{"id":20203,"date":"2020-06-25T11:29:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T15:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/?p=20203"},"modified":"2022-07-12T14:52:43","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T18:52:43","slug":"muscle-knots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/","title":{"rendered":"What Exactly Is a Muscle Knot?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anyone who\u2019s ever had shoulder or neck pain<\/a> is familiar with those knobby lumps you might feel when you rub a sore area, known as \u201cmuscle knots.\u201d But what exactly are they? And does massaging them actually reduce or eliminate them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get a better understanding, we talked to Dr. Clifford Stark, DO, FAOSM, the Director of Sports Medicine and Orthopedics at Sports Medicine Chelsea<\/strong><\/a>, and a member of the teaching faculty at NYU Langone Medical Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The What<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The short answer is that biologists aren\u2019t entirely sure. For a long time muscle knots could only be detected by feel, and even now it is difficult to confirm their existence with imaging, even when using advanced modalities like MRI or ultrasound. “When you look under ultrasound, you can sometimes see slight changes in the tissue in the area where the knot is,” explains Dr. Stark. \u201cWe think that a knot is a chronic change in the tissue where there\u2019s a decrease blood supply,\u201d almost like a tiny patch of cramped muscle tissue. Or at least that\u2019s the overly simplified answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent research is showing that the myofascial layer has a huge role in chronic muscle pain<\/a>, including knots. The myofascial layer is the area where the muscle meets the fascia\u2014the very thin, but very strong layer that covers the muscle and keeps it in place. There are a multitude of nerves running through these layers, and it\u2019s the nerves that ultimately cause the pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, some people use the terms \u201cmuscle knot\u201d and \u201ctrigger points\u201d interchangeably, but that isn\u2019t always accurate. \u201cSometimes [muscle knots] cause irritation of nerves that are running right through there, and then it can become what\u2019s called a \u2018trigger point,\u2019\u201d Dr. Stark clarifies. \u201cLots of knots are trigger points, and when you touch them, they radiate out and are exquisitely tender.\u201d But there is currently no evidence that knots themselves are sore, and it could actually be the irritated nerves running under or through them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Why<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the few things that scientists can agree on here is that knots are a chronic ailment, and are not caused by sudden trauma or injury to the area. Instead, they are likely a result of muscle overuse or poor posture. So whether you’re regularly active or spend most of your days at a desk, your daily lifestyle is likely contributing to your muscle knots. Additionally, according to the Mayo Clinic<\/strong><\/a>, \u201cPeople who frequently experience stress and anxiety may be more likely to develop trigger points in their muscles,\u201d potentially because the emotional state of anxiety<\/a> causes you to routinely clench your muscles, leaving them susceptible to trigger points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fix<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most common recommendation for chronic muscle soreness is applying deep pressure to the trigger point with the hopes of releasing the contraction in the tissue and increasing blood flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMassaging them can help to break things up or bring some blood flow to the area, and perhaps help get it to go away. Getting the exact correct layer is very important,\u201d says Dr. Stark. Trained massage therapists who are skilled at myofascial release are those who \u201chave a really, really good feel for where that myofascial layer is, and [know how to] release that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does it feel like? \u201cMyofascial release is not necessarily a nice deep tissue massage,\u201d Dr. Stark advises. \u201cIf you want to release that area, you may end up pushing much less hard with the pressure to where it\u2019s actually in that myofascial layer.\u201d That\u2019s not to say it isn\u2019t relaxing, and the treatment is<\/em> aimed at relieving pain. Rather, it’s a slow, gentle approach to lengthening muscles and improving circulation which leads to healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make it Routine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you suffer from muscle knots, regular massage will not only work out these points of tension \u2014 it will help prevent them in the first place. Zeel makes it easy with our monthly massage membership.<\/a><\/strong> With a membership, you’ll get up to 30% off regular rates<\/strong>, rollover massage credits, and many more benefits. It’s the easiest way to make this essential routine part of your routine.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Exceptions:<\/strong> There are some muscle and tendon conditions that can actually be exacerbated by intense manipulation of the muscle. People who are hypermobile<\/a> (a condition that allows joints to move beyond the normal range, also somewhat misleadingly known as \u201cdouble jointedness\u201d) may have more sensitive nerves that can be irritated by aggressive pressure. \u201cEven though it might feel good at first, [it\u2019s] sort of perpetuating the pain cycle,\u201d warns Dr. Stark. So as with all chronic ailments, be sure to consult a physician first.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone who\u2019s ever had shoulder or neck pain is familiar with those knobby lumps you might feel when you rub a sore area, known as \u201cmuscle knots.\u201d But what exactly are they? And does massaging them actually reduce or eliminate them? To get a better understanding, we talked to Dr. Clifford Stark, DO, FAOSM, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":22571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1304],"tags":[95,220,582,1506,797,820,1513],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-20203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-massage","tag-back-pain","tag-chronic-pain","tag-massage","tag-muscle-knots","tag-muscle-pain","tag-neck-pain","tag-shoulder-pain"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Exactly Is a Muscle Knot? Understanding Chronic Muscle Pain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cWe think that a knot is a chronic change in the tissue where there\u2019s a decrease blood supply,\u201d says Dr. Clifford Stark, almost like a tiny patch of cramped muscle tissue.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Exactly Is a Muscle Knot? Understanding Chronic Muscle Pain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWe think that a knot is a chronic change in the tissue where there\u2019s a decrease blood supply,\u201d says Dr. Clifford Stark, almost like a tiny patch of cramped muscle tissue.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zeel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GetZeel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-25T15:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-12T18:52:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/muscle-knot.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"754\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lauren Bernstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GetZeel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GetZeel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lauren Bernstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/\",\"name\":\"What Exactly Is a Muscle Knot? Understanding Chronic Muscle Pain\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/muscle-knot.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-25T15:29:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-12T18:52:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ac01e2579a7dd8c3270089c680b325a1\"},\"description\":\"\u201cWe think that a knot is a chronic change in the tissue where there\u2019s a decrease blood supply,\u201d says Dr. Clifford Stark, almost like a tiny patch of cramped muscle tissue.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/muscle-knot.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/muscle-knot.jpg\",\"width\":1300,\"height\":754,\"caption\":\"Sports massage\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Exactly Is a Muscle Knot?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Zeel\",\"description\":\"Premium wellness delivered, on location and on demand.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ac01e2579a7dd8c3270089c680b325a1\",\"name\":\"Lauren Bernstein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Lauren-Bernstein-180x180.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Lauren-Bernstein-180x180.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Lauren Bernstein\"},\"description\":\"Lauren Bernstein is a writer, editor and brand expert with 13 years of experience covering fashion, beauty, travel, and lifestyle. The first 10 years of her career were spent working in the fashion and beauty departments of Harper's Bazaar, Glamour and Hamptons magazines. Her work has also appeared in Town & Country, Bloomberg Businessweek, Departures and other titles. In the past three years, Bernstein has shifted her focus to product-driven content serving as the Vice President, Editorial Content at Macy\u2019s, and before that, as Senior Editor of Branded Content for HarpersBazaar.com and MarieClaire.com. Learn more about Lauren at laurenabernstein.com and on LinkedIn.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.laurenabernstein.com\/about\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lauren-bernstein-37ab406\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/author\/laurenbernstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Exactly Is a Muscle Knot? Understanding Chronic Muscle Pain","description":"\u201cWe think that a knot is a chronic change in the tissue where there\u2019s a decrease blood supply,\u201d says Dr. Clifford Stark, almost like a tiny patch of cramped muscle tissue.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Exactly Is a Muscle Knot? Understanding Chronic Muscle Pain","og_description":"\u201cWe think that a knot is a chronic change in the tissue where there\u2019s a decrease blood supply,\u201d says Dr. Clifford Stark, almost like a tiny patch of cramped muscle tissue.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/","og_site_name":"Zeel","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GetZeel","article_published_time":"2020-06-25T15:29:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-12T18:52:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1300,"height":754,"url":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/muscle-knot.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lauren Bernstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GetZeel","twitter_site":"@GetZeel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lauren Bernstein","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/","url":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/","name":"What Exactly Is a Muscle Knot? Understanding Chronic Muscle Pain","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/muscle-knot.jpg","datePublished":"2020-06-25T15:29:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-12T18:52:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ac01e2579a7dd8c3270089c680b325a1"},"description":"\u201cWe think that a knot is a chronic change in the tissue where there\u2019s a decrease blood supply,\u201d says Dr. Clifford Stark, almost like a tiny patch of cramped muscle tissue.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/muscle-knot.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/muscle-knot.jpg","width":1300,"height":754,"caption":"Sports massage"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/massage\/muscle-knots\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Exactly Is a Muscle Knot?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/","name":"Zeel","description":"Premium wellness delivered, on location and on demand.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ac01e2579a7dd8c3270089c680b325a1","name":"Lauren Bernstein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Lauren-Bernstein-180x180.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Lauren-Bernstein-180x180.jpeg","caption":"Lauren Bernstein"},"description":"Lauren Bernstein is a writer, editor and brand expert with 13 years of experience covering fashion, beauty, travel, and lifestyle. The first 10 years of her career were spent working in the fashion and beauty departments of Harper's Bazaar, Glamour and Hamptons magazines. Her work has also appeared in Town & Country, Bloomberg Businessweek, Departures and other titles. In the past three years, Bernstein has shifted her focus to product-driven content serving as the Vice President, Editorial Content at Macy\u2019s, and before that, as Senior Editor of Branded Content for HarpersBazaar.com and MarieClaire.com. Learn more about Lauren at laurenabernstein.com and on LinkedIn.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.laurenabernstein.com\/about","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lauren-bernstein-37ab406\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/author\/laurenbernstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20203"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22572,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20203\/revisions\/22572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20203"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=20203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}