Effectiveness of Bowen Therapy in the management of chronic widespread pain

The effect of Bowen Therapy on pain and function in people with chronic widespread pain

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12615000364572

Enrollment

Registered

2015-04-22

Start date

2016-11-07

Completion date

2017-07-03

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Bowen therapy is a manual therapy type of complementary medicine developed in the mid-1980s. It involves precise, gentle and painless pressure moves, called Bowen Moves, applied with the thumbs and fingers onto specific points of muscles, tendons and ligaments. Preliminary evidence has indicated that it can reduce pain in some chronic pain conditions; however, the evidence to date has been provided from uncontrolled pilot studies. The goal of the current study is to determine the effects of Bowen Therapy on pain and function in people with chronic widespread pain. A randomised controlled trial will be undertaken with three groups. One group will receive real Bowen therapy, one group will receive sham Bowen therapy, and the third group will receive ongoing care. Outcome measures assessing pain function will be obtained prior to the intervention, one week after the 6-week intervention, and 6 weeks after the intervention. The study will identify any specific effects that Bowen therapy has on the function of the pain system and how this influences function.

Interventions

Six sessions of 45 mins of Bowen therapy over 6 weeks. Bowen therapy will be administered by a qualified Bowen therapist and involves a series of precise, gentle and painless pressure moves, called Bowen Moves, that are applied with the thumbs and fingers onto specific points of muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Blinded (masking used) (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 80 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

18 - 80 years of age, stable pain for the preceding 3 months, be taking consistent analgesic medication, report a pain score > 3/10 on most days.

Exclusion criteria

severe or unstable medical or psychiatric conditions, have received Bowen therapy previously, incapable of mounting and dismounting the therapy table without significant assistance, unable to provide informed consent, unhealed wounds or skin lesions, less than a month from any surgical procedure, BMI higher than 40, pregnancy

Outcome results