Donelly JM, Fernandez-de-las-Penas C, Finnegan M, Freeman JL. 2018. Travell, Simons and Simons' Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual, edition 3. Philadelphia PA. Wolters Kluwer. This 3rd edition is entirely evidence based, and a valuable and much-needed addition to the definitive texts provided by the founders of myofascial medicine. Keep the Vol. 1 ed. 2 and Vol. 2 versions of Travell and Simons handy too, as the 3rd edition is primarily new material and you do not want to be without the gems that are contained there.

This text is not only a Trigger Point Manual update. There are new color diagrams, photos, and clarifications. In addition to the pain sciences and physiological sections in the introduction, muscle function groups for every muscle are clearly specified. Each muscle section has a chapter on clinical considerations. There are specific chapters for trigger point injection and dry needling, manual therapies, therapeutic modalities, postural/structural perpetuating factors and footware. I believe that the selection of so much good new material and the clarified and consolidation of evidence-based -data emphasizing the dysfunctions as well as the pain would have pleased Drs. Travel and Simons greatly. Dr. Donnelly has created something of a miracle getting this into one volume.

Starlanyl DJ, Sharkey D. 2013. Healing through Trigger Point Thearpy: A Guide to Fibromyalgia, Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction. Lotus Publishing, United Kingdom. North Atlantic Books, USA. Random House. If you want to know how to help your myofascial pain patients, this book is the answer. It contains information on specific trigger points, combined patterns, and interactions with fibromyalgia, in understandable language. Patients can learn what may be causing their specific symptoms and what they can do about them. If you have fibromyalgia patients, they have myofascial trigger points, and this may help them as well. Patients with chronic myofascial pain and dysfunction must be treated differently than patients who have only one area of trigger points. Patients with fibromyalgia and chronic myofascial pain and dysfunction require modified techniques, particularly in the field of bodywork and interactive diagnoses. You may find hints in here, as well as something to hand your patients to use as a guide. It can give them the answers they need to understand their symptoms, and empower them to do something about those symptoms. It may help them to have more efficient office visits and interactions as well. It is also suitable for use as a training guide.

The papers and effects of Janet G. Travell, MD, one of the founders of myofascial medicine, have been carefully and lovingly archived at the Gelman Library in George Washington University.  If you plan to visit, please contact them beforehand and read through the carefully compiled list of documents that are available so that the archivists can have specific boxes ready and available for you. 

NAMTPT

If you are a doctor or other care provider who deals with patients have fibromyalgia (FM), you may not be aware that research has shown peripheral pain generators such as myofascial trigger points and arthritis are the driving cause of the central nervous system sensitization of FM.

If you already know about chronic myofascial pain, you may not be aware of all the dysfunctions that can be caused by trigger points. They can be responsible for or contribute to migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, blurry vision, temporomandibular dysfunction, "chronic prostatitis", menstrual cramps, buckling hip or know, decreased tidal volume, and many other dysfunctions as well as pain. They are the great mimicker, causing symptoms that can be difficult to differentiate from other conditions. It can be mind-boggling to try to remember all of the trigger point referral patterns and symptoms involved with the hundreds of possible trigger points, as well as their perpetuating factors. Most chronic pain patients do have trigger points, and they are the most common source of musculoskeletal pain. Would you like some help?

Did you know that here are specialists trained in identifying and treating trigger points and dealing with at least some perpetuating factors? The National Association of Myofascial Trigger Point Therapists can help you locate a therapist near you. Working with such a therapist can relive you of considerable amont of work, and help your patients help themselves. If none is near you, you may want to help recruit a graduate of one of the training facilities mentioned on their website. If you are a bodyworker and interested in learning more about trigger points, the NAMTPT website has training opportunities and a symptom seeker that can help you.

Visit the NAMTPT website at https://www.myofascialtherapy.org