Muscle Knots - Trigger Points

When muscle fibers tear, the result is stiffness, pain and inflammation. The body is excellent at “soldering together” the broken ends within a couple of weeks. The end result is a knot, often called a trigger point: a lump where torn ends of fibers have healed.

However, those knotted fibers no longer expand and contract. Muscle strength is proportionally reduced. Even after the torn fibers have healed, if a nerve is involved, there may be chronic pain. A trigger point is aptly named. Pressing on the knot triggers pain!

Arthritis, Scoliosis, AS and Gout

A 40ish client with severe sciatic pain received an X-ray report that indicated she had osteoarthritis in her lumbar spine. She was devastated. She was terrified she’d end up in a wheelchair.

Several of my clients with severe back pain have been rocked by medical diagnoses of osteoarthritis, scoliosis, bulging discs, or ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Prepare Your Body for Conception or IVF

Are you trying to get pregnant and suffer from chronic pain? Have irregular periods or endometriosis? Had a neck injury? Jaw issues? Several sessions with an advanced Bowen Therapy practitioner could make all the difference in preparing your body to successfully conceive and support a full term pregnancy.

Knee Pain

Barring any muscle or ligament tears, my clients’ knee pain often has a simple cause: unbalanced muscle tension that pulls the bones out of alignment. With ongoing use, the cartilage thins and bones “rub,” causing osteoarthritis, aka bone inflammation.

In plain language, osteoarthritis in a knee is caused by one or more tight muscles pulling hard on that knee.

When the unbalanced tension is resolved, and the pressure squeezing the bones together is relieved, the bone inflammation can heal. The body is amazing that way.

Myoskeletal AlignmentMadeline McBrideSeptember 10, 2023knee pain, osteoarthritis, joint pain, physical therapy, manual therapy, Bowen TherapyComment

Pelvis Rotations and Upslips

Everyone falls…eventually. A bad fall can knock the pelvis bones out of alignment, and the result can be sciatica and unrelenting back pain. To quickly assess whether the pelvis is aligned, therapists compare the tops of the left and right ilia (iliac crests) and the ASIS to see if they are level. Unfortunately, the higher of the left and right ilia is commonly referred to as an upslip.

In fact, rather than one ilium being high, the other may be low due to an ilium rotation. To complicate matters, the iliac crests may be level when standing, but not when seated. More investigation is required to determine the cause of the discrepancy. Scan reports are extremely useful, but not sufficient. If the therapist does not do any physical assessment, including palpation for muscle tension, then the treatment is going to be a shot in the dark.

Madeline McBrideMarch 30, 2023Comment

The Pituitary Dysfunction - Structural Misalignment Connection

What if resolving infertility related to a dysfunctional pituitary gland were as simple as aligning the skull bones?

Imagine a butterfly-shaped bone — the Sphenoid — inside your skull behind your eyes that is tethered at its four corners by muscles at the temples and jaw. Imagine that unbalanced jaw muscle tension pulls the Sphenoid down at one corner, tilting that butterfly-shaped bone like a teeter-totter. The Sella turcica forms a bone “pocket” in the Sphenoid. The anterior and posterior lobes of the Pituitary gland dandle inside the Sella turcica. Therefore if the entire Sphenoid tilts, so will the two lobes of the Pituitary gland. If the tilt is significant, the result would be that the anterior or posterior lobe is pressed by gravity against bone rather than dangling freely on its stalk.

I asked myself, “Could pressure on the Pituitary impair the gland’s ability to produce hormones crucial to fertility?”

Bowen Therapy for Long COVID Symptoms

Researchers estimate that more than five million people worldwide continue to suffer from debilitating symptoms months after contracting COVID-19. Many “long-haulers” are too ill to work. Many will have to wait months for their appointments with medical professionals. Can Bowen Therapy help them?

Madeline McBrideAugust 3, 2021Comment

Bedwetting & Bowen Therapy

Bedwetting (nocturnal enuresis) is a frustrating situation for parent and child. Bowen Therapy can help.

Madeline McBrideAugust 1, 2021Comment

The Thigh Muscle-Back Pain Connection

Pelvis rotation is a frequently overlooked cause of lower back pain and sciatica. Single or double-sided pelvis rotations in an anterior direction cause the iliac crest bone(s) to dig into the lower back. The iliac crest bones compress the sciatic nerve exiting the lumbar vertebrae. Lordosis (swayback) is a visual indicator of an anterior pelvis rotation.

If one iliac crest is elevated, the lumbar vertebrae transverse processes tilt like a see-saw and may exert pressure on the sciatic nerves exiting the spinal column above or below.

Either way, the result is sciatic pain that may radiate into the left and/or right buttock and refer down the leg.

Madeline McBrideJanuary 1, 2021Comment

The Back Pain - Musculoskeletal Alignment Connection

Because Bowen Therapy treats the body’s musculoskeletal structure as a system, rather than simply addressing the painful area, many clients experience pain relief.