Acknowledgements
Approximately 38% of the human population is in pain at any given time. Although 30% of patients seen in a general physician's practice are there due to pain caused by trigger points,1 there is still very little emphasis in medical school on muscle pain and trigger points. Thankfully, there are a few pioneers who worked endlessly to research trigger points, document referral patterns and other symptoms, and bring that information to the medical practitioners, and the general public.
This book-on-CD would not have been possible without the life works of Dr. Janet Travell and Dr. David Simons, and my Neuromuscular Therapy instructor, Jeanne Aland, who introduced me to the books written by Dr.'s Travell and Simons.
Both Dr. Travell and Jeanne Aland have passed on, but I know that I and all my patients are eternally grateful for their hard work and dedication, and their work lives on through the hundreds of thousands of patients who have gotten relief because of their research and willingness to train others.
Dr. Janet Travell
 Dr. Travell was born in 1901, and followed in her father's footsteps to become a doctor. She initially specialized in cardiology but soon became interested in pain relief, as had her father. She joined her father's practice, taught at Cornell University Medical College, and pioneered and researched new pain treatments, including trigger point injections. In her private practice, she began treating Senator John F. Kennedy, who at the time was using crutches due to crippling back pain, and almost unable to walk down three stairs. This was at a time when television was bringing images of politicians into the nation's living rooms, and it had become important for presidential candidates to appear physically fit. Being on crutches probably would have cost President John F. Kennedy the election. Dr. Travell became the first female White House physician, and after President Kennedy died, she stayed on to treat President Johnson. She resigned a year and a half later to return to her passion for teaching, lecturing, and writing about chronic myofascial pain. She continued to work into her 90's, and died at the age of 95 on August 1, 1997. |
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Dr. David G. Simons
| Dr. Simons started out his career as an aerospace physician, and met Dr. Travell when she lectured at the School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas in the 1960's. He quickly teamed up with Dr. Travell. Dr. Simons began researching the international literature for any references to the treatment of pain, and discovered there were a few others out there who were also discovering trigger points, but using different terminology. He studied and documented the physiology of trigger points in both the laboratory and the clinic, and tried to find scientific explanations for trigger points. Together,
Doctors Travell and Simons produced a comprehensive two-volume text written for physicians on the causes and treatment of trigger points.2 Much of the information contained in this book-on-CD is drawn from those texts. |
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Pain Relief CD-ROM Credits
Videography: Skip Gray
Still Photography: Art Sutch, Valerie DeLaune, LAc
Computer Wizardry: Lucid Reverie, LLC
Video Recording at KTOO Public TV Studio
Produced by: Valerie DeLaune, LAc
© Copyright Valerie DeLaune, LAc, 2004
Many of the Common Symptoms, Causes of Trigger Points, Helpful Hints, Stretches, and Exercises are drawn from Travell and Simons Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual. Please assume that any text prior to a footnote is attributed to the source noted in the footnote.
- David G. Simons, M.D., speaker, STAR Symposium, Columbus, May 22, 2003
- Wilson, Virginia P., "Janet G. Travell, MD: A Daughter's Recollection", Tex Heart Inst J. 2003; 30 (1): 8-12. (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=152828)
