in Physical Causes

Are Tight Muscle Knots Causing Your Back Pain?

Muscle knots can be a major cause of persistent back pain, so learn how to release them and stop them from returning to get some relief.

Tight, stiff, and painful muscles are no strangers for people with persistent back pain.

And the problem with this is that these tight muscles can lead to the development of muscle knots.

And these knots are seriously bad news for your back.

Because they can lead to inflammation, pain, and irritation within your damaged muscles unless you do something about them.

In fact, muscle knots could even be what's causing your back pain in the first place.

So read on and find out why these knots are so bad for you, how they are caused, and how you can release them to put your back on the road to recovery again.

Why Do Muscle Knots Cause Back Pain?

Muscle knots - also known in the trade as myofascial trigger points - are small areas of tight and contracted muscle that can form in the body and cause you pain and discomfort.

And this pain isn't always just limited to the area of the knot itself.

As it can spread to other seemingly unrelated areas, which can make finding the root cause of your back pain a difficult task.

This is because there are two types of muscle knots:

Latent muscle knots which hurt to touch but only affect the area they are in.
Active muscle knots which send referred pain along neural pathways to other areas of your body.

And more often than not it is these muscle knots that are causing your back pain rather than anything structural with your spine.

There are two main reasons for this:

When a muscle knot forms it cuts off the blood supply to that area, which means that your tight and damaged muscles can't get the oxygen and nutrients they need to repair and heal.
This blockage also means that waste and toxins become trapped within your damaged muscles, which irritates them and makes them even worse!

And both of these things lead to further inflammation and pain within your muscles unless treated.

So if you want to rid yourself of back pain, you need to learn how to release these knots or prevent them from developing i the first place.

What Do Muscle Knots Feel Like?

You'll probably be able to feel and locate your muscle knots by hand because they are small areas of clenched muscle fibers that ball up into a solid bump.

This is why a masseuse can normally tell if your muscles are stiff when they are working on you.

And these bumps will feel tender, sensitive, and sore, especially when pressed upon, and will leave the whole area surrounding them feeling achy and stiff.

This is because they are contracted muscles that can't rest or relax.

And the referred pain that come from active muscle knots feels like a dull ache rather than a sharp pain.

This is usually a clue that the pain is coming from an active muscle knot rather than anything more sinister when pain suddenly appears in one area of the body.

What Causes Muscle Knots?

There could be a whole host of things that are causing your muscles knots such as:

Having a bad posture whether you are sitting, standing, walking or exercising will put some areas of your body under undue stress, cause muscle imbalances and lead to muscle knots.
Over-doing things at work or while exercising can lead to muscle knots forming due to overuse.
Conversely a lack of physical activity can also cause muscle knots to develop.
Accidents that cause trauma to the body such as strains, breaks and joint injuries can cause imbalances which forces the body to compensate and can lead to knots.
Becoming dehydrated can cause your spinal discs to weaken which leads to more pressure on your spine and more muscle tightness.
Suffering from stress and anxiety can make you hold tension within your muscles leading to tightness and knots.
Eating an unhealthy diet - a lack of good nutrition can lead to painful inflammation in your back muscles.

So if you notice that any of the above may apply to you then you need to make a few lifestyle changes.

How To Release Tight Muscle Knots

Learning how to release your muscle knots is vital if you want to get rid of back pain.

Because when you release these knots two things happen:

Blood flow increases to the area again, which allows your damaged muscles to get the oxygen and nutrients they need to recover.
Pathways are unblocked, which means trapped waste and toxins can be flushed out from the damaged muscles and eliminated.

This will bring you relief from the pain and tightness while also relieving tension in your back muscles.

And there are a few different ways you can get these muscle knots to release such as:

Getting a professional massage.
Learning how to self-massage.
Using a foam roller.
Laying on a massage ball.
Using a massage cane.
Laying down on an acupressure mat.
Using a TENS unit.
Getting acupuncture treatment.
Using essential oils.

Click here for more details on how to release muscle knots.

How To Prevent Muscle Knots From Returning

It's far easier and less painful to change your lifestyle so you are less likely to get muscle knots than it is to continuously treat them as and when they appear.

So it makes sense to look at ways of preventing them before they happen and these are some of the things that can help you to do just that.

Staying active.
Stretching your body out regularly.
Maintaining a healthy posture.
Working safely and sensibly.
Not sitting or standing for too long.
Learning to relax.
Drinking plenty of water.
Eating a well-balanced diet.

Click here to find out more about how to avoid muscle knots.

Rounding Up

Muscle knots are a major cause of lower back pain.

And they can continue causing you pain, inflammation, and discomfort unless you do something about them.

So have a go at a few of the suggestions for releasing your muscle knots that I've included here and see if it makes a difference.

Hopefully you should feel looser, more comfortable, and in less pain as a result.

And try to make a few subtle lifestyle changes that will lower the chances of these muscle knots returning.

As it will make a big difference to the health of your back in the long run.

Resources used in researching this article:

https://www.vivehealth.com/blogs/resources/muscle-knots

https://www.painscience.com/articles/self-massage.php

https://www.healthline.com/health/muscle-knots

https://paindoctor.com/essential-oils-for-muscle-pain/

https://draxe.com/top-10-calcium-rich-foods/

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Daniel

I'm a Painter and Decorator, psychology graduate, and veteran of 5 spinal surgeries. I want to help my fellow construction workers to fight back against persistent back pain like I have.