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.