Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual (2 vol. set)

Simons DC, Travell JG. Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual. Vol. 1. Upper Half of the Body. 2nd Ed. Atlanta, GA: Emory University;1998.

Janet Travell MD and David Simons MD spent a lifetime studying the patterns and treatment of muscular and soft tissue pain in patients. It is a specialty in itself, and provides an amazingly detailed review of anatomy.

These books are the bible on the subject written by the "mother" and "father" of the specialty. There will hardly be a day in the professional life of a busy primary care practitioner, rheumatologist, orthopedist, neurologist, physiatrist or physical therapist when these books will not be used. The more one knows of this field, the more revelations one gets into those difficult chronic pain patients. The etiology and muscular complexity of the huge field of "tension headache" syndromes now become clear.

With these books you will have the tools to diagnose and treat effectively (usually dramatically) the entire spectrum of myofascial pain from head to toe, muscle by muscle. Why do so few physicians know of this vital area of medicine?

The chapters are laid out in an incredibly easy to understand manner, though that's not even the beauty of the book's design. If you know the name of the muscle in question, you simply look inside the front cover; the muscle are all listed with their corresponding page numbers next to them. Don't know the name or not sure which muscle it is in the group? No problem. You again open the front cover and there, in 5th grade simplicity, are charts for all the areas covered in the book. Flip to the area in question and look through the diagrams.

When you find (in the super well drawn diagrams) the pain you are trying to treat, you are given, not only several treatment plans, but etiology and most likely direct nerve aggravation associated with the pain.

As a Clinical Massage Therapist at a hospital, I use these books almost daily. In fact, I just ordered my second set. . . The first is so threadbare it's barely usable. ANYTIME I have a patient with a pain that I can't immediately identify I grab my Travell's. This set is an absolute BIBLE for anyone in the health care industry. Travell and Simons have essentially written "The Instruction Manual" for eliminating myofascial pain by going to it's source!

My only problem with the set is that the book are not as well bound as maybe they could be for the price. You'll notice, however, that it didn't have enough of an impact on me to give it any less that a perfect score.

I STRONGLY recommend this book for ANY health care practitioner that deals with pain control and alleviation.