In a career field dominated by men, Dr. Janet Travell was a trailblazer for females in medicine and her work has helped relieve pain for millions of people.
In 1942, she was the first to identify and name a “trigger point”.
In 1983 she co-authored what is known as “the trigger point bible”: Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual.
Janet Travell served as the White House physician from 1961 to 1965, making her the first woman to hold that position. She served under both President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Kennedy sought Travell's help during his sick leave from the Senate, which he spent writing Profiles in Courage. "I met Jack Kennedy when he was a junior senator from Massachusetts," Travell explained following one of her well-attended seminars in Palm Springs. "He had war wounds and was on crutches for so long he had calluses under his armpits. I got him off those crutches and when he asked me to go to the White House with him, well... I didn't think I could say no." (excerpt from article below)
“Janet Travell is a genius. And when I say genius, I mean she has created an entire field of medicine, on her own — developed the science, developed the practical applications of it — where there was no field before. She has understood things that people didn’t understand before, codified them in a book so people can share them and understand them, taught them to disciples, and made it all work. She has filled a vacuum where people didn't even know there was a vacuum before, in terms of medical knowledge.”
— Henry Fishman, M.D.
As a human inhabiting a body with muscles, as a woman, and as a massage therapist, I owe Dr. Janet Travell a big thank you for her life and her work.
In the spirit of gratitude for women like her, here’s a fun song performed by Keb Mo and Vince Gill, titled “Good Strong Woman”:
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