We can bet our bottom dollar that you have said something along the lines of, ¨ This stress has my muscles in knots, ¨ once in your hectic life thus far. Before we talk about why you get knots in your muscles, it is essential to understand what muscle knots are.
In a nutshell, muscle knots can be best described as hyperirritable spots in muscles or fascial tissues known as myofascial trigger points.
Muscle knots are sensitive and hard areas of the muscles that tighten and contract even when the tissue is at rest.
The tense muscle fibers, also known as trigger points, can cause pain when touched.
Why and How Do You Get Knots in Your Muscles?
Muscle knots can be caused due to a variety of reasons and some of them may include the overuse of muscles, muscle injuries, poor lifestyle, and a sedentary lifestyle.
Other causes of muscle knots can include an unhealthy diet, stress, anxiety, and dehydration.
Although muscle knots can occur in any part of the body, they mostly occur on the neck, back, and shoulders. You shouldn´t be surprised to see them show up in your gluteal muscles too.
If we are to describe the pain caused by the muscle knots, we would label the pain, ¨ an aching sensation and pain in the joints and muscles.¨
It is ill-advised to touch a muscle knot, as doing so can exaggerate the pain.
A muscle knot may feel tense, swollen, or bumpy. Additionally, it could also feel contracted and tight. It is possible for the affected area to become swollen and inflamed.
Unfortunately, muscle knots can play an atrocious role in causing symptoms in areas outside of the muscles as well including earaches, toothaches, and headaches. Muscle knots can also increase stress, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, you will have a tough time going to sleep when you get knots in your muscles via a foam roller.
What Does a Muscle Knot Feel Like
Unfortunately, muscle knots can become so intense that they become very painful. As it turns out, this is not the case in all muscles. You may experience a sharp, constant stabbing pain that shoots up the arm, through the chest, down the leg, etc. Many times, it feels like an electric shock, but other times it is more like a headache. In fact, after lots of hard work or intense sports, you may feel this sensation when you first get out of bed. Of course, you can also be sure that the muscle knot feels crampy. In a muscle knot, any “parasitic” fibers may be rubbing together or possibly a pinching sensation in that area.
Regardless of how painful a muscle knot is, it will not go away by itself. In fact, you may experience this sensation for hours, even days after your workout. Does Yoga Help With Muscle Tension? Yoga can definitely be helpful when you are experiencing muscle knots. In fact, the top #1 physical therapist recommends this to their patients.
How Can You Get Muscle Knots Treated?
If you want to treat muscle knots, you will need to be patient. If you want to get rid of the knots, you will need to break up the knotted tissue and calm inflamed nerves.
Listed below are some of the things you can do to get muscle knots treated. However, if you find the pain unbearable, you should immediately seek professional help and consider hiring the services of a massage therapist.
Why don´t you try?
The best personal massager can help treat your muscle knots with massages. Massages can work exceptionally well at improving blood flow and increasing blood circulation.
This, in turn, helps improve muscle function and helps loosen the muscles, bringing you relief from the pain and stiffness.
However, a single session of massage therapy will not suffice. You will need to undergo frequent sessions if you want to heal completely.
There are multiple types of massages you can try and benefit from, depending on the severity of your muscle knots and preferences.
If you are sensitive to the touch and have plenty of tension in your muscles, you should try Swedish massage. The Swedish massage therapy session involves plenty of deep circular movements, kneading, and long strokes.
Take rest
If you have muscle knots, it is of paramount importance for you to rest and stop doing activities that can heighten the pain and discomfort. You should allow yourself to relax, sleep, or lie in a comfortable position using the aid of pillows to support your body.
Eat a healthy diet
If you want to prevent muscle knots, it is imperative for you to maintain a healthy diet.
You must ensure that your diet isn´t devoid of potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
If you consume a large number of processed foods, you should change your habit and replace processed foods with fresh, whole foods.
You should Stretch
You shouldn´t overexert your body when you stretch. Simple and gentle stretching exercises are more than enough to elongate your muscles.
Stretching can help release tension in your body and, in turn, lessen neck pain.
You should release the stretch slowly to reduce your risk of injury.
You should also practice good posture in your daily life. While you are at it, you should concentrate on sitting relaxed with your shoulders back and down.
Exercising can help
If you want relief from the pain caused by muscle knots, and poor posture, it is also advisable for you to perform aerobic exercise routines.
For instance, if the knots are in your neck and shoulders, you will do yourself a big favor by swimming, doing jumping jacks, or any other arm movements that ensure that the muscles in your neck and shoulders are working.
Exercising helps stretch the muscles and facilitates the increased blood supply to the muscles, which, in turn, helps filter out toxins.
The benefits of a muscle rub
If you are looking for a quick-fire way to relax and soften muscle knots, you should use a muscle rub to massage the affected areas. Doing so also helps give you cooling relief. You shouldn´t shy away from asking someone for help should you have difficulties reaching certain areas. We would recommend you acquire a muscle rub that contains camphor, menthol, or capsaicin. However, before applying the muscle rub, it is suggested for you first do a patch test to ensure that there´s no reaction.
Trigger point pressure release
So, what is the trigger point pressure release? Well, it is basically a therapy method of applying pressure to the trigger points. You shouldn´t attempt to do this yourself; only skilled practitioners are capable of performing the tasks ably. The skilled practitioner applies pressure on the muscle knot until it softens and releases.
If you have chronic pain in the shoulders, neck, and back pain due to a build-up of scar tissue or muscle knots, you should try deep tissue massage. A deep tissue massage largely involves forceful strokes to release chronic muscle tension and mainly targets the deeper layers of connective tissue and muscle.