Knots in your muscles
Whether they know it or not, nearly everyone is familiar with the phenomenon of myofascial pain syndrome, because nearly everyone knows about muscle knots.
The technical name for a muscle knot is a “myofascial trigger point,” or just a “trigger point” for short. (These are officially different than the “tender points” associated with fibromyalgia, by the way, although I believe that they are closely related.) When you get a friend or partner to dig into that annoying spot in your back, they are trying to release trigger points.
Effective and lasting trigger point treatment does take some skill, but treatment is not rocket science. Self-treatment is limited more by what you can reach yourself than by expertise. My clients quickly get the hang of it, recognizing the sensation of a “releasing” trigger point, and before I know it they are telling me exactly where to press and how hard: the process relies heavily on teamwork.
Trigger points may be as small as a grain of sand, or as large as a golf ball
So, what is a knot, anyway? Clinically, a trigger point is usually a lump of hard, sensitive tissue in a tight strap of muscle fibres, but there are many variations on this theme. For intance, it is possible to have almost “invisible” trigger points that don’t fit the standard definition, yet they definitely cause the same kinds of problems as other trigger points and respond the same kind of treatments. But most trigger points are associated with a bump, ranging from the size of a grain of sand to the size of a golf ball.
Trigger points almost always hurt when pressed, but often in a strangely pleasant way, what massage therapists call “good pain.” That’s not a euphemism — the quality of the sensation really can be both unusual and desirable. In fact, most people crave pressure on the point, often more than is wise. With sustained but moderate pressure or kneading, the tenderness gradually fades and the knot seems to melt or unravel. This is called the “release” of the trigger point, and it is the goal of trigger point therapy.
Chris
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