What exactly are these knots and why do they occur? Why do they occur in the shoulders and not other areas of the body? Does everyone get them?
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If you hold a muscle tight throughout the day(repetitive movements, bad posture, injury/pain, muscle imbalance) you can cause the muscle to become overworked and inflamed(irritated/swollen). An irritated and tight muscle will cause pain, which can cause someone to hold that muscle even tighter which is called muscle guarding. These areas of tight swollen muscles are called trigger points or “knots.” The longer you have a trigger point, the longer the inflammation is present, which just like when you cut yourself or break a bone, you body will deposit collagen/scar tissue to stabilize and support the area. This can cause the muscle to become harder and stiffer, but it would take months/years to significantly form. Most muscle knots will go away on their own with rest or with trigger point therapy(sustained pressure to break apart muscle adhesions/reset the inflammatory process) and massage. If the root cause is not addressed by improving posture/muscle imbalance, etc, they can keep coming back despite treating the symptoms.
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