How to get rid of muscle knots – neck, shoulders, and back

WHAT ARE MUSCLE KNOTS?

Muscle knots are hard, sensitive areas in our muscles where the muscle is in a shortened, contracted state even when the muscle is supposed to be at rest.

hese muscle knots are commonly found in our neck, shoulders, upper back, and hips and are a common condition that affect millions of people everyday.

These tight areas of contracted muscle are also referred to as “trigger points” as oftentimes touching these areas can “trigger” pain in different location in your body.

Muscle knots can cause a painful, aching sensation in the muscle that can refer to nearby joints as well. When you touch it it feels tight and contracted despite your efforts to relax that area.

Muscle knots can also feel swollen and inflamed and can contribute to other associated problems including headaches, stress, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping.

WHY DO YOU GET MUSCLE KNOTS?

Muscle knots are most often caused by:

• Poor posture
• Muscle weakness
• A sedentary lifestyle/Lack of activity

Other contributing factors can include stress/anxiety, unhealthy eating habits, and dehydration.

HOW TO TREAT MUSCLE KNOTS

Keep in mind that treating your muscle knots can take some time. You didn’t develop them overnight; chances are they’re not going to go away overnight, also.

To treat your muscle knots you’ll need to break up the knotted tissue and calm down the inflamed nerves.

1. Heat: applying heat to an area causes capillaries to dilate, thereby promoting more blood flow into that area. Increasing blood flow to a muscle can be an effective means of getting knots to release.

2. Stretching: as mentioned previously, muscle knots are areas of the muscle that fail to fully relax/elongate. Stretching the muscles in which these knots lie is an effective way to stretch out the knot, decrease tension, and decrease your pain.

The two stretches I like best are an “upper trapezius stretch” and a “levator scapula stretch”. See the video above for demonstration on how these are to be performed.

3. Muscle Activation: working muscles demand increased blood flow to effectively contract and relax. By working the muscle in which your knot lies you can increase blood flow into that spot and promote relaxation. Contracting these muscles is also a good way to fatigue this area and get the muscle knot to release.

Shrugs with shoulder blade retraction are the best exercise to eliminate knots in the upper back and neck; check out the video above to see how these are performed.

4. Postural Correction: poor posture is one of the primary contributing factors predisposing one to muscle knots. Taking actions to correct poor posture and promote improved alignment can significantly improve muscle tension and pain.

Chin tucks are my go-to exercise to get your head back over your shoulders where it belongs. Combine it with some foam roller stretching and you’ll start to notice an improvement. Again, these are demonstrated in the video above.

5. Postural Strengthening and Muscle Activation: Stretching the tight structures through the front of the chest and shoulders while strengthening the weak muscles of your upper back in between your shoulder blades is key in improving posture and decreasing propensity for muscle knots.

“Wall angels” and “wall slides” are my two favorite exercises to improve postural strength and decrease your muscle knot pain and symptoms.

6. Massage: massaging muscle tissue is a great way to decrease tension and “break up” those chronic muscle contractions. We decrease tension and promote blood flow into an area when we massage it, so massage is great at alleviating muscle knots and associated pain.

7. Trigger Point Release: Trigger point release is applying a deep pressure directly on a muscle knot and maintaining that pressure 15-60 seconds. The theory here is that we actually compress capillaries and “starve” the knot of blood and oxygen. After the muscle fibers “release” we then release our pressure and blood/oxygen comes rushing back into the spot, thereby maintaining the relaxed state.

You can perform a “self-trigger point release” at home using a tennis ball; another favorite tool of mine is a Theracane back massager. Both are great at applying point pressure right over your trigger points. See instructions in the video above.

Source: tone-and-tighten.com