The acute effect of Bowen therapy on pressure pain thresholds and postural sway in healthy subjects

Objective The purpose of the study is to determine the immediate effect of Bowen Therapy in pressure pain threshold and postural sway of healthy individuals. Design Crossover, randomized, and double blinded study. Setting University. Participants Participants aged 18 years old or over, naive to Bowen therapy were recruited among university students. An a priori sample size calculation determined that 34 participants were needed. Methods Each participant attended two sessions and received Bowen Therapy and a sham procedure. The order in which Bowen or the sham procedure were administered was randomized. All participants had their postural control and pressure pain thresholds assessed in sessions 1 and 2 both at baseline and at the end of the session. Main outcome measurements Postural control was assessed using a force plate and centre of pressure antero-posterior and medio-lateral displacement, velocity and total sway area were calculated. Pressure pain threshold was measured at 10 different body sites on the paraspinal muscles from C1 to S1 using an electronic algometer. Result The results showed a significant increase in the anteroposterior displacement ( p = 0.04) and a significantly lower decrease in the mean velocity ( p = 0.01) of the centre of pressure and a significant increase in the pressure pain thresholds of two (out of ten; p ≤ 0.04) body sites in the group receiving Bowen Therapy compared to the group receiving the sham. No other significant differences were found. Conclusions The findings suggest that Bowen Therapy has inconsistent immediate effects on postural control and pain threshold in healthy subjects. Further studies are needed using symptomatic participants.