Bowen Therapy

[Worm]

Anyone know much about this?

I'd never heard of it, but some Googling suggests that it is becoming quite popular.

Our staff 'newsletter' often carries offers of discounts for staff from outside companies and service providers, and this week there's one in from someone who is pushing Bowen Therapy and claiming all sorts of benefits.

I've not been able to find much clinical information on this, so I'm not sure how much (if any) of their claim is woo and how much is possible...

[Zep]

Total woo. Alas, my otherwise sane brother thinks it is good stuff. :(

[JJM]

Go to http://www.quackwatch.org/ and search for "Bowen"

[Worm]

First thing I did :) Not a lot of information out there unfortunately. I suspect it gets swept up with a lot of these alternative 'massage therapies' and so on. Hard to know which of the claims are complete rubbish.

They specifically mention relief from 'back pain' and 'neck pain' which I guess is, to a degree, fair enough as any reasonable massage will have some effect. I'm less sure about things like 'respiratory conditions', 'PMT/hormonal balance' and 'Childhood conditions' which sounds like classic woo to me.

Relief from 'Irritable bowel syndrome' from massage...really?

And there is, of course, the usual woo up-front about re-aligning energy and so on, which is a bit of a give-away to be honest.

[Big Les]

I have a friend that does it - I could enquire on your behalf. Although she is deep into the woo in general so it may be of little help.

The only trial I've found is this;

http://www.medicinescomplete.com/journals/fact/current/fact0701a13a05.htm?q=#_hit

More are listed here (http://www.bowentherapytechnique.com/BowenPat/Research.html) but seem to be even more based upon "yup, I feel better" anecdote than the above.

AFAIK it's physical massage with a wholly unproven energy BS mechanism supposedly underlying it. So just as acupuncture "works" but not because of "qi", this may well alleviate pain and discomfort without realigning your chakras (or whatever) - by distraction, placebo, and good old fashioned relaxation of tense muscles.

[Fengirl]

This rang some bells... I recall starting a thread asking about Bowen therapy when my vet suggested it for my dog a few years ago. Thread is here (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=55978). I never did get my dog "Bowen-ed"...!