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What are muscle knots?
Muscles knots are hard, sensitive areas of muscles that tighten and contract even when the muscle is at rest. These tense muscle fibers can cause pain in other parts of the body when touched. They’re also known as trigger points.
Muscle knots can be caused by:
- a sedentary lifestyle
- overusing or injuring your muscles
- poor posture
Dehydration, unhealthy eating habits, and stress and anxiety may also contribute to muscle knots.
Muscle knots can occur anywhere in the body, but they’re usually found in your back, shoulders, and neck. They often show up in your gluteal muscles, too.
Muscles knots can cause aching sensations and pain in your muscles and joints. When you touch a muscle knot, it may feel swollen, tense, or bumpy. It could also feel tight and contracted, even when you’re trying to relax, and they’re often sensitive to the touch. The affected area may even become inflamed or swollen.
Muscle knots can cause symptoms in areas outside of the muscles, including:
- headaches
- toothaches
- earaches
You may also experience stress, anxiety, and depression, and have difficulty sleeping.
Treatment
Treating muscle knots can take time. To get rid of the knots, you’ll need to break up the knotted tissue and calm inflamed nerves. Following are some things you can do to help break up the knots and find relief.
Rest
Allow your body to rest if you have muscle knots. Take a break from any activities that are causing the knots, or that increase your pain or discomfort. Dedicate as much time as possible to relaxation. This may include sleeping longer than usual or lying in a comfortable position using pillows to support your body.
Stretch
Gentle stretching that elongates your muscles can help you to release tension in your body. Be gentle with yourself while stretching. Don’t force yourself into any positions or do anything that causes pain.
For best results, hold stretches for at least 30 seconds, and release the stretch slowly to reduce your risk for injury
Exercise
Aerobic exercise may help to relieve muscle knots. If the knots are in your shoulders or neck, do jumping jacks, swimming, and any other arm movements that work the muscles in your shoulders and neck. This stretches the muscles and increases their blood supply. Increased blood supply helps repair damaged tissue.
Hot and cold therapy
Using a combination of heat and cold can help to relieve pain and inflammation due to muscle knots.
Cold helps to constrict the blood vessel, which reduces swelling. To apply cold, use a cold compress for 10 minutes, and then remove it for at least 15 minutes. You can repeat this until you begin to find relief.
Heat relaxes and loosens stiff muscles, and relieves pain. Heat may increase blood flow, which promotes healing. To apply heat, use a heating pad or take a warm bath.
Alternate between cold and heat treatment, or use the one that works best for you. Hot and cold therapy should be used in conjunction with other therapies.
Use a muscle rub
Muscle rubs help to soften and relax muscle knots. You can massage a muscle rub onto the affected area twice a day for cooling relief. You may need someone to help you apply to it difficult-to-reach areas.
Find a formula that contains menthol, capsaicin, or camphor. Before using a rub for the first time, do a patch test. To do a patch test, apply a small amount of the ointment onto the inside of your forearm. Wait 24 hours to make sure there’s no reaction. If there’s no reaction, you should be fine applying it to other parts of your body.
Shop for muscle rubs.
Trigger point pressure release
This therapy works by applying pressure to your trigger points. A skilled practitioner will put pressure on the muscle knot until it softens and releases. After a treatment session, you’ll have a set of movements to complete at home. This will help to retrain your muscles.
Physical therapy
In more serious cases, physical therapy may be recommended. A physical therapist can help you identify the underlying causes of your muscle knots. They will treat your pain using treatments appropriate to your case. You will be taught techniques that will reduce pain and prevent it from recurring.
Massage therapy
You can use massage to treat muscle knots. Massage therapy increases circulation and improves blood flow. That can improve muscle function and help loosen up your muscles. This helps to relieve pain and stiffness.
Keep in mind that one session isn’t usually enough to heal you completely. You’ll likely need to have several frequent sessions. Once you see improvements you can space out your sessions.
There are several types of massage. The type you’ll benefit from most will depend on the severity of your muscle knots and your personal preference. You may need to try several different types of massage before you find a type that you like.
Self-massage
In some cases, you can massage the sore muscles yourself. Locate the muscle knot and use your fingers to gently massage it.
While massaging, focus on trying to loosen up the tight muscle fibers and relieve tension. Press firmly into the affected area and make small circles with your fingers.
You can also place a tennis ball between your back and the floor or a wall, and roll back and forth on the ball to apply more pressure to the knot. Experiment by slowly and gently moving the ball to apply pressure to points of tension. You can use a foam roller in much the same way.
Shop for foam rollers.
Swedish massage
This gentle massage technique will be suitable for you if have a lot of tension or are sensitive to touch. Swedish massage uses long strokes, kneading, and deep circular movements. Vibration and tapping are also used to aid in relaxation.
Deep tissue massage
This type of massage uses forceful strokes to release chronic muscle tension. It targets the deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue. It’s often used to treat muscle damage from injuries.
Sports massage therapy
This massage technique is geared especially toward athletes. It can be used to prevent or treat injuries.
When to seek help
Untreated muscle knots can cause chronic pain and lead to other health issues. See your health care provider if you’ve taken measures to relieve your muscle pain, but it persists. You should also call your doctor if pain becomes severe and is interfering with your daily life and well-being.
It’s possible that what seems like a muscle knot could be something else, such as a swollen lymph node. Usually there will be other symptoms that accompany a swollen lymph node, such as a cold, cough, or infection.
Check with a doctor, physical therapist, or osteopath if you want to make sure it’s a muscle knot and not something else. They can determine possible causes for the pain.
Prevention
There are several ways to prevent muscle knots from forming.
- Always practice good posture in your daily life. Focus on sitting relaxed, with your shoulders back and down, and avoid slouching while sitting.
- Get plenty of rest and adequate exercise.
- Warm up and cool down when exercising, and don’t overexert yourself. Lifting too heavy or running too fast can cause injuries that may also lead to muscle knots.
- Don’t sit for long periods of time. Take a break, and get up and move at least once every hour of extended sitting.
- Do simple stretches throughout the day to keep your muscles from getting tight. You can even do exercises while sitting at a desk or watching television. Bring an awareness of the alignment of your body while going about physical activities.
- Maintain a healthy diet that includes calcium, potassium, and magnesium, and drink plenty of water. Replace processed foods with fresh, whole foods.
- Consider getting regular massages to help you to relax, gain flexibility, and keep your muscles healthy.
Takeaway
Muscle knots aren’t always avoidable, but you can take steps to reduce your risk. Make sure you’re physically active on a daily basis. Take time to focus on flexibility and relaxation. Discover which lifestyle changes and treatment plans work best for you.
If you have a muscle knot that’s getting worse, not improving with treatment, or affecting your mobility, talk to your doctor.
Wellness Knead those knots away
Tips for massaging your own sore trigger points or those of a partner
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Human touch is not a luxury. It is a biological necessity — infants starved of touch fail to meet growth standards — and a powerful tool. Touch builds cooperative relationships and improves immunity. It increases pleasure hormones and reduces stress hormones. And touch in the form of massage — even self-administered — can relieve muscle tension generated by physical and emotional stress, thus improving the health of our bodies and minds.
Elizabeth Hart TWP ()
Why our muscles are knotted
Few people have perfect posture. Those of us who work on our feet often stand swaybacked. Those of us who work at desks push our heads forward and hunch our shoulders, and sit so long that our hips become tight. Over time, our muscles get stuck in the memory of those positions.
Elizabeth Hart TWP ()
Muscles remember emotions, as well. Our muscles’ natural reaction to stress is to contract to protect us from harm. When the threat disappears, our muscles let go. Chronic stress, when the muscles never relax, can lead beyond discomfort to physical and mental disorders.
[You’re never too old to regain that lost muscle. And you can do it at home.]
What and where are trigger points?
Elizabeth Hart for TWP ()
A muscle knot, or trigger point, is a contraction within a muscle that refused to release. The pain can be localized or radiate to other parts of the body. For example, a trigger point in a neck muscle you don’t feel may be responsible for the pain in your jaw you do feel. The good news is that, through massage, we can release trigger points before our bodies start compensating elsewhere.
Self-massage tips
If you don’t have a partner, you can press on or roll your trigger points with your fingers, knuckles or a tennis or massage ball. Don’t spend more than five seconds on one spot, because this cuts off blood flow and prevents healing.
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Neck
Do you have chronic headaches? Check your sternocleidomastoids, the ropy neck muscles that extend from just behind the ear to the collarbone. Looking down at a keyboard or screen creates trigger points along the muscle that refer pain into the forehead, ears or cheeks. Gently pinch the muscle between your thumb and forefinger and roll it like a piece of taffy. Work your way up the entire rope.
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Shoulders
The levator scapulae, or shoulder-shrugger muscles, can sometimes feel locked up, eliciting pain in the neck and shoulders. To reach them, wrap an arm around yourself to touch the top inside corner of your opposite shoulder blade. Press on the knots and roll back and forth with your fingers. Or place a ball between your shoulder and a wall to get at these trigger points.
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Chest
If a body is seated with rounded shoulders for long periods of time, the pectoralis major muscles collapse and grow tight, potentially causing shortness of breath or pain in front of the shoulder and down the inside of the arm. To reach these muscles, run your fingers or knuckles just below your collarbone from the center outward (move away from a space if you feel a pulse). Or, while standing, pin a ball between your chest and the wall with your arm outstretched to roll out this area.
Elizabeth Hart/TWP ()
Lower back
If you’re standing at a counter or at a desk without your core engaged, you may feel pain in your low back or buttocks. The source could be a trigger point in your quadratus lumborum, two muscles that sit on either side of your spine between your pelvis and your lowest rib. Lie on the floor with your knees bent. Secure the ball at your lower back and gently roll along tender spots.
Elizabeth Hart for TWP ()
Buttocks
Pain in your lower back also could be emanating from trigger points in your buttocks. To get into the meaty gluteus maximus muscles, sit on a ball and roll in all directions. Lean back to roll just below the hip bone. For more pressure, prop the foot of the side you are rolling out on the opposite knee (figure four position).
Elizabeth Hart TWP ()
Feet
Tight calf muscles (try rolling them out with a ball) can cause muscles in the feet to knot up. Use your fingers to press into your arch or roll on a golf ball you’ve chilled in the freezer. If left untreated, these knots can lead to a kind of tendinitis in the foot called plantar fasciitis.
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Partner massage tips
Giving a massage isn’t just a nice thing to do; it can decrease anxiety for the giver. If you offer massage to your partner or housemate, start out easy and ask for specific feedback, i.e., “Do you want more pressure or less?” Use broad strokes with the palm of your hand and move in one direction, ideally toward the heart. Add a dime-size drop of lotion to your hands to improve glide.
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Hands
This super ordinary but sensitive area is a great starting point. Explore the spaces between the bones — the home of 30 tiny muscles and thousands of nerve endings. To address a common trigger point in the hand, pinch the meaty muscle (the thenar eminence) between the thumb and forefinger and squeeze. This muscle gets overworked with our smart devices.
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Shoulders
As if working at our desks all day wasn’t enough to ignite pain in our shoulders, most people complain of holding stress here. Standing behind your seated partner, massage the upper trapezius muscles like you’re kneading dough, gently pinching the muscles between your thumb and fingers. If the person is comfortable with more pressure, bend your arm and insert an elbow on the trigger point.
Elizabeth Hart for TWP ()
Neck
The forward head posture of staring at screens all day, whether you are sitting or standing at a desk, causes the tiny but mighty suboccipital muscles to shorten and tighten, which can lead to chronic headaches. While your partner is lying down, cradle his or her head in your hands and wrap your fingers under the ridge of the skull. Press your fingers up and back under the ridge for a few seconds like you are gripping a barbell. Release, move your hands outward along the ridge and press again.
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Forearms
Typing at a keyboard for hours creates tension in the forearm muscles and elbow joints. To smooth out these taut strings, have your partner rest an arm on a hard surface. Form a soft fist and use your knuckles or the base of your palm to gently roll out the muscles from the wrist to the elbow on the inside and outside of the forearm. Long-term tension in the forearm muscles can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.
About the story
Design and illustrations by Elizabeth Hart. Reference images from iStock.
Disclaimer: This instruction is for general informational purposes, and is not a substitute for medical treatment of any significant injury.
