This blog gives a little insight into those troublesome knots that can build up in a muscle or fascia (connective tissue) which joins muscles together.
Near enough every agonist muscle has an antagonist in that one muscle pulls in one direction , then another pulls in the opposite direction.
Knots are formed when a muscle gets over worked, whether performance based or not. Even everyday situations such as stress, dehydration, poor posture and injury all put added strain on the muscles in turn making them work harder and eventually becoming tighter.
Knots develop when the muscle stays in a state of contraction when it should be at ease, basically on when it should be off. When this happens repetitively the muscle becomes chronically contracted and over time a knot is formed to protect itself, even if that causes us quite a bit of pain! This hard mass of muscle tissue has now become short. The shortened muscle fibres then develop into a knot which then begins to restrict movement.
Knots, adhesions, nodules and trigger points are basically all the same. Trigger points is the anatomical term used but knot is the most commonly used due to the fact that’s exactly how it feels. I refer to them as the power houses of pain (not quite so anatomical).
Some lay dormant meaning they maybe physically present but not giving you any grief or you get the really active ones causing a great deal of discomfort and effecting surrounding muscles.
Muscle knots generate tissue fluid pollution (toxins) which causes pain that irritates the knot further. There is also strong evidence to say that knots are also strongly acidic which would tie in well with the burning sensations sometimes felt.
Knots can be small or large. They radiate pain out from the area, this is where the term referred pain comes in. This means the symptoms may not be anywhere near the knots origin but they are certainly coming from it. You may have symptoms at the top of the upper back but a knot can be sitting further down. That’s where the body just loves to play tricks on us!
Can knots go away?
The realistic answer is that regular massage therapy is not going banish knots away but the main thing is to keep them under control by treating them. By doing so fibres are lengthened out, the area is flushed of toxins that accumulate within knots, movement is increased and the main overall outcome would be a reduction of symptoms! Sounds pretty good 🙂
There is a way in which you can help yourself. That would be in the form of stretching, which is a separate topic all in itself (blog coming soon on stretching). Stretching lengthens muscle fibres which is what we want to achieve as knots do the opposite and cause the fibres to become short. Regular massage along with stretching, hydration and exercise is a perfect combination at keeping annoying knots under control.
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