.

I have attended the pain clinic, pain management classes and have a community psychiatric nurse , but the big turn-around came 4 weeks ago when I met Mariette, my therapist. I went to see her for hypnosis to help me lose weight. When discussing my health issues, she asked me if I would be interested in having the Bowen Technique. She is currently training in the Bowen Technique and she asked if I would be interested in being her test subject. I said I would try anything, as I am sure most of us Fibromites would.

Mariette has lots of experience in alternative therapies and is now currently training in the Bowen Technique; she runs her own practice in Kirkcaldy in Fife. She is very interested in bringing alternative therapies to the NHS and after receiving my treatment and seeing the difference it has made to me this would seem a great therapy for the NHS to invest in, so I am attempting to spread the word as much as I can.

I have read lots of information both on fibromyalgia and Bowen now and definitely see the links. Fibromyalgia causes areas of extreme tenderness and sensitivity in bands of muscle underneath your skin. These trigger points can be felt beneath the skin and produce pain and twitching in the muscles. I am no physician, but Bowen is used to roll the fascia, the sheath that surrounds the bones, tissues, organs, and blood vessels throughout the body. It made sense to me that Bowen would at least help in reducing the pain of fibromyalgia.

My average pain level before Bowen was about 8/10 and fatigue around the same. It was a great relaxing experience and I could feel the pain releasing from my body as Mariette carried out the rolling massage on me. I could feel the pain work its way from my toes up through my body and out at the top. I must admit I was sceptical, but I soon realized, how good it was. I had the treatment around 10 in the morning, the treatment lasted an hour. By about 11.30am, I felt on top of the world, I felt like I could run a marathon. My pain and fatigue averaged out about 4/10 in the first week, but in the 2^nd and 3^rd week it was between 2/10 and 0/10. Brilliant! The only day I had a higher level seemed to always happen on the 3^rd day around a 6 or 7/10. But 1 day out of 7, having a bad day is brilliant. My overall mood and outlook in life is better.

I was on several medicines, three different pain killers and anti-depressants but since starting the Bowen Technique I have reduced my pain medication from taking it four times a day to taking it just once a day at bedtime

Given the cost of pain killers, could it be cheaper to use the Bowen Therapy? The NHS already support acupuncture, I think it will just be a matter of time and research before it offers the Bowen Technique.

 By Avril Watson