The effect of bowen therapy technique on spasticity in children with cerebral palsy

Objective: Spasticity is a motor disorder that causes a speed-dependent increase in tonic stretching reflexes caused by the hyperexcitability of stretching reflexes. Spasticity developing in patients with cerebral palsy (CP) negatively affects patients' lives. It is therefore important to be treated. Bowen therapy (BT) activates the receptors on the muscle and stimulates stretching reflexes, enabling proper regulation of muscle fiber alignment, muscle contraction, relaxation and motor unit firing. With these effects, BT can create a change in spasticity and reduce spasticity. Therefore, the purpose of our study is to investigate the effect of BT on spasticity in children with CP. Materials and Method: Fourteen children diagnosed with CP between the ages of 6-15 (8.29 ± 2.33 yo) were included in the study. The groups were divided into two as 7 child study and 7 child control group. The study group received approximately 20 minutes of BT and 20 minutes of routine physiotherapy (RF) programs once a week for six weeks. Only 40 minutes of RF program was applied to the control group participants at the same frequency. Spasticity was evaluated using the Modified Ashworth Scale before and after application for the upper limb (wrist, elbow and finger flexors) and lower limb (hamstrings, gastrocnemius, and hip adductors). Results: After the study was completed, it was observed that spasticity scores decreased when each muscle was evaluated separately. However, the change observed after treatment was not found statistically significant (p> 0.05). When the spasticity score averages of upper and lower extremity muscles were calculated and calculated as upper and lower, there was a significant decrease in spasticity in the lower extremity total in the study group (p< 0.05). The differences in the upper limbs were not found significant (p> 0.05). When the total lower and upper extremity scores of the control group were compared, a statistically significant decrease was observed in both the lower and upper extremity spasticity scores at the end of the treatment period (p <0.05). Conclusion: In this study, the effects of BT alone on spasticity could not be determined clearly. The evaluation of the future studies in this direction, to be able to fully compare the effects of two different types of treatment, RF and BT, will enable us to see the measurement results more clearly.