How do we get them, and how do therapist massage them out?
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From what I understand reading “The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook”, muscle knots AKA trigger points are kind of like tiny muscle cramps. Your muscles are made up of bundles of “fascicles”. Those fascicles are made up of bundles of muscle fibers. And those muscle fibers are made up of bundles of “Myofibrils”. It goes down another level to “Sarcomeres” which are then made up of two different filaments. When a muscle is contracted, millions(?) of these filaments bind together and cause the muscle fibers to contract.
With cramps, the entire muscle typically gets forcibly contracted and usually releases itself fairly quickly. With a trigger point, two of the filaments get stuck together for some reason (bad posture, injury, etc.) and can’t release. When enough of these filaments get stuck together, an entire section of the muscle becomes contracted and stays that way for a while, sometimes indefinitely if it isn’t addressed. Supposedly blood flow is restricted to that part of the muscle and so massaging the area pushes blood back into it so it can release.
I’m sure I didn’t get that 100% right but that’s pretty much it. There’s alot of other things like supposed “toxin” build up in the muscles due to the by-products of muscle contraction not being able to be removed, what with the blood flow being cut off and all. I don’t know about all that.
I do know they hurt like a bitch and digging into them with a lacrosse ball fixes them, and there needs to be alot more research done. I’ve had too many clients complain that they have “bad knees” and then I have them lay with their quads on a foam roller for 5 minutes and suddenly there is no more knee pain. This goes for back, neck, hips, etc. as well.
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