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When you say that you have muscle knots, you are actually talking about myofascial trigger points.
A trigger point is a small patch of tightly contracted muscle an isolated spasm affecting just a small patch of muscle tissue as opposed to a whole-muscle spasm like a charlie horse in the quadriceps, or a calf cramp. That small patch of knotted muscle is stagnant and swampy, literally clenching off its own blood supply, a vicious cycle called metabolic crisis.
A muscles knot is a trigger point: a small patch of muscle tissue in spasm. A collection of too many nasty trigger points is called myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). A lot of trigger points in a muscle group really cramp its style literally potentially causing a fairly spectacular amount of discomfort, not to mention many other surprising side effects.
Each trigger point has its own pain pattern. While most traditional medical people focus on the pain itself, often prescribing medications to dull the pain, or untra sound, which warms the areea and makes it feel good, but does not eliminate the pain, or , in the worst situation, prescribes surgery to cut out the pain.
Approximately 75% of athletic injuries, not counting contact injuries, are caused, at least in part, by trigger points.
When you choose a massage therapist to help you, make sure the therapist is skilled in trigger point therapy.
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