How to get rid of muscle knots in the shoulders and neck.

What Are Shoulder Trigger Points And How Do I Get Rid Of Them?

Knots in your traps. We’ve all experienced it, I’m sure. After a stressful day or a long day using the computer, you are left with sore shoulder muscles that are stiff and tight. Here, I will explain to you what those knots are, why they appear and how you can get rid of them.

What are muscle knots?

“Myofascial trigger points” is the name given to the knots in our muscles. They cause our muscles to feel sore and tense. The most common trigger point in the body is in the levator scapula, or traps. So, what are these knots? They are parts of the muscles that get caught in a contracted state. And, as a result of this, you get a build up of toxins in that area due to a lack of blood flow.

Why do muscle knots appear?

A muscle becomes contracted due to it being overworked. Usually it’s a result of being tense for a long time, like with poor posture, or in times of stress. Trigger points can also be caused by spinal joint dysfunction. This is when the muscles tighten up in an area due to joints in the spine getting stuck in a poor position. In this instance, you need to see a professional who knows how to release the joints.

How to get rid of muscle knots

You need to locate the trigger point in order to release the knot. A healthy belly of a muscle will feel soft and fleshy, whereas the trigger point will feel like a little jellybean-sized harder nodule of the muscle. It will feel a bit grissly, like the consistency of a soft eraser. You can actually roll over it and it will be very sore when you apply pressure to it. You may find you flick over the edge of muscles. When you press on the knot however, it will cause significant pain. If you rate the pain between a 5 – 9 out of 10, you have found the right spot! Many trigger points when pressed on refer pain to other locations. If that’s the case, this is a give-away. We call these trigger points, ‘active’ trigger points. When pain is referred from this region, it usually goes up the neck, sometimes near the ear, even down the back or arm.

In the traps area, the trigger point will be over the upper traps and levator scapulae muscles. There may be one trigger point or there may be a few close together.

So, what do you do to release it?

1. Squeeze the Trigger Point

Applying pressure is the first and most important step. Using a lacrosse ball or a firm tennis ball is perfect because you don’t want to use a ball that is too hard. Stretching the muscle out firstly will only result in another part of the muscle being stretched, not the knotted part, so you need to make sure that you apply pressure first.

Lean back against a wall with your feet out from it. Place the ball on the trigger point with your hand, or if you find the trigger point hard to reach, place the ball in a thin sock. Expose the area by crossing your arms, placing both elbows on top of each other. Roll the ball around until you find a spot that is considerably sore, that makes you wince, which means you have found the right spot. You want it to be sore but not so much that your head is going to explode! You can move your feet closer, or away from the wall, to apply less or more pressure. While you are doing this, keep your head up against the wall or make sure it is in a neutral position, not tilted or rotated.

There are two ways you can use the ball on the trigger point. Personally I like to hold the ball on each trigger point, without moving, for 30 seconds to one minute. The reason being that, for me, there is less irritation to the soft tissue structures if there is less movement. You can also move the ball very slowly across the point. It’s possible that there is more than one trigger point. If so, you will find them near each other and normally no more than a centimetre apart. You should also check the muscles on the other side of your body for trigger points as well.

A good analogy would be to think of a dirty sponge as a trigger point. To clean it, you squeeze it and then flush it out under water. Well the ball you are using is squeezing the trigger point and pressing toxins out of the area. As the pressure of the ball comes off, blood rushes to the area and cleans it out.

When I use this technique on my patients, I use my thumbs, and I feel the softening of the muscle. When you use this technique on yourself with a ball, you will feel the pain start to subside.

Trigger points can loosen in as little time as 30 seconds, but can also take a few sessions if they are chronic. If they continue to return, you are doing something to cause it, or there is another issue, like dysfunctional vertebral joints. You need to see a professional if this is the case.

Muscle knots treatment

2. Lightly and repetitiously contract the muscles

With your knot softened, you are ready to bring some blood in to the area to flush out the toxins. This is done by alternatively contracting and releasing the muscle.

 

Lift your shoulders, with your chin tucked in, and hold for 2 seconds. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold for 2 seconds, then relax your shoulder blades for 2 seconds. This allows the blood to flow. You can also do a small squeezy circle with your shoulders. The pressure should be a medium hold, not too much. Repeat this 5 times.

 

Now, place your forearms together, with your chin tucked in again, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Hold this for 2 seconds. Repeat this 5 times.

And finally, do 45° reverse flies. Squeeze the shoulder blades together. Repeat this 5 times. Alternate each side.

3. Stretch the muscle

For the stretching, as a chiropractor i prefer to do very short stretches. The aim here is to get some blood flowing through the muscle.

Drop your head, pointing your nose towards your armpit, keeping your chin in to open the facet joints and engage the deep neck flexors. Hold this for 2 – 3 seconds, then lift. Repeat this 5 times. Alternate each side. Remember the aim is simply to get some blood flowing into the area and activate the contracted fibres. Therefore, we don’t want to stretch too many times as this would overwork the muscle.

Using the ball in step one should be sore to do however step 2 and step 3 should feel good. If they hurt, don’t do them, and check this with your health care practitioner.

If you are short on time and can’t do all 3 steps, make sure you do step one.

That’s all!

As always, the key really is to avoid the cause of the knots:

• When you’re working on the computer, keep your chin in. The knots occur when you lean your head forward towards the screen. This puts chronic pressure on the levator scapula.
• When you are doing desk work, make sure you take plenty of breaks and move around. As prevention, you can loosen the muscles by doing the shoulder squeezes and reverse flies every now and then. The knots occur when you keep your muscles in prolonged static positions, especially forward, so movement is key. Just remember to keep the movement light to avoid overworking the muscles.

See my video on the 4 main causes of neck pain.