Thursday, December 6, 2007

Bowen Therapy and Multiple Sclerosis

It has been almost two years since I received the initial training in Bowen Therapy. After an intense weekend of classes, I finished the first session and was excited to try this new technique on other symptoms my wife was dealing with. Her symptoms have been very frustrating through the years. She had most of the same symptoms until we decided to move to Midland Tx. After we lived there for a few months she started to develop symptoms that we had never dealt with before. We had both read about them, but had never had to experience them. One of the symptoms that popped up a few times was bladder control or bladder dysfunction. This has to be one of the most demeaning symptoms she has had. While we were in Austin for the Bowen training, she was trying to find the hotel and had an accident right as she drove up to the hotel she thought we were staying at. It turned out to be the wrong hotel so she had to clean herself and the car up and try to have some dignity while she and my daughter headed to the right hotel. This was the first time she had lost total control. There had been moments before that we would have to pull over quickly or find a restroom, but never like this. I will never forget the intensity of frustration and shame she felt that evening when I was through with my first session. It killed me to see her so hurt, and it was even worse that this had all happened in front of our daughter. My wife has always tried to act like everything is normal for our daughter even though we have went through some really crazy times. She has always wanted our daughter to feel like her mom is normal and when something like the bladder control issue hits, it hurts her deeply. Our daughter handles it all so well, and we are both so proud of the way she deals with the issues of MS. So that night we decided to try out the new technique I had learned. I had no idea if Bowen would help with her bladder issues or not, but I knew that it had made her feel better before. After the session she did feel better, but the real difference was in her body the rest of the time we were in Austin. She didn't have anymore bladder problems the rest of the visit, and she had energy and felt great. We have since used Bowen anytime that she is having an attack or when we know that her body is screaming out for help. Sometimes it helps more than others, but we have both seen a good Bowen session stop an exacerbation in its tracks. I have not been able to go back for the next classes, but one day I hope to learn the rest of the specialized techniques. If you have any questions about Bowen please contact me. We both know that every person is affected by different therapies in different ways, but we truly believe that any Multiple Sclerosis patient could benefit from a Bowen session.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My girlfriend is now in Europe and also has MS. Her symptoms started soon after she arrived in Canada. The treatments in Canada are few and often end with drugs. While in Europe she has already undergone several types treatments. The Bowen therapy being the most recent. Today was her first day and she's mentioned that the subtle massage has left her entirely drained. I guess that it's doing something? Hopefully the subsequent treatments will help more. We've also looked into bee stings. Apparently some people have been getting bee stings weekly and have reported some benefits from it. Diet is also another factor for us... we've started the 'best bet diet'. I really do believe that offbeat treatments like this will help quite a bit! I've seen her get better firsthand just from changes in diet! I wish you and your wife the best! Keep up the fight, it's worth it!

Laurie Erdman said...

I just came across this post thanks to my bowen work therapist. I'm so glad to see someone else benefiting from this great method. I have used it with great success. I also use diet and exercise. I feel better than when before my diagnosis and my MRI is clearing up.
Thanks for sharing.