Travell & Simons' Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual (2-Volume Set) [Hardcover]

Janet Travell, MD and David Simons, MD were absolute pioneers when it came to myofascial pain and it's treatment. What makes these books even more amazing is that they were written a full quarter of a century before doctors even acknowledged that myofascial pain actually exsisted. . . What makes them interesting is that, in this, the most current edition, they have re-evaluated about 65% of the sites that before would only be considered for cortizone or saline injection and now recommend these areas be attended to by a Massage Therapist. They even go into strong detail as to stroke, direction and stretching. There are still plenty of sites that they recommend for injection, but only in a last resort situation.

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 coresponding 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 verve aggravation associated with the pain.

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.