What causes my muscles to knot?

What are knots:

  • Muscle knots are points within a muscle where contracted fibers are unable to relax.
  • The dictionary is: “highly irritable localized spots of exquisite tenderness in a nodule in palpable taunt bands of muscle tissue.”
  • The medical term for muscle knots is myofascial trigger points.

Knots are thought to be caused by the building up of protein after the release of lactic acid.

Knots cause pain in two ways:

  • Active
    An active trigger point or knot is one that actively refers pain either locally or via nerve pathways to another location in the body.  Active trigger points are the one that clients are aware of and cause them to book to see a masseur.
  • Latent
    A latent trigger point is one that isn’t painful until pressure is applied to it.  This is when clients come to me and they find that during the massage they feel pain that they hadn’t felt before the treatment.

How can I prevent knots?

Occasional knots are inevitable, but if you get a lot of them it is worth considering the following

  • Your posture
  • Your potassium and calcium levels as both help to prevent knots
  • Being dehydrated doesn’t help
  • Your posture
  • Stretching may help release knots

How can I release knots?

If you didn’t manage to prevent knots you then need to consider how to release them.

  • To self-treat a muscular knot put a tennis ball in a sock (it makes it easier to hold on to the ball), simply place the tennis ball in the sock against either a wall or the floor and then press the part of your body with the knot on to it and move your body up and down.
  • As an alternative, you could apply a deep, stroking massage directly to the muscle knot.
  • The alternative is to visit a masseur.

 

Related Posts

  • The Impact of Sitting All Day – Part 3

    In part 1, I looked at the impact of sitting on your muscles,  and in part 2 I started to explore the impact on the rest of your body.  In this post I continue to explore the impact of sitting on your circulatory system including your heart. Heart Disease When sitting for prolonged periods of time, muscles burn less fat and blood flows more sluggishly, allowing fatty acids to more easily clog the heart.  In 2012 Ford & Caspersen in their research paper, Sedentary behaviour and cardiovascular disease: a review of prospective studies (International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol 41, No 5 pages 1338 - 1353) showed that the people with the most sedentary time are more than twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease than those with the least. In 2012 Zedric and Hamilton found that just a few hours sitting suppresses a gene that helps keep your cardiovascular system healthy by controlling inflammation and blood clotting. T W Zedric & M T Hamilton, 2012 Identification of hemostatic genes expressed in human and rat leg muscles and a novel gene (LPP1/PAP2a) suppressed during prolonged physical inactivity (sitting), Lipids in Health and Disease, Vol 11 see http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1476-511X-11-137.pdf Cholesterol Sitting also means that your large postural support muscles are inactive.  When active these muscles produce a quite of beneficial molecules.  One molecule skeletal muscles produce is an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase - which you can think of as a vacuum cleaner for fats in the blood stream.  A study in rats showed that after 24 hours forced inactivity, their lipoprotein lipase acitivity was reduced by 90 - 95%, which led to a 75% drip in the ability of their muscles to remove fats from their bloodstream as will as a significant decrease in "good" (HDL) cholesterol. L Bay & Mark Hamilton, 2003, Suppression of skeletal muscle lipoprotein lipase activity during physical inactivity: a molecular reason to maintain daily low-intensity activity, Journal of Physiology, Vol 551, No 2 pages 673 - 682.See http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/jphysiol.2003.045591/full

  • Heel Pain – Part 2 – Grumbling Achilles Tendon

    Last week I discussed Plantar Fasciitis one of the major causes of heel pain, this week I am going to discuss a grumbling achilles tendon, or to be technically correct, non-insertional Achilles tendinopathy, he other major cause of heel pain.  Although a rupture of the Achilles is well known, it is actually more common to have what is known as a grumbling Achilles. The pain is felt at the back of the heel above where the Achilles tendon joins the bone. It feels stiff and swollen, particularly in the morning and can prevent the sufferer from taking part in sport. Sometimes the pain is lower down where the tendon joins the bone. How can I tell if my heel pain is a grumbling achilles tendon? You may have swelling over or either side of your achilles tendon which runs from your heel to your calf muscles.  The skin over the achilles tendon may be red and/or hot.  If you sit down with your feet on the floor and raise your foot, as you use your achilles tendon you may hear a crackling sensation. What causes a grumbling achilles tendon?

    • The tab on your shoe rubbing against your achilles tendon.
    • Failing to warm up properly before playing sports.
    • Over use of the tendon from intensive training, e.g. running
    • Scar tissue from a previous injury.
    • High impact on hard surfaces e.g. any sport where you jump or tennis.
    What can I do to help myself? If you are in pain then rest and ice your tendon, to ice it wrap ice cubes in a tea-towel and hold against your tendon for 5 - 20 minutes, every 2 hours for 2 -3  days and then 3 times a day. The key to preventing further bouts is to ensure your are wearing appropriate footwear for the sport you are doing, ensure you warm up and cool down properly and always stretch your calf muscles. In addition a deep tissue massage release any tension in the tendon, remove scar tissue and ensure that your calf muscles are flexible.  

  • Back Stretches

    These stretches can either be done as a complete series or individually.  The aim of stretching is to relax the muscles so it should never be painful. Each stretch should be held for 15 seconds and repeated twice.  Ideally you should stretch daily. Back

    • Clasp elbows in front of your body at shoulder height, making big circles in front of you - push out and look down.  This will stretch your upper back.
    • Lie on your back and raise your legs with your knees bent and hands palms down at right angles to your body.  Move your legs over to one side of your body keeping your knees together and bent.  Repeat for the other side of your body.
    • Lie on your back with your arms at right angles to your body.  Raise a leg with your knee bent and let it drop over to the other side of your body.  Now repeat on the other side.
    • Kneel on all fours, then sit back with your buttocks on your heels and your head on the floor and your hands outstretched in front of you (child pose for those who know yoga).  This will stretch your entire spine.
    • Kneel on all fours, look down whilst arching your back upwards (like a cat) hold for 15 seconds, then slowly drop your back down and stretch your head up and hold for 15 seconds.
    • Lie on your back with your right knee up keeping your foot on the ground.  Place your left ankle on your right knee, letting your left knee drop outwards.  Clasp your hands below your right knee and pull towards your body, this will stretch out your gluteals.   Now repeat on the other side.
    • Lie on your stomach with your arms by your side and gently raise your head slightly.  If these feels comfortable then you can also raise your feet of the ground and raise your arms above your head in from of you.  This is very strengthening and especially good for people with straight backs.