Janet G. Travell Doctor, cardiologist Date of Birth: 17.12.1901 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Education
2. Clinical Training and Research
3. Myofascial Pain Syndrome Research
4. Personal Physician to JFK
5. Academic Career and Later Life
6. Investigations into Trigger Points

Janet G. Travell: Physician to JFK and Pioneer of Myofascial Pain Research

Early Life and Education

Janet G. Travell was born into a medical family in 1901. Inspired by her father, she pursued a career in medicine, graduating from Wellesley College and Cornell University Medical College in New York City in 1926.

Clinical Training and Research

After completing her residency, Dr. Travell became a research associate at Bellevue Hospital Center, studying the effects of digitalis on pneumonia patients. She later joined Cornell University as an instructor in Pharmacology and Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacology. During this time, she also served as a consulting cardiologist at Seaview Hospital on Staten Island.

Myofascial Pain Syndrome Research

In the late 1930s, Dr. Travell received a grant from the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation to study arterial disease at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. It was during her time at Beth Israel that she first became interested in musculoskeletal pain, which would define her later career. Her research led to innovative methods of anesthesia to treat painful conditions such as low back pain and muscle spasms. Travell's techniques, which included the use of local procaine injections and freezing, are still popular in sports medicine today.

Personal Physician to JFK

Dr. Travell's success in treating musculoskeletal pain led to her becoming the first woman to serve as personal physician to a president. She was known as Senator John F. Kennedy's personal orthopedic surgeon. Kennedy suffered from severe pain due to invasive spinal surgeries that had been performed to correct injuries sustained during World War II. When Kennedy won the presidency in 1960, he appointed Travell as his personal physician. Her treatment included the use of a rocking chair to relieve back pain, which became popularized by the iconic image of Kennedy sitting in a rocker in the Oval Office. She continued to serve as the president's personal physician after Kennedy's assassination under his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, but she chose to leave the White House in 1965.

Academic Career and Later Life

While serving as the president's physician, Dr. Travell also held the position of Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at George Washington University from 1961. She continued to teach at the university even after leaving the White House, holding the titles of Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine (1961-1970), Distinguished Professor of Medicine (1970-1988), and Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine (1988 until her death in 1997). Travell remained active in the medical field until her passing, authoring scholarly articles, giving lectures, and participating in conferences.

Investigations into Trigger Points

Dr. Travell's personal interest in the topic led her to explore, explain, and elaborate on the phenomenon of myofascial pain syndrome secondary to trigger points, which had first been described in the 1920s by Dr. Dudley J. Morton. She drew attention to the role of the "Morton Toe" and its implications for the development of physical pain throughout the body. Travell's research is documented in over 100 scientific articles and in her renowned co-authored book with David G. Simons, "Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual." She also wrote an autobiography, "Off the Record: My Day and Night with Presidents and Other People of Power," which sheds light on her career and personal life.