06/08/2025
Im feeling very honoured to know that Alex Botelho Big wave world tour competitor is felling well.
My name is Alex Botelho, I was a patient of Patrick Mathews for Bowen and now a friend. Patrick told me that you are considering Bowen as a possibility to avoid back surgery. I would like to tell you briefly about my story as it could relate.
I have had back issues since im about 16, and when I was 23 i discovered through an MRI that I had worn down the disc of the L2-L3, L3-L4 and L5-S1 to the point of having no more disc and the vertebrae were wearing down as well. It came to the point that I was in extreme pain and kept me from doing sports for over a year. My profession is surfing and this had an enormous impact of my life. Doctor after doctor I consulted, all suggested I needed a vertebrae fusion surgery with no other option. I wanted to avoid surgery at all cost, but after a year of doctor to doctor it seemed like the only option. I had been speaking to Patrick about this, but as we were in different countries at the time we didn't do any treatments until he came to Portugal on a visit. Through very few treatments I started to have a huge relief of the muscles contracting all around my lower back, and through his treatments and core strengthening I recovered to the point that I could surf again, and nowadays I keep on practicing my profession without any physical setbacks and without having done surgery. If i would have done a vertebrae fusion, my professional career would have been over, and I certainly couldn't be as active at 100% capability as now.
Im sending you my experience to show that is is possible to have great success through alternative methods like Bowen. Conventional medicine may be standard, but through this experience it proved me that for this particular case it wasn't the best. If you can avoid having any type of surgery it would be of great benefit, and in all honesty I believe Bowen is a great approach for many type of issues and having tried various Bowen practitioners Patrick is with whom I have had the fastest and most immediate results. He is very good and his truly focused and willing to help people.
Wishing you all the best and a fast recovery. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to contact.
Kind regards,
Alex Botelho
