Tired of painful muscles? You for sure have muscle knots, and there are simple solutions.

Muscle knots are a common source of pain. They occur alongside injury to any part of the body as a part of the body’s normal protective mechanism to avoid further injury. But when you have pain, and there has been no memorable incident of injury, muscle knots are for sure the cause. They are tight, hard bands of tissue, and if you go looking for them in painful areas, you’ll surely find some. But also, you should look for them further away, where you aren’t necessarily feeling pain, such as on the opposite side or several inches away. You’ll undoubtedly find them there too, and they are likely contributing to your pain. Pain increases with the amount of pressure placed on them, so a softer stroke won’t call them out. They are common in your neck, shoulders and back, but can occur in any muscle.

What are muscle knots?

A knot is an area of the muscle that stays in a partial state of contraction. This happens due to fatigue from repetitive use, or inefficient or abnormal muscle use putting stress on the muscle. It can also happen as a result of chemicals released in the area due to damage of tissue or even mental stress. Muscle connective tissue called fascia, can stick to muscle fibers in the healing process and also cause tight, restricted areas in muscle called adhesions, which are similar to knots.

What can you do about muscle knots? Massage or roll out

Massage or rolling out are the best ways to do this. You can either put sustained pressure on a painful spot with a hand, a massage gun or a type of roller, or you can push over the painful area with handstrokes or a type of roller, moving in the direction of the heart.

This is a painful process, and you have to be willing to put yourself through the pain, but it helps so much that it’s worth it, I promise. A person doing the massage by hand will feel the knot loosening up, and the person being massaged will feel less pain when the person passes over the knotted area. You may not be able to get it to completely go away in one round, but it will absolutely feel better. You just have to keep working at it.

Massage guns are really useful to do some massage on yourself, though there are still some places you won’t be able to reach on your own. Try the different shaped attachments to see what best helps the body area you are working on. Some massage guns are quite expensive. In my experience, cheaper massage guns will wear out a little faster than the expensive ones, but you can buy a lot of those for the price of an expensive one and still come out way ahead in how long they last!

There are several types of rollers you can use. My favorites are a firm foam roller for large or long muscles, and a lacrosse or softball for places like the shoulders or buttocks.

Stretching

Stretching can also help the muscle to relax and then stay in a more relaxed state.

Hydrate

Dehydration can make knots worse as muscles get less flexible. Drinking water or a drink with electrolytes in it will aid in the general health and flexibility of muscles.

Heat and ice

Heat first, ice after: Heating the area up first will help bring in blood flow, which can aid in muscle knots relaxing. After working on the muscle, ice is useful to help keep the muscle from returning to a state of irritation.

Prevention

• Be consistent: If you engage in the same sorts of activities on a regular basis, using a massage gun or rolling out regularly will keep muscle knots from building up.

• Strengthen muscles: Increasing muscle strength will help the muscles perform movements more efficiently and better sustain the workload they are exposed to. Just make sure to massage or roll out after a strength workout to limit the stressful effects!

Muscle knots are a common problem and are often not recognized as being there and being a source of pain. Just go looking – I promise you’ll find some! Working them out is a painful process, but so worth how you feel afterward!