What is a muscle knot, why does it happen and what you can do to relieve it

A Muscle knot, or adhesion, occurs when various muscle fibers start to stick to each other and become adhered, or stuck together. This new hard and lumpy feeling is a muscle 'knot'. Adhesions are incredibly common, but common doesn't mean they are normal or harmless. They can cause chronic stress on our muscles which creates micro-tearing of muscle tissue, with the ending result creating scar tissue.

There are direct and indirect causes of knots. At the top of the chart of most common causes is overwork. Remember that fast twitch fibers are not meant to be used for long periods of time. The next time you are working out, try doing one more set of 15 reps of what you are lifting and determine if that last set was as easy as the first set. Trauma is another way adhesions can happen, for example, say you are in an automobile accident or physical activity or injury, and these can be the cause of 'knot' formation. The stress that we encounter on a daily basis, whether from work, kids, daily life etc... help form the shoulder and neck knots that we all become accustomed to at some point in our lives.

Stress is another cause of the dreaded muscle 'knot' and I'm sure we can all relate to this one. You cannot strangle the person who cuts you off on the highway or takes your parking space you've been waiting for patiently during the holiday season, mostly because it's wrong and we don't want to go to jail, however, we tend to take that “energy” and keep it “balled” inside. This creates tension in areas like the neck, which makes it constrict, and after that our shoulders become accessories (like earrings) and before long if we cannot calm down and relax and simply remember to not let the little things like this in life get to us, then those poor muscles that make our shoulders look like earrings remain overworked by contracting and firing too much/too long.

We also have to look at posture, I personally feel this is the number one cause of 'knots' in the upper back and neck region. Poor posture typically results in upper back pain, lower back pain, neck pain, and sometimes making breathing a little more difficult. This is due to your Pectoral muscles(chest) becoming hypotonic, or having reduced pressure or tone, in particular, and the Rhomboids(back) becoming Hypertonic, or having increased pressure or tone, in particular. When dealing with the muscle tone hypo means of or in a state of abnormally low muscle tone. Hypertonic means, of or in a state of abnormally high muscle tone. Which boils down to your shoulders are rolled forward and your back is in a hunched position. In this case therapy would be most useful to mainly be stretching out, or lengthening the Pectoral muscles as well as the Medial, or inner, head of you Bicep(upper arm) and ta muscle call the coracobrachialis, you can also plan on working the Rhomboid area on the back.

Now that you know what muscle 'knots' are and where they come from, let's take a look at how to get rid of them. I am just going to make a list of things you can do and then get more into the detail.

Rest

Stretch

Exercise

Hot and cold therapy, AKA Contrast therapy

Muscle rubs

Trigger point therapy

Massage Therapy

Why rest? I think we can all just agree on this on, it's nice to just take a break from all the daily activities and kick our feet up and relax. Not to mention it gives you a chance to reduce the stress of the day by not doing anything at all.

Why stretch? Stretching is a great way to lengthen muscles and not only move everything within your "normal" Range of motion, or ROM, but by going a little further you will increase your ROM which will alleviate many problems.

Why exercise? For one exercise is generally a good habit to get into to stay in shape and keep not only keep your physical muscles healthy but also the internal ones like your heart. Exercise keeps your body moving and prevents the muscles from sticking together for too long.

Did you know that for your muscles to become bigger they have to micro tear and then heal themselves? Also Lactic acid is a by product of a high sugar diet which after working out it will form on the muscles. Once the muscles have cooled down(without stretching) they have a higher chance of sticking together.

Why use Contrast Therapy? Contrast therapy is a form of treatment where a limb or the entire body is immersed in hot (but not boiling) water followed by the immediate immersion of the limb or body in ice water. This procedure is repeated several times, alternating hot and cold. This can also be done with heat and ice packs.

Why Muscle Rubs? Muscle rubs like Biofreeze, IcyHot, DoTERRA Deep Blue rub etc are great to relieve pain for a little while, however usually it is only a temporary fix.

Why Trigger point therapy? "Trigger point therapy is a bodywork technique that involves the application of pressure to tender muscle tissue in order to relieve pain and dysfunction in other parts of the body. It may also be called myofascial (myo meaning muscle, fascial meaning connective tissue) trigger point therapy" - literal definition of TPT

Why Massage Therapy? Massage therapy isn't just about feeling good, it can be about really getting into the muscles and tracing them back to the initial point of injury therefore resulting in a much faster healing process. Massage therapy also helps to increase blood flow which can help nourish malnutritioned and fatigued muscles. It also breaks up scar tissue, which as you read earlier is what muscle 'knots' become after a long period of time.

Here are a few good ways to stop adhesions from occurring:

#health #Massage #Triggerpoint #TriggerpointTherapy #MassageMeKnots