A significant improvement in shoulder mobility and associated function for all participants, with 70% of participants regaining full mobility (equal to the non-affected side) by the end of the treatment.
There were markedly reduced pain intensity scores and pain quality descriptors for all participants, although some participants recorded scores of 1-3 that they described as a slight ache to a mild pain. Participants at the end of the study no longer used the intense and invasive pain descriptors.
Bowen cannot, from this study, claim to be 100% successful, but it demonstrated a significant improvement for participants, even those with a very longstanding history of frozen shoulder. For the majority of participants it provided a good outcome particularly in relation to improved mobility.
All participants experienced improvement in their daily activities. None of the participants reported that their pain was having a severe impact on their daily activities, and there was a decrease in the reports of mild and moderate impact by the end of the treatment.
For the majority of participants (even those with a long standing problem) it provided a good outcome particularly in relation to improved mobility. In terms of the outcome measures used in other studies – success rate, mobility, pain and functional status – Bowen can be seen to be a positive intervention and certainly one which participants in the study evaluated as being highly satisfactory.