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

  • How to test if you have good posture

    We all know that we need good posture.  So today I wanted to share with you how to test if you have good posture.

    The Wall Test - Stand with the back of your head touching the wall and your heels six inches from the baseboard. With your buttocks touching the wall, check the distance with your hand between your lower back and the wall, and your neck and the wall. If you can get within an inch or two at the low back and two inches at the neck, you are close to having excellent posture. If not, your posture may need professional attention to restore the normal curves of your spine.

    The 'Jump' Test - Feel the muscles of your neck and shoulders. Do you find areas that are tender and sensitive? Are the buttock muscles sore when you apply pressure? What about the chest muscles?

    If any of your muscles feel tight, sore or achy then why not book in for a massage.

  • Lets talk about tension headaches

    We all get headaches from time to time.  Tension headaches are characterised by

    • Dull, aching head pain.
    • Sensation of tightness or pressure across your forehead or on the sides and back of your head.
    • Tenderness on your scalp, neck and shoulder muscles.
    Tension headaches are the most common form of headaches and can last anywhere between 30 minutes to a week.  If they occurr more than 15 days in a month for 3 months you have chronic tension headaches. People are more susceptible to tension headaches when they have
    • their period (women only)
    • under pressure or stress
    • poor posture
    I know that peole find tension headaches are annoying and sometimes headache tablets either don't work or work initially and then less helpful.  Here in clinic we find that deep tissue massage on the couch allows us to identify which muscles in the neck, shoulders, upper back and chest are tight and release them.  We frequently find this either release the tension headache or at least lessens it.  If you are prone to tension headaches, then a series of massages may assist especially if you have poor posture, under pressure or highly stressed.

  • Can massage help you if you are constipated?

    Recently scientists have looked at the impact of abdominal massage on people with constipation. Constipation affects twice as many women as men.  Older people are more likely to be affected and in addition taking certain medications e.g. opioids can cause it. A randomised control trail of 204 patients with constipation (from opioid medication), were split into two equal groups.  The intervention group were taught how to administer abdominal massage on themselves, in a clockwise direction over the intestines on the abdominal wall, which they performed twice a day for four weeks after breakfast & dinner. The control group received standard medical care, such as laxatives, suppositories and enemas. Both groups were asked to keep a diary of their bowel movements and to complete three questionnaires, including the Bristol stool scale for evaluating stools and bowel habits, the visual analogue scale, which contains questions about constipation, including severity, straining & pain. Patients in the massage group reported significant improvements in stool consistency, straining during defecation, the feeling of incomplete emptying after defecation and experienced increase bowel movements.  They also reported a reduction in the severity of constipation, pain, straining, gas & fullness in the rectum.  However, the massage had no effect on the stool amount. The researchers concluded that abdominal massage was an effective approach for managing opioid induced constipation.  So if you suffer from constipation consider abdominal massage. Reference https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31358243