Bowen Therapy and McGill Stabilization Exercises in Chronic Low Back Pain

July 2, 2026 updated by: Waseem Javaid, Sehat Medical Complex

Comparison of Bowen Therapy and McGill Stabilization Exercises on Pain, Range of Motion, and Disability in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial aims to compare the effectiveness of Bowen Therapy combined with McGill stabilization exercises versus Bowen Therapy alone in individuals with chronic nonspecific low back pain. The study will evaluate changes in pain intensity, lumbar range of motion, and functional disability over a six-week intervention period. It is hypothesized that the combined intervention will produce greater improvements in clinical outcomes than Bowen Therapy alone.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a single-center, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial conducted at Sehat Medical Complex. A total of 100 participants aged 25-55 years with chronic nonspecific low back pain of more than three months' duration will be randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups using a computer-generated randomization sequence.

Participants in the experimental group will receive Bowen Therapy combined with the McGill stabilization exercise program, while participants in the comparator group will receive Bowen Therapy alone. Both groups will receive standard physiotherapy modalities, including a 10-minute moist hot pack and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) before each treatment session. The intervention period will last six weeks, with treatment sessions conducted three times per week.

Outcome assessments will be performed at baseline and at Weeks 2, 4, and 6. Pain intensity will be measured using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), lumbar range of motion will be assessed using a bubble inclinometer, and functional disability will be evaluated using the Modified Oswestry Disability Index (MODI). All assessments will be performed by the same trained physiotherapist to ensure measurement consistency.

The study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Sehat Medical Complex (Approval No. IREB-UOL-SMC/001-26/2024) and will be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants before enrollment. Statistical analysis will be performed using SPSS version 25.0. Descriptive statistics will summarize baseline characteristics, the Shapiro-Wilk test will assess data normality, and repeated-measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) will be used to evaluate changes between groups over time. Statistical significance will be set at p < 0.05.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

70

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
      • Lahore, Pakistan, 54590
        • Sehat Medical Complex

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • With chronic localized low back pain lasting over three months without any signs of pain below the gluteal fold were eligible as recommended diagnostic criteria of nonspecific chronic low back pain.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • In case of lumbar disc herniation, lumbar canal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, spondylitis, radiculopathy, vertebral fracture, neurological deficits, pregnancy or radiating pain below the gluteal fold.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Bowen Therapy + McGill Stabilization Exercise
Participants received a combined intervention consisting of Bowen Therapy and McGill stabilization exercises for six weeks. The McGill exercise program included curl-up, side-bridge, and bird-dog exercises performed three sessions per week on alternate days, with 30 repetitions and a 10-second isometric hold per repetition. Conventional physiotherapy exercises, including single and double knee-to-chest stretches, prone lying, heel slides, supine bicycling, and bridging exercises, were also provided. Before each treatment session, participants received a 10-minute moist hot pack and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).
Procedure: Bowen Therapy + McGill Stabilization Exercise

Bowen Therapy is a manual therapy involving gentle rolling movements applied over muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia using the fingers or thumbs. Treatment consisted of standardized movement sequences with 2-5 minute intervals between sets to facilitate neuromuscular integration. Each session included two to three repetitions per set and four to five sets, administered three times per week for six weeks.

The McGill stabilization exercise program consisted of evidence-based core stabilization exercises including the curl-up, side-bridge, and bird-dog. Exercises were performed three times per week on alternate days for six weeks, with 30 repetitions and a 10-second isometric hold during each repetition. Participants also performed conventional physiotherapy exercises, including single and double knee-to-chest stretches, prone lying, heel slides, supine bicycling, and bridging exercises.
Active Comparator: Bowen Therapy Alone
Participants received Bowen Therapy alone for six weeks. Bowen Therapy consisted of gentle rolling manual movements applied to muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia using the fingers or thumbs, with 2-5 minute intervals between movement sequences. Each session included two to three repetitions per set and four to five sets following a standardized treatment protocol. Participants also received standard physiotherapy modalities, including a 10-minute moist hot pack and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) before each treatment session.
Procedure: Bowen Therapy
Bowen Therapy is a manual therapy involving gentle rolling movements applied over muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia using the fingers or thumbs. Treatment consisted of standardized movement sequences with 2-5 minute intervals between sets to facilitate neuromuscular integration. Each session included two to three repetitions per set and four to five sets, administered three times per week for six weeks. Participants in both study groups received Bowen Therapy according to the same standardized protocol.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain Intensity Measured by the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS)
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, and Week 6
Pain intensity will be assessed using the 11-point Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst imaginable pain. Higher scores indicate greater pain intensity.
Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, and Week 6

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Functional Disability Measured by the Modified Oswestry Disability Index (MODI)
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, and Week 6
Functional disability will be assessed using the Modified Oswestry Disability Index (MODI). Scores range from 0% to 100%, with higher scores indicating greater disability.
Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, and Week 6

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sehat Medical Complex

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 22, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 14, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

April 15, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 2, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 2, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 2, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB-UOL-SMC/001-27/2024

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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