What You Need to Know About Muscle Knots

When our muscle tissue binds, we can use massage, acupuncture, and physical therapy to help relieve them

The trapezius muscles at the top of your shoulders are a frequent spot for muscle knots, a by-product of too much computer time or too much stress. fizkes/Shutterstock

It’s the rare person who can say that they’ve never had a muscle knots. These sometimes painful lumps in your muscles can be puzzling—where did they come from, and how do you get rid of them? Here are some things to know that will help you understand what muscle knots are, how you got them, and what you can do to deal with them.

What are muscle knots?

Your muscles are made of sheets of fibers, which are layered one on top of another. Most of those muscle sheets run in different directions from the layer above or below. In order to do their job of moving your skeletal structure, those muscles need to be flexible and elastic. Muscle knots are the result of injury, overuse, static positions, and even chronic dehydration. Those normally pliable muscles begin to adhere to the adjoining sheets creating a knot, which limits movement and function in the muscle.