Travell and simons criteria
Travell and simons criteria update#
Moving forward as a profession we ought to acknowledge that there is uncertainty about myofascial trigger points and update the way we communicate with patients and other healthcare providers. They posit that what we call a myofascial trigger point may represent a form of nociplastic pain where there are neuroplastic changes of the peripheral or central nervous system ( Quintner et al., 2015).
Myofascial Trigger point Pathophysiology: Sore Spots Exist, But Their Etiology is Still Not Well Understood.Įarly research into myofascial trigger points often focused on a physiological dysfunction involving local soft tissue, but recently clinicians have spoken out against these traditional narratives to say that the explanations used in the past of this observable phenomenon are flawed in reasoning. This was then followed up by years of research and documentation by Janet Travell and David Simons, the result of their cumulative work was the textbook – Travell, Simons and Simons’ Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction (now in its 3rd edition). Many years later in the 1930’s Jonas Henrik Kellgren started the scientific investigation into these sore spots or what he called Referred Pain from Muscle ( Kellgren, 1938).
Travell and simons criteria manual#
It is well documented in Asian cultures that traditional healers would therapeutically treat sore spots with manual therapy or acupuncture needles, one example is ASHI (ah yes!) points, a central tenant in acupuncture for over two thousand years. This 5300 year old preserved body gives insight into ancient medical practices, as it is believed that these tattoos represent an early form of therapeutic treatment similar to acupuncture used to treat low back and knee pain ( Kean et al., 2013 Zink et al., 2019). This frozen body has 61 tattoos that correspond to myofascial trigger points and traditional acupuncture points that are commonly utilized to treat musculoskeletal pain.
One of the oldest examples on record is a 5,300 year old naturally preserved human body discovered in the Tyrolean Alps of Austria called Otzi “The Iceman”.
The concept of sore spots that can be leveraged for therapeutic purposes have been independently discovered by several different cultures in Europe, Africa and Asia. 9 Myofascial Triggerpoints Myofascial Trigger Points Convergent Thinking and Myofascial Trigger points