I hear this all the time. People often say things like, “I have a huge knot in my back” or “I’m all knotted up!” What does this actually mean? Can a muscle really get tied in a knot? Well, no, not really…
Muscle fibers run in all different directions in our body and muscles are layered on top of each other from our heads to our toes. This is a good thing and the reason why we can bend, twist, dance, and play sports. Our muscles are meant to be pliable, strong, and challenged.
However, when we sit at a computer all day in the same position and if we injure ourselves, or if we are chronically dehydrated, we can lose our mobility and flexibility. The various muscle fibers start to stick to each other and become adhered. This new hard and lumpy feeling is a muscle ‘knot’. Muscle ‘knots’ are small, bump-like areas in the muscle that can be painful to the touch, producing an achy feeling in the muscles and joints. The medical term for these muscle ‘knots’ is myofascial trigger points. These ‘knots’ trigger points occur when the muscle fibers or the bands of tissue called fascia underneath them tense and tighten.
Muscle knots can be caused by multiple different factors in life, a sedentary lifestyle, overusing or injuring your muscle, poor posture, dehydration, unhealthy eating habits, stress and anxiety. 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. You may experience stress, anxiety, and depression, and have difficulty sleeping.
Muscle ‘knots’ are incredibly common but common doesn’t mean they are normal or harmless. Chronic stress on our muscles creates micro-tearing of muscle tissue, which creates scar tissue. Unfortunately, if left untreated, the muscle tissue will continue to lose elasticity and cause postural stress that is hard to reverse. It’s not all bad news and there are a lot of things we can do to treat and prevent muscle knots.
