A pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of Bowen technique in the management of clients with frozen shoulder

Objective: To evaluate clients' experience of Bowen Technique in the treatment of frozen shoulder in terms of their pain, functional ability and well-being. Design: A case series that used primarily quantitative methods and qualitative interviews. Participants: Twenty participants with frozen shoulder. Intervention: Bowen Technique, using 'frozen shoulder procedure'. Main outcome measures: Range of active and passive motion (abduction, flexion, extension, medial rotation, lateral rotation and 'wall climb') in both shoulders, pain intensity scores, impact on well-being and health status. Main results: Improvement in shoulder mobility and associated function for all participants. Median 'worst pain' pre-therapy score reduced from 7 (mean 7, range 1-10) to a median 'worst pain' score of 1 (mean 1.45, range 0-5) post-therapy. Fewer pain quality descriptors used by all participants. All participants experienced improvement in their daily activities. Conclusions: Bowen Technique demonstrated an improvement for participants, even those with a very longstanding history of frozen shoulder. Further trials are warranted.