{"id":3010,"date":"2023-07-07T11:56:31","date_gmt":"2023-07-07T10:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3010"},"modified":"2025-07-01T12:31:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T11:31:49","slug":"whats-a-knot-and-whats-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2023\/07\/whats-a-knot-and-whats-not\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s a Knot and What\u2019s Not?!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The two most common questions asked of me as a Soft Tissue Therapist, which to be fair are usually as I start the treatment during the first massage stroke either, \u201cCan you feel the tightness?\u201d or \u201cAwww that\u2019s sore is it a knot?\u201d Both are very valid questions and can have varying degrees of complexity when answering\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any Therapist worth their salt can feel muscle tightness. When palpating an area of the body we use our hands not just to manipulate muscles but they become our ears as well, corny I know but it is very true. There are numerous orthopaedic clinical tests to perform prior to physically touching a client but using these tools in conjunction is a very powerful way to start solving the puzzle of an individual\u2019s injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My initial answer would therefore be \u201cYes I can feel the muscle tightness\u201d but however that\u2019s not all I would be looking for as I resume the treatment. I would have noted the movement of an individual as they walked through the door, as he or she sat down, movements of the head can be a key sign of pain also is there any imbalance of the body as compensating movement occurs? As I continue to palpate or massage, if the muscle is taut that could indicate a potential site of pain. But every single one of us has tight muscles although they may not necessarily cause pain. If however on the taut muscle, there is a small lump or muscle bulk, that once pressed causes my client to flinch, their body tightens or they comment on that particular spot being painful with the question of\u2026\u2026. \u201cAww that\u2019s sore is it a knot?\u201d My reply would be \u201cYes that appears to be a knot!!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what is a knot?? Small lumps or hardness can often be found within taut muscle giving the feeling that there is a knot, the muscle is not in fact tied but has a small area of tightly contracted tissue. With a knot being a more common term, the more officious name would be a Myofascial Trigger Point. As more research was conducted over the past decades the name for knots or trigger points has varied, to say the least, tension myositis syndrome, fibrositis, muskelharten, myofascitis and myelgelosis! All very much a mouthful hence why knots stuck I guess?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How trigger points are formed is still a hotly debated subject due to a startling lack of recent research. There is evidence that they are formed by the micro-tearing of a muscle caused during a contraction that doesn\u2019t heal or repair in a standard way. Very much like when you stretch a plastic bag it doesn\u2019t go back to its original shape our muscles react in the same way but the main difference (thank goodness) is that with a bit of encouragement, they can get close to the original shape. This is mainly through movement, stretching, strengthening and massage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symptoms for trigger points can and are varied, simply everybody\u2019s body is very different with all of us moving in different ways resulting in our pain thresholds varying from one level to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If some or most of the below feels familiar then you may have one, two or more trigger points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n