BEGINNING MY INTERESTING BOWEN JOURNEY
After 12 years of intermittent spasms of my lower back muscles and daily aching in by back, groin, legs, and feet, I thought that I'd used up all of my options, (3 acupuncturists, 6 chiropractors, physical therapy on 2 occasions plus exercises, massage therapy twice, and stretching exercises). I thought that I'd soon have to see the Neurosurgeon, and this made me very depressed. My patient's feedback on back surgery and neurosurgeons wasn’t very good. I also found out what my patients meant when they said, “When your feet hurt, you hurt all over.” You could also say that, "when your back hurts you hurt all over." You can't sit, stand, walk, or lie down. At this point, I awakened in the mornings with aching in my right foot and groin, stiffness in the lower back, and fatigue from a poor night’s sleep. Also, my right shoulder and TMJ were out. When first going to sleep at night I'd awaken with twitching and restlessness in my leg an hour or so later, and around 2:00 AM, cramps would occur in the calf muscle in my right leg.
One afternoon a patient was telling me about her foot pain, which sounded like an atypical sciatic nerve problem that was just showing up in her foot. I mentioned this and asked if she'd had any lower back problems? She said, “Oh no, it’s not my sciatic nerve. I’ve had that before. This is different. I got that fixed 2 years ago.” I inquired as to how she, “Got it fixed?” She told me that she'd had Bowen Therapy. I said, "I've never heard of that therapy. What's it about?" She replied, "It's kind of new here and most people don't know about it. The man who does it learned from the Australian people about 2 years ago, so that's why most people haven't heard of it." She told me about a practitioner in Auburn, California who'd been trained to do the treatments by the "Australian People." I asked if he was a chiropractor? She informed me that he was a Massage Therapist, but that he didn't do massage, only this Bowen technique. I volunteered to her that I was suffering from lower back pain and sciatic nerve problems. She said, “Oh, you must go and see my friend. Not only has he helped me, but I’ve referred my boss, and my sister, and 2 of my neighbors, and he’s helped us all with our back pains.” I asked how to spell the gentleman’s name so I could get his number from the phone-book to make an appointment. She said, “Oh no, you won’t find him in the phone-book. He's got an unlisted number. I've got his card out in the glove box in my car, I’ll go get it for you.” After I finished by business with her foot she went out to her car and got the card. My receptionist copied it and gave me the copy and gave the patient back her card. Then she said, “Oh yeah. By the way, you must call him Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM. That's the only time of the day he answers the phone to make and change appointments, and if you call any other time and leave a message on his answering machine, he doesn't return calls.” I thought. "That's a little odd?" This took place on a Friday afternoon.
So on Monday morning, I saw the note on my desk and glanced at the clock. It was 8:10 and I thought, " Good. I'm within the window of opportunity", so I dialed the number. It was busy, so, a few minutes later I tried again. Still busy, so I handed the task over to my receptionist with instructions to get me an appointment as soon as possible. About 5 minutes past 9:00 my receptionist informed me that he had a cancellation that afternoon at 5:00, which I could have, otherwise the next available time was 3 weeks out. I took the cancellation, as I didn't want to wait for 3 weeks to see him. That was the 3rd clue something was up (unlisted phone number), (doesn't return calls), (booked up 3 weeks out).
When I arrived in his driveway that afternoon, there was an elderly lady sitting in one of those plastic $9.99 lawn chairs, missing a front tooth, and smoking a Camel cigarette. She said with a slight lisp, “If you’re here to see Milton, you ring the bell he answers it himself.” I thought to myself, "She’s quite a receptionist, but I guess he doesn't let her do the phones?" The front door was open, while the screen door was shut. About a minute after I rang the chime, a man shuffled to the door to greet me. He was bare footed, wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, which was unbuttoned to the breastbone. He had a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket. He'd not shaved yet that day, and his hair was all mussed up. All in all, he made quite a first impression on me. He said, "Are you Dr. Mosher?” I replied, “Yes, I am.” He said, “How do you do? I’m Milton Albrecht. Come on in.” He led me through his house to a back bedroom which was adorned with a map of Australia, a couple of boomerangs on the wall, an ammo belt on the chair, and a rifle standing in the corner. Now I’m thinking, “what did I just get myself into?” He asked me where I was hurting. I told him that my lower back on the right side around the lumbo-sacral area was the problem. He said, “Cool. I’ll fix ya. Just lay on the table with your feet on the pillow, your butt in the air, and your face down in the cradle.” I apprehensively complied.
As I received the treatment, many thoughts were racing through my mind. What was I doing here? How was a simple plucking of my muscles here and there going to relieve my back pain? Why'd he pluck a couple of muscles and leave the room for 3 to 5 minutes? Oh well, Ann my patient had relief, as well as all of the others she'd referred to this mystical man. After 10 to 15 minutes I began to get very relaxed and almost fell asleep. One time he put his hand close to my low back and I could feel lots of heat radiating from me. After he turned me over onto my back, he moved a muscle in my inner thigh and I thought I was going to hit the ceiling it hurt so much. I asked him if this was Rolfing, and he assured me that it wasn't. After he left the room for me to rest following the procedure, my palms started to sweat. It wasn't the usual watery kind of sweat, but a sticky - syrupy kind of discharge. When he came back in the room and saw that I was patting my palms together, he touched my hand with his fingers and commented, “Ah Ha. That’s toxins working their way out.” I said, “Oh yeah. What kind of toxins?” a little facetiously. He sniffed his fingers and said, “Probably lactic acid cause it don't smell.” I left it at that. Then he had me open my jaw and close it and said, “Your TMJ'S out.” I recalled that I'd been nipping the inner side of my right cheek when chewing food the past few weeks. He had me make a knuckle with my index finger and place it between my teeth. He then tweaked a number of muscles around the jaw and temple area. When I opened my jaw afterward, I could sense that my jaw was completely realigned. He then instructed me to sit up. When I got up, and I was a little light - headed. I slowly arose when my senses came back.
As I stood up, I couldn’t believe how good I felt. I sensed more energy, my muscles all over the body were loose. My back didn't ache. Wow! My patient was right about the therapy. She'd referred her boss, sister and 3 friends to the therapist and he'd helped all of them, and now, me too. I commented that while he did nothing major to my back, but the pain was gone. He said, “There’s nothing wrong with your back. Your Adductor Magnus muscle was all locked up.” That’s the muscle in the inner thigh that hurt when he released it. I said, “What’s that got to do with my back?” He said, “Everything. When that Adductor tightens the Iliotibial band, Tensor Fascia Lata, and Gluteus Medius muscles all tighten on the outer side of the hip in order to compensate. When you lift something and twist those tissues get strained, and then your back muscles go into spasm.” I said, ‘that’s exactly what's been happening. What ever made that Adductor muscle lock up?” He said, “Dunnow. Must have built up lactic acid in them some time ago.” I was so amazed at how good I felt and was so relieved to be rid of the pain, I didn't figure out the lactic acid issue till a few days later. I asked how much I owed him for the treatment. He said, “Oh, just give me twenty bucks.” As I handed him a $20 dollar bill, I asked, “How much do you usually charge? I'll be sending you some clients, as I grabbed a hand full of his business cards.” He told me that his usual charge was $35.00, but he gave seniors a discount. I asked if he was always booked three weeks out, and he said, “Yeah, except in the flu season and during the bad weather when the older folks don't like to drive, it slows down a little.” Then I sprung the main question that was on my mind, "How many people do you treat every day?" He replied, "25 or 30!" I thought, “That’s pretty good considering his business practices.” While walking out to my car on my way to go home, I noticed that I was walking differently than before the treatment and the arch supports in my shoes were pressing up into my arch. So, I removed them and walked better without anything inside the shoe. The night of the treatment I had such a good night’s sleep I didn't move my head on the pillow at all. In the morning when I got out of bed my back wasn't stiff, the feet, legs and groin didn't ache, and I felt like a new person. I recalled that I didn't have jumpy-restless legs awaken me shortly after falling to sleep, and I didn't wake up with cramps in my calf muscles at 2:00 to 3:00 AM as I usually do.
A week later as I was dressing one morning, I saw that the hammertoes on my left foot had vanished, sometime between the morning of discovery and the day of the treatment! I had to do a second take in order to believe my eyes. Mind you, I dID complicated surgical procedures on hammertoes and sometimes they don't stay straight following surgery. Traditional stretching and physical therapy never helped much so, I realized that this might be the missing piece to the puzzle. I couldn't wait to get to the telephone and call Milton in order to tell him about these miracles, plus to find out how I might learn how to perform some of the technique. After I told him all about what had happened since his treatment, he laughed and said, “That happens all the time”. I jokingly told him, "I won’t turn you in for practicing podiatry without a license if you'll show me how to do this for my patients." He asked me for my fax number so he could send me a brochure on a Bowen workshop he was teaching in January 1995, and so I could sign up for it. After I sent him my application and deposit for the class, I couldn't wait for January to come.
One afternoon a patient was telling me about her foot pain, which sounded like an atypical sciatic nerve problem that was just showing up in her foot. I mentioned this and asked if she'd had any lower back problems? She said, “Oh no, it’s not my sciatic nerve. I’ve had that before. This is different. I got that fixed 2 years ago.” I inquired as to how she, “Got it fixed?” She told me that she'd had Bowen Therapy. I said, "I've never heard of that therapy. What's it about?" She replied, "It's kind of new here and most people don't know about it. The man who does it learned from the Australian people about 2 years ago, so that's why most people haven't heard of it." She told me about a practitioner in Auburn, California who'd been trained to do the treatments by the "Australian People." I asked if he was a chiropractor? She informed me that he was a Massage Therapist, but that he didn't do massage, only this Bowen technique. I volunteered to her that I was suffering from lower back pain and sciatic nerve problems. She said, “Oh, you must go and see my friend. Not only has he helped me, but I’ve referred my boss, and my sister, and 2 of my neighbors, and he’s helped us all with our back pains.” I asked how to spell the gentleman’s name so I could get his number from the phone-book to make an appointment. She said, “Oh no, you won’t find him in the phone-book. He's got an unlisted number. I've got his card out in the glove box in my car, I’ll go get it for you.” After I finished by business with her foot she went out to her car and got the card. My receptionist copied it and gave me the copy and gave the patient back her card. Then she said, “Oh yeah. By the way, you must call him Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM. That's the only time of the day he answers the phone to make and change appointments, and if you call any other time and leave a message on his answering machine, he doesn't return calls.” I thought. "That's a little odd?" This took place on a Friday afternoon.
So on Monday morning, I saw the note on my desk and glanced at the clock. It was 8:10 and I thought, " Good. I'm within the window of opportunity", so I dialed the number. It was busy, so, a few minutes later I tried again. Still busy, so I handed the task over to my receptionist with instructions to get me an appointment as soon as possible. About 5 minutes past 9:00 my receptionist informed me that he had a cancellation that afternoon at 5:00, which I could have, otherwise the next available time was 3 weeks out. I took the cancellation, as I didn't want to wait for 3 weeks to see him. That was the 3rd clue something was up (unlisted phone number), (doesn't return calls), (booked up 3 weeks out).
When I arrived in his driveway that afternoon, there was an elderly lady sitting in one of those plastic $9.99 lawn chairs, missing a front tooth, and smoking a Camel cigarette. She said with a slight lisp, “If you’re here to see Milton, you ring the bell he answers it himself.” I thought to myself, "She’s quite a receptionist, but I guess he doesn't let her do the phones?" The front door was open, while the screen door was shut. About a minute after I rang the chime, a man shuffled to the door to greet me. He was bare footed, wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, which was unbuttoned to the breastbone. He had a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket. He'd not shaved yet that day, and his hair was all mussed up. All in all, he made quite a first impression on me. He said, "Are you Dr. Mosher?” I replied, “Yes, I am.” He said, “How do you do? I’m Milton Albrecht. Come on in.” He led me through his house to a back bedroom which was adorned with a map of Australia, a couple of boomerangs on the wall, an ammo belt on the chair, and a rifle standing in the corner. Now I’m thinking, “what did I just get myself into?” He asked me where I was hurting. I told him that my lower back on the right side around the lumbo-sacral area was the problem. He said, “Cool. I’ll fix ya. Just lay on the table with your feet on the pillow, your butt in the air, and your face down in the cradle.” I apprehensively complied.
As I received the treatment, many thoughts were racing through my mind. What was I doing here? How was a simple plucking of my muscles here and there going to relieve my back pain? Why'd he pluck a couple of muscles and leave the room for 3 to 5 minutes? Oh well, Ann my patient had relief, as well as all of the others she'd referred to this mystical man. After 10 to 15 minutes I began to get very relaxed and almost fell asleep. One time he put his hand close to my low back and I could feel lots of heat radiating from me. After he turned me over onto my back, he moved a muscle in my inner thigh and I thought I was going to hit the ceiling it hurt so much. I asked him if this was Rolfing, and he assured me that it wasn't. After he left the room for me to rest following the procedure, my palms started to sweat. It wasn't the usual watery kind of sweat, but a sticky - syrupy kind of discharge. When he came back in the room and saw that I was patting my palms together, he touched my hand with his fingers and commented, “Ah Ha. That’s toxins working their way out.” I said, “Oh yeah. What kind of toxins?” a little facetiously. He sniffed his fingers and said, “Probably lactic acid cause it don't smell.” I left it at that. Then he had me open my jaw and close it and said, “Your TMJ'S out.” I recalled that I'd been nipping the inner side of my right cheek when chewing food the past few weeks. He had me make a knuckle with my index finger and place it between my teeth. He then tweaked a number of muscles around the jaw and temple area. When I opened my jaw afterward, I could sense that my jaw was completely realigned. He then instructed me to sit up. When I got up, and I was a little light - headed. I slowly arose when my senses came back.
As I stood up, I couldn’t believe how good I felt. I sensed more energy, my muscles all over the body were loose. My back didn't ache. Wow! My patient was right about the therapy. She'd referred her boss, sister and 3 friends to the therapist and he'd helped all of them, and now, me too. I commented that while he did nothing major to my back, but the pain was gone. He said, “There’s nothing wrong with your back. Your Adductor Magnus muscle was all locked up.” That’s the muscle in the inner thigh that hurt when he released it. I said, “What’s that got to do with my back?” He said, “Everything. When that Adductor tightens the Iliotibial band, Tensor Fascia Lata, and Gluteus Medius muscles all tighten on the outer side of the hip in order to compensate. When you lift something and twist those tissues get strained, and then your back muscles go into spasm.” I said, ‘that’s exactly what's been happening. What ever made that Adductor muscle lock up?” He said, “Dunnow. Must have built up lactic acid in them some time ago.” I was so amazed at how good I felt and was so relieved to be rid of the pain, I didn't figure out the lactic acid issue till a few days later. I asked how much I owed him for the treatment. He said, “Oh, just give me twenty bucks.” As I handed him a $20 dollar bill, I asked, “How much do you usually charge? I'll be sending you some clients, as I grabbed a hand full of his business cards.” He told me that his usual charge was $35.00, but he gave seniors a discount. I asked if he was always booked three weeks out, and he said, “Yeah, except in the flu season and during the bad weather when the older folks don't like to drive, it slows down a little.” Then I sprung the main question that was on my mind, "How many people do you treat every day?" He replied, "25 or 30!" I thought, “That’s pretty good considering his business practices.” While walking out to my car on my way to go home, I noticed that I was walking differently than before the treatment and the arch supports in my shoes were pressing up into my arch. So, I removed them and walked better without anything inside the shoe. The night of the treatment I had such a good night’s sleep I didn't move my head on the pillow at all. In the morning when I got out of bed my back wasn't stiff, the feet, legs and groin didn't ache, and I felt like a new person. I recalled that I didn't have jumpy-restless legs awaken me shortly after falling to sleep, and I didn't wake up with cramps in my calf muscles at 2:00 to 3:00 AM as I usually do.
A week later as I was dressing one morning, I saw that the hammertoes on my left foot had vanished, sometime between the morning of discovery and the day of the treatment! I had to do a second take in order to believe my eyes. Mind you, I dID complicated surgical procedures on hammertoes and sometimes they don't stay straight following surgery. Traditional stretching and physical therapy never helped much so, I realized that this might be the missing piece to the puzzle. I couldn't wait to get to the telephone and call Milton in order to tell him about these miracles, plus to find out how I might learn how to perform some of the technique. After I told him all about what had happened since his treatment, he laughed and said, “That happens all the time”. I jokingly told him, "I won’t turn you in for practicing podiatry without a license if you'll show me how to do this for my patients." He asked me for my fax number so he could send me a brochure on a Bowen workshop he was teaching in January 1995, and so I could sign up for it. After I sent him my application and deposit for the class, I couldn't wait for January to come.