TBI's

TBI...Traumatic Brain Injury

   My name is Paul Powers and Im a licensed massage therapist in Albany, NY.  This is my first ever blog, so please

   excuse any rough corners.  My reason for talking here is to bring to light the use of  the Bowen therapy for TBI's.

   It is an effective and viable therapy for concussions both mild and severe.  I haven't had alot of clients with this

   condition so my data base is just beginning to grow.  However, two significant situations do stand out.  One, I am a TBI

   victim myself of roughly 8 concussions, some of them severe.  In August of 2010 I was in a motorcycle accident and

   suffered a head injury.  Within 3 weeks post accident I had hit my head hard twice again.  My symptoms included:

   headaches daily, vertigo, numbness in my left hand and jaw with occasional slurred speech, retarded gait on my

   left side i.e. dragging my left foot but not quite drop foot condition, emotional swings daily, very difficult time in  

   concentrating, spatial problems.. not understanding walking up stairs or crossing the threshold of a doorway ..

   probably the most disturbing.. those memory files of what to do just not being there from time to time.  I had a sense

   as a therapist that the Bowen therapy might be my best way out of this, but the closest therapist was NYC , 2 1/2

   hrs away.  I think it was around the end of September I found a Bowen therapist who had moved into the area

   from California.  I rang him up and asked if I could get a session with him, explaining my dilemna.  The short of it,

   was that all the symptoms were gone in about 8 days.  Phantom symptoms came back 2 weeks later but never

   really developed into anything substantial. I've had 2 more sessions with him and so far, so good. No residuals

   and no medications.  In and around the 20th of December I volunteered to work with a girl from Mongolia who

   was struck down by a pizza driver on crack in Lake George, N.Y.  She suffered two broken legs and was

   rushed to Albany Med where they operated on her to stop the bleeding on the brain.  That was in July of 2010.

   She was in a coma for three months and released from the hospital to the Ronald McDonald House at the end

   of October.  A speech therapist and myself were the only ones working with her at the RMCD on a regular basis.

   She went to PT 2-3 times a week for an hour . When I first met Urna she was trying to count to five on one hand

   with the speech therapist and was very robotic and intraverted.  By the time she left on April 4th 2011, Urna was

   reading, writing, doing advanced math and running with her brother.  Her personality had started to come back

   and she was joking around and being playful.  She continues to do well back home and I think that within 12-17 mos.

   she'll be able to go back to school if only part time to start ..she has already expressed her interest to take

   courses in Mongolia to the interpreter back here.  She is a recepient of a Fulbright scholarship and wants to

   study in Paris.  I believe the Bowen therapy played a large part in her recovery.  I continue to spread the word

   and hope to reach vets and anyone else who can benefit from this amazing therapy.