"What exactly is a knot?"

Clients often come to me with a “knot” that is most commonly present in their back and their neck (but can also be anywhere in their body). They just can’t explain how the “bump” or pain got there. And almost always, one of them will ask me the question I’ve just posed above: “What exactly is a knot?”

In reality, a knot in the muscle occurs when a section of the muscle becomes constricted (or compressed). The scientific term for this state is a myofascial trigger point (myo meaning muscle and fascial referring to the connective tissue surrounding the muscle). Knots can form when some event or trauma generates a reaction in which the muscle never relaxes, which leads to a muscle spasm. The spasm creates a sense of chronic tightness—a.k.a. “a knot.” The word spasm might seem to suggest a sudden series of muscle contractions and relaxations—a jumpiness in the muscle—but a spasm can also be a single prolonged involuntary muscle contraction, or abnormal tightness, which causes pain and discomfort.

Muscle constriction can also occur as a result of small amounts of scar tissue developing through an injury or even just repetitive motion, from microscopic damage to muscle fibers. Scar tissue is an inflexible collagen fibrous material that, once created, can adhere to muscle fibers, preventing them from sliding back and forth over one another as they should, as well as to connective tissue, reducing muscle flexibility and range of motion. Muscle fibers can also adhere to one another as a result of, for example, dehydration and lack of blood flow.

One of the reasons that massage is so effective at treating knots is that it helps warm and loosen such adhesions, allowing the muscle fibers to slide over each other again, and it also helps reintegrate the scar tissue into the muscle, reducing its in-elasticity and thereby restoring the muscle to a more flexible state.

So do yourself a favor and don’t ignore that knot! You can easily have it worked out by a professional. The sooner you go, the faster and easier it will be to have it disappear!

Call Body Benefit Massage Therapy to book an appointment. 781-727-0386 or go to www.bodybenefitmassage.com. Located in Braintree at 40 Pearl Street.