You may not have heard of Bowen Therapy or NST (Neuro Structural Integration) but these forms of physical therapy are rapidly gaining popularity in the United States. While they may have different names, they are founded on a similar principle; restoring normal and pain-free structural balance to the body through the use of receptor activation. That may sound a bit complicated but it’s not; let’s take a look at this form of therapy and see how you can benefit from it. For simplicity, I will now refer these therapies as Bowen Therapy since NST was derived from Bowen Therapy.

What is it?

Bowen is a form of physical therapy that restores structural balance to the body; it helps alleviate pain and discomfort. When muscles are not balanced properly

(too tight or too loose) it causes stress on joints and nerves and when this occurs you feel pain. For example, if the muscles attached to the spine, pelvis or hips are not balanced, it puts stress on the joints in this area and causes pain.  If this imbalance occurs for long periods of time, it can lead to inflammation, pain and ultimately damage to the joints of the spine and hips. Bowen Therapy restores muscle balance, thus reducing muscle, joint and nerve stress.

How does it work?

We will need to introduce a bit of anatomy at this point in order to explain how Bowen Therapy works. We will keep this simple, so hang in there!

• Muscles are attached to bones and move our bones and joints. A joint is location where bones comes together (e.g. elbow, knee, fingers, jaw and spine).

• Muscles move and support joints. If you bend your elbow or make a fist, muscles caused this to happen.

• Many nerves are located near joints (the many nerves from your spine must pass between the bones (vertebrae) of the spine). If bones and joints are not stabilized properly by muscles, nerves can become irritated and painful.

As you can see, muscles play a pivotal role in structural balance of the body. But what controls proper muscle balance? Your brain does! So why would your brain permit muscles to remain in a state of imbalance? Because it does not know that the muscles are out of balance! The human brain gets its information about muscle function from small structures called receptors. Muscles contain very sensitive receptors and these are attached to nerves that travel to the brain. Bowen therapy stimulates and “wakes up” receptors so they can start to send correct information about the muscle to the brain. When this occurs, the brain is able to send “correction signals” to muscles and restore proper balance. Muscles do not act on their own; they are controlled by receptors, nerves and the brain.

Who can it help?  

Bowen Therapy can help anyone who suffers from structural imbalances. This form of therapy is extremely gentle and safe; infants and the elderly alike can receive Bowen Therapy. Common conditions that respond well to Bowen Therapy include:

• Low back pain
• Neck pain
• Herniated / bulging discs
• Headaches
• TMJ problems
• Shoulder pain and rotator cuff problems
• Hip and knee pain
• Arthritis
• Ankle and foot pain
• Nerve pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Other pain syndromes

Restoring balance to the physical body depends on good communication between the brain and muscles.  This is a unique form of therapy that is different than massage, chiropractic or traditional physical therapy. Naperville Integrated Wellness offers this new and exciting form of therapy. For more information go to napervilleintegratedwellness.com