What is a knot, not?

A really common phrase to hear in our work around massage is having muscles full of 'knots' or being able to feel a 'knot'. Let's explore what a knot is, and more importantly what a knot is not!

Spoiler alert - it is impossible to tie knots in a muscle! So when we are palpating and feeling these 'knots' what are we actually working with?

Here our Sports Massage and Trigger Point Massage Tutor, Tamara, talks us through what 'knots' really are and how we can transform the way we work.

What is actually happening within the muscle is that a trigger point has formed, which is a sore spot or 'knot' in the muscle, fascia, tendon or ligament. This can be caused by a number of things but most commonly a postural or lifestyle habit that has caused the muscle to be over worked or 'switched on' for longer than it should be. An example could be a desk worker who has been hunched over their keyboard causing their trapezius muscle to work really hard trying to pull the shoulders back to no avail. The overworked muscle with the trigger point in can then no longer fully stretch or contract properly or to its full potential. The fascia (nerve rich connective tissue that wraps and surrounds the trigger point then becomes tight and dysfunctional and has a knock on effect referring the pain along the nerve bundles meaning the pain presents along in a pattern rather than at the actual site of the trigger point.

It's incredible to learn about these fascinating 'knots' and to map the referral pain patterns. It is also an incredibly valuable skill to add to your therapy toolkit. To be able to relieve pain for clients is important but to be able to track the pain to the source and fix chronic dysfunction is the vital work. Taking the story of what has brought the client to you and turning that around for them, educating and empowering them with how they have reached this point and the postural and lifestyle changes they can address to prevent the pain returning is powerful, life changing stuff. And the best part is that this is not limited to sports therapists. Trigger point massage can be added into holistic massage treatments.

Get to grips with trigger points, what they are, the anatomy behind them, the pain referral maps and techniques to treat them on our two day workshop.