In 2001 a pilot study evaluated clients’ experience of Bowen Technique in the treatment of frozen shoulder in terms of their pain, functional ability and well-being.
The study has been published by Bernie Carter in Complementary Therapies in Medicine.
Twenty participants with frozen shoulder have been treated with Bowen Technique using ‘frozen shoulder procedure’.
The number of therapists involved in the study was restricted to two and a qualified Bowen Instructor reviewed their practice to help ensure consistency, standardization and ‘purity’ of the technique. This review required the therapists being observed undertaking the sequence of moves and in providing an explanation for their practice. They were also reviewed by the researcher (who is not a Bowen Therapist) for their accuracy in completing the consultation sheets and accuracy in completing the scoring aspects of the consultation (for example, the range of motion). The study was given ethical approval by the Local Research Ethics Committee.
The majority of participants had experienced pain for over three months. Most participants had experienced reduced range of motion in the affected shoulder for as long as they had had the pain, while some had experienced a slower reduction of range of motion as the shoulder gradually froze.
The therapist assessed and scored the participants’ range of active and passive motion in both shoulders at each visit across a range of six movements (abduction, flexion, extension, medial rotation, lateral rotation and‘wall climb’)
Pain was scored at each therapy session and through the completion of a ‘Daily Pain Diary’. Participants rated their daily worst, least and average pain intensity on a 0–10 scale (by circling the relevant score).
Treatment completion occurred at the end of five sessions (the maximum number of sessions considered appropriate for the treatment of frozen shoulder) or before this if there was resolution or substantial resolution of symptoms (such as very minimal pain scores)
The results showed improvement in shoulder mobility and associated function for all participants. All participants experienced improvement in their daily activities.
Conclusions: Bowen Technique demonstrated an improvement for participants, even those with a very long standing history of frozen shoulder.
