Summary
Introduction: The Bowen technique is a therapeutic approach to body work that involves
rotating movements over soft tissues. Postcovid syndrome shows the symptomatology of a wide
range of symptoms such as neurocognitive, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal and psychological.
The aim of this study was to monitor the impact of the Bowen therapy/technique in a patient with
postcovid syndrome.
Therapy/Techniques: A 42-year-old patient diagnosed with postcovid syndrome was given the
Bowen therapy once a week for 9 weeks. After a two-week break, we continued with one-week
therapies for another 4 weeks. After a break of 4 weeks, we applied 3 more therapies.
Results: A significant reduction in pain was observed according to the VAS scale. From the
initial testing till the first break, the pain was moderately and the other symptoms were
significantly reduced, and during the second and third breaks the pain was significantly reduced.
Conclusion: The Bowen technique can significantly contribute to the relief of symptoms in
patients with post covid.
Introduction:
The Bowen technique is a therapeutic approach to body work based on the clinical work of Mr
Thomas Ambrouz Bowen. It is about an increasing number of approaches, each based on the
conclusions and interpretations of a particular person who was treated by Bowen. The Bowen
technique involves unique rotating movements over soft tissues that are applied on the specific
locations of a body (1).
In the mid-1950s, the Bowen technique appeared in Australia that began to spread very quickly
and easily due to its holistic effect and influence on ANS (Autonomic Nervous System, bringing
the sympathetic and parasympathetic parts into balance), receptors (proprio and exteroceptors),
lymphatic circulation, fascia, tender points as well as the releasing of endorphins (’feel-good
hormones’), easy applicability and a small number of contraindications. The only condition by
its creator was that anyone who wants, regardless of profession, can learn and practice this
technique. His students founded the Academy in the 1980s, which led to the spread of the
technique throughout Europe. It is recognized in Australia by public and private health
insurance, as well as in the UK. The Bowen technique came to Serbia in 2009. So far, there are
over 60 certified and registered therapists. In 2020, the world survived the most dramatic period
in the last century due to the pandemic and Covid19 disease caused by the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
Even if the current literature on postcovid symptoms is still in its early stages, various symptoms
are reported: neurocognitive (brain fog, fainting, loss of attention, confusion), autonomic (chest
pain, tachycardia), gastrointestinal (diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting), respiratory (fatigue,
dyspnea, cough, sore throat), musculoskeletal (myalgia, altralgia), psychological (post-traumatic
stress disorder, depression, insomnia) (2-7) Due to the problems and prevalence of Covid 19 in
the world, we believe that it is important to show the application of this technique/therapy to
postcovid syndrome.
The aim of this study was to point out the improvement of clinical efficacy in relieving pain and
other subjective symptoms in a patient with postcovid syndrome.
CASE DESCRIPTION
A patient N. D. is 42 years old, a teacher by profession. She was infected with Covid in March
2021. According to her, she had milder symptoms, but the inflammation of the sinuses during the
covid was very strong. Problems occur in the postcovid period and she turns to a
neurocardiologist (BM) who diagnoses “Autonomic Neuropathy” with the explanation: “Extreme
variation of pulse and pressure characteristic of multisystem inflammatory syndrome during
orthostatic test”. Among the subjective problems, she cites pain in the eyes as intensive,
narrowed visual field, instability in gait. She constantly repeats that she has a feeling that
someone hit her in the head and that there is a feeling of dizziness, she feels pain in the hips,
back and groin and she also reports painful menstrual cycles. Because of these problems, she
became very anxious, withdrawn and insecure. Since she is a teacher and works at school, it is a
problem for her to teach and interact with students. She heard about Bowen from a friend and on
her recommendation decided to try with the treatments/therapy.
The method/therapy/technique we used was BRP or bowen-relaxing movement. The
movement itself consists of three phases: slack – pulling the skin while avoiding moving the
tissue underneath, challenge – pressure on the muscle fibers as vertically as possible with a delay
of about 3 seconds and rolling – movement over the muscle to return to its original state after
stretching. Each BRP is followed by a mandatory break of at least 2 minutes. It is necessary for
the therapist to leave the room after the movement so that the patient can relax as much as
possible. The mentioned movements are grouped into a series of movements called BRP1, BRP2
and BRP3, which are performed in the specific order and on certain locations of the body.
Movements are also grouped into specific procedures for specific parts of the body or organ
systems. The treatment itself is carried out once a week, preferably for seven days. In a 42-yearold patient diagnosed with postcovid syndrome, the Bowen therapy was applied once a week for
a period of 9 weeks. After a 2-week break, we continued with one-week therapies for another 4
weeks. After a break of 4 weeks, we applied 3 more therapies. We used the Visual-Analogue
Scale 0 to 10 (VAS) to assess pain. We drew a straight line with a ruler, marked the beginning
with 0 (no pain) and the end with 10 (maximum pain). Then the examinee marked the point on
that line with a dot that most closely described her experience of pain in the last 24 hours.
RESULTS:
A significant reduction in pain was observed in the patient according to the VAS scale. From the
initial testing to the first break, the pain and other symptoms gradually decreased, only to
disappear completely during the second and third breaks.
Date of therapy Procedures applied Subjective description of the
patient’s condition
02.10.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3 She feels better, her field of
vision is wider, she sleeps
better, but she still feels
anxious. An intensive feeling
of pressure in the area of the
small pelvis and bladder
while standing. VAS9
10.10.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, pelvic
procedure
Less pressure in the pelvis, no
feeling that it is pulling her
down. More motivated, more
stable, better ballance.
Headaches and radiating pain
on the rotation of the head
and neck occured as well as
lateral movement of the
eyeballs. VAS9
17.10.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, pelvic
procedure
She says she feels better,
although she still has a
feeling of imbalance. But the
menstrual cycle is less painful
and she feels less anxious.
24.10.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, respiratory
procedure
She feels better in general.
She says that everything is
slowly coming into place. But
sinuses pain and nasal speech
occur.
31.10.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, TMJ, sinus
procedure
She says she feels better and
that she feels much less pain
in her sinuses. VAS7
07.11.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, TMJ2
(temporomandibular joint
procedure)
She reports a completely
painless menstrual cycle and
feeling less dizzy. She says
she feels even better! VAS5
15.11.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, kidney and
hamstrings procedures
She had a meeting with a
potential boyfriend, she was a
little emotionally shaken, but
her condition and field of
vision improved, she feels
less and less dizzy.
22.11.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, sternal
procedure
During the whole week she
felt shivers and tingles all
over her body. She says she
wasn’t scared because she
knew that it was Bowen that
was working. The field of
vision is much better.
Generally stable and smiling!
VAS3
29.11.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, knee and
joint procedures
Calmer, safer, she started
with private lessons. She
doesn’t feel anxious.
Menstrual cycles completely
painless.
13.12.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, kidney and
shoulder precedures
There was a break for two
weeks. She reports that she
feels great! Cheerful, relaxed.
The field of vision has almost
completely expanded. She
feels stable, there is no
feeling of imbalance. She
reports a problem with
sinuses (it was a cold
weather).
20.12.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, sinus
procedure, TMJ2
(temporomandibular joint)
Her sinuses are better, she has
a feeling that her eyes have
opened. She says that she is
getting better and better, but
she has a feeling that she
needs more procedures
applied.
27.12.2021 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, pelvis
procedure
She says she only needs a
little bit for her field of vision
to be complete. Everything
else is fine.
04.01. 2022 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, coccyx
procedure, TMJ
All the same as the previous
time. The situation has not
changed.
31.01.2022 Brp1, Brp2, Brp3, kidney
procedure
There was a break due to
school holidays. During the
holidays, she felt great, but
towards the end, she began to
feel mild tension and
nervousness. Menstrual
cycles are painless, physical
condition is good, there is no
problem with balance, her
sinuses are fine. She quite
easily gets through 6 classes
at school. VAS2
07.02.2022 Brp1,Brp2, Brp3, respiratory
procedure, TMJ
(temporomandibular joint)
She feels great physically! No
pain, no feeling of heaviness
in the pelvis. She regained
her self-confidence, goes out,
hangs out. She says she needs
only a tiny bit for her field of
vision to be complete.
14.02.2022 Brp1,Brp2, Brp3, sternal and
lymph procedures
Physically she feels great.
She is mentally stable, calm,
there is no tremor in her
hands, she no longer feels
fears of falling and instability.
Her field of vision is
excellent, she can see widely.
She says that she feels
relaxed, as if everything is
flowing easily. Students at
school noticed the change,
they told her she was shining!
She feels at peace.
Tabela1
DISCUSSION
In the first 9 weeks we noticed a significant reduction in pain, from VAS 9 at the beginning to
VAS 3 at the end of the 9th week. In the first 6 weeks, there was a complete loss of pain before
and during the menstrual cycle. The feeling of heaviness in the small pelvis disappeared after 2
treatments, which greatly contributed to the reduction and later, after the 9th treatment, a
complete disappearance of the feeling of anxiety, which was very intensive at the beginning. The
improvement of the visual field occurred after the first treatment, and in the first 9 weeks it
significantly improved. There was also a significant reduction in dizziness which contributed to
the fear of falling and general anxiety and a moderate improvement in physical shape.
Sinus problems occurred during the 4th treatment but after the 5th treatment the symptoms
significantly decreased. We observed that there was a significant reduction of postcovid
symptoms. Already after the first break and during the second series of treatments which lasted
for 4 weeks, the patient felt a concrete improvement primarily in improving balance, and almost
completely expanding the visual field. The problems with sinuses returned, but to a much lesser
extent and in a short term and the symptoms were successfully reduced after one treatment.
During the 3rd series, a significant progress was noticed in the increase of physical shape and
complete loss of brain fog and dizziness that were present at the beginning. At the end of this
study, the patient is in excellent physical shape, there is no pain, no problems with balance,
completely regains her self-confidence and she is mentally stable (no more tremors that were
present before).
The authors have not found studies in the literature that monitor the effect of the Bowen therapy
in patients with postcovid syndrome so far. This is also one of the reasons why we decided to
describe this case.
Kopczyńska et al. indicate that the Bowen technique is a specific form of therapy and differs
from generally known and applied methods/therapies/techniques. They realize that the problem
in creating research on the effectiveness of this therapy is in the individual approach to the
patient, because for one person it can be an ideal solution, while for others there should be a
completely different approach. (8)
CONCLUSION
Based on the previous results, we can conclude that the Bowen method significantly affects the
reduction of pain measured by the VAS scale, eliminates the symptoms of anxiety and improves
the width of the visual field. This therapy/technique can be recommended for patients with
postcovid syndrome.
REFERENCES
1. Pennington, K. (2012). Bowen therapy: A review of the profession. Journal of the Australian
Traditional-Medicine Society, 18(4), 217-220.
2. Carfì, A.; Bernabei, R.; Landi, F.; Gemelli against COVID-19 Post-Acute Care Study Group.
Persistent Symptoms in Patients after Acute COVID-19. JAMA 2020, 324, 603–605. [CrossRef
3. Garrigues, E.; Janvier, P.; Kherabi, Y.; Le Bot, A.; Hamon, A.; Gouze, H.; Doucet, L.;
Berkani, S.; Oliosi, E.; Mallart, E.; et al.Post-discharge persistent symptoms and health-related
quality of life after hospitalization for COVID-19. J. Infect. 2020, 81, e4–e6.[CrossRef] 4. Carvalho-Schneider, C.; Laurent, E.; Lemaignen, A.; Beaufils, E.; Bourbao-Tournois, C.;
Laribi, S.; Flament, T.; Ferreira-Maldent, N.; Bruyère, F.; Stefic, K.; et al. Follow-up of adults
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19 and implications for follow-up: Results from a prospective UK cohort.Thorax 2020. online
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Hillman, T.E.; Jacob, J.; Jarvis, H.C.; et al.‘Long-COVID’: A cross-sectional study of persisting
symptoms, biomarker and imaging abnormalities following hospitalization for COVID-19.
Thorax 2020. online ahead of print. [CrossRef] 7. Nehme, M.; Braillard, O.; Alcoba, G.; Aebischer-Perone, S.; Courvoisier, D.; Chappuis, F.;
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Ann. Intern. Med. 2020, M20-5926, 1–4. [CrossRef] 8. Kopczyńska, E., Malak, R., Kostiukow, A., & Samborski, W. (2018). Bowen Technique for patients
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Aleksic A., Jovanovic S.

 

 

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