What is a muscle knot?

Question

My boyfriend was rubbing my back yesterday and said I have a huge knot in my back. What exactly IS a muscle knot? Someone told me its toxins trapped in ur body. How do I get rid of it? And why did it get soooo sore after my back rub was over??

Answer 1

Muscle knots are abnormal areas within the muscle, which cause pain. The medical term for the muscle knots is myofascial trigger points

The knots form because the spasm keeps the muscle continuously "on". Normally, even when doing heavy lifting, no muscle is working continuously. Instead, as the body moves in normal activities, different muscles cycle on and off. The spasm makes the muscle work continuously, around the clock. The muscles are not designed for this continuous work. After some amount of time the muscle overloads and forms these knots. Treating spasm helps reduce this problem. Spasm occurs after other kinds of injuries, but muscle knots only become a problem when the source of the pain doesn't go away quickly. This happens most often (but not only) with injuries to the neck and back.

How Are Muscle Knots Treated?

There are several methods to treat muscle knots. Choosing among them is the job of the health-care practitioner who is working most closely with you. As discussed on the exercise page, exercise is an important method to help with the muscle knots. Often, exercise can be a supplement to the other treatments discussed. Massage therapy is a helpful treatment for the muscle knots. Therapeutic massage of this type can be uncomfortable when it is being done, but the patient is expected to feel better later. Treatment in the category called "modality", heat, cold, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation, as applied by a physical therapist or chiropractor, can help with muscle knots. Injections into the muscle knots, called trigger point injections, are another method of treatment. Acupuncture can have an impact on these areas also.