Chronic lower back pain
A 61 year old male presented with chronic lower back pain which he had suffered with intermittently for 3-4 years. There was no know cause for the back pain but he had driven lorries all his life and still did some driving part-time. Driving in general would aggravate it and found he was very stiff in the mornings for a couple of hours before he would loosen out. It was never investigated and usually takes pain-killers and rest until the pain subsides. He had hurt it again 2 weeks prior to treatment and came for Bowen session prior to going on holidays. He gained immediate relief and did not need any further treatments.
Sciatica – bulging discs
A 59 year old woman came with lower back pain and was due to see a consultant. She had just had an MRI which showed several discs bulging on L1/2, L3/4 and L4/5 with the lateral bulge on L4/5 being the most likely cause for her sciatica. She was looking for an alternative to treat her back pain without the need for operating. The consultant also confirmed arthritis in both hips and offered an injection of cortisone to ease the disc pain and failing that an operation. After 3 treatments her back pain had almost completely settled and sciatica was gone. She still had some hip pain and continued for further treatments to help alleviate that. She returned to her GP to ask about still getting the cortisone injections and the GP agreed to put it on hold as the reason for the injection was to reduce the sciatic pain which was now gone.
Neck, shoulder and jaw pain (TMJ)
A 21 year old female presented with neck pain which traveled into her upper back and into her jaw. It was a re-occurring dull ache which she found very distracting when studying, driving and often kept her awake at night. There was no known reason for the pain but did notice some jaw pain after getting some fillings at the dentist a year earlier. This client was a textbook TMJ disorder case which refers to pain or dysfunction of the joint in the jaw. After 2 treatments the pain had almost completely subsided so one final treatment ensured the problem did not return to date (6 months later).