People often come into clinic complaining of “knotted muscles” in their back or shoulders, but what exactly are these knots and what can we do about them?

What are “knots” in muscles?

When we use our muscles, they contract (shorten) and relax (lengthen) all the time.  But when muscles are held tense and shortened for long periods of time, or we use a muscle repetitively, things start to go a bit wrong. Initially small areas of the muscle fibres start to spasm (contract and cannot relax off).  This uses up a lot of energy and can cause a small amount of damage the muscle fibres, so the body reacts and adapts by building thicker fibrous and ligamentous tissue that supports and holds the muscle in this shortened position. These are the lumps and bumps you often feel in your muscles, particularly in our shoulder muscles.

Essentially when we ask our body to hold tension in a position for a prolonged period of time, our bodies adapt and build this fibrous scaffold within the muscle to hold it there without having to waste energy keeping the tension.

Causes of Knots

1. Stress

2. Repetitive strain

3. Weak muscles

4. Lack of or Poor sleep

5. Trauma & injury

6. Lack of activity

Ways to ease knots in muscles

Once these bands of fibrous tissue develop it can often be very hard to get rid of them, however there are things that can be done.

See a professional like an osteopath

Lumps and bumps within muscles are usually nothing to worry about but its always a good idea to get them check out by a professional (osteopath or GP).  Lumps can occasionally be something else so its always good to get it checked. As lumps can also be caused by weakness or muscular imbalance, an osteopath can also work with you to formulate an appropriate treatment strategy.

Get a sports massage

Probably the most common treatment is a really good sports massage to break down that fibrous tissue that has built up.  However, you might also want to work on strength as well, otherwise those pesky knots will most likely just come back.

Try some medical acupuncture

Although acupuncture cannot break down the fibrous tissue, it can help relieve any pain felt in muscles.  Placing acupuncture needles in the small spasming areas of the muscle helps promote relaxation and help to prevent the fibrous bands from forming in the first place.

Do some strength exercises

Sometimes the only way to deal with knotted muscles is to get them stronger. When muscles are tight for long periods of time they actually get weaker.  Doing some strength work will help increase the circulation in the muscle, but also make it more resilient in the longer term.