Let’s Talk About Knots
October 23rd, 2019 by Stephanie Farrer
As massage therapists, we deal in knots—right?
This is what I always thought, until an explosive Facebook group post a couple weeks ago. I’m a member of a few Facebook groups for massage therapists, and I love reading posts with perspectives different from my own. I have spent most of my massage career ‘dealing in knots’, so I was surprised to read a post from a fellow massage therapist stating that knots are “not a thing”. It got my back up a little bit, so I decided to read the responses. I couldn’t believe what I was reading! I know that Facebook can be a little bit…confrontational…at times now, with politics and all of that—but you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a bunch of massage therapists duking it out.
So, what in the world do massage therapists have to bicker over? We all have knots, don’t we? Well, yes! If you can physically FEEL knots, then they’re obviously THERE—but what ARE they? How do we fix them? This is the topic we will be discussing for the next few weeks. I’m going to cover the hot debate—but I thought we could start with the “established” thinking on knots, the method that myself and many other massage therapists were taught in school and in countless seminars after graduation: Trigger Points and Trigger Point Therapy.
According to Dr. David J Alvarez, DO and Pamela G Rockwell, DO (University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan), Trigger Points are discrete, focal, hyperirritable spots located in a taut band of skeletal muscle. They produce pain locally and in a referred pattern and often accompany chronic musculoskeletal disorders. (Check out this Link for the full article, it lays the foundation beautifully.) According to Alvarez and Rockwell, acute or repetitive trauma can cause stress on the muscle fibers and result in persistent pain resulting in a decreased range of motion in the affected muscle. These muscles include those in the neck, shoulders, and pelvic girdle. The authors state that trigger points may manifest as tension headache, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), temporomandibular joint pain (TMJ), decreased range of motion in the legs, and low back pain. These trigger points are palpable as harder in consistency than other areas within the muscle. When palpated, trigger points will elicit a pain response.
Knots. The above is a really complicated definition of knots. Knots show up in the muscle as a spot that is harder than the other areas of the muscle. Applying pressure to the knot is painful. Trigger points, KNOTS, refer pain to areas other than the muscle where you find them. When you stay on the knot until it releases, the pain stops. This has been our work. All of my training in massage therapy revolved around finding and getting rid of knots. In fact, I have always looked at my work as a sort of treasure hunt—find the spots and relieve them. I am really minimizing the work of many massage therapists, sports therapists, and physical therapists—but I am doing that on purpose because it’s always been a no-brainer. This is the work we do. This is why people come to see us. They hurt, they find a spot that hurts—they come to us to get rid of it. But, what is it that we are doing exactly? What are these hyperirritable spots, and why are they there? Can we really get rid of them? These are things that I want to look into for the next few weeks here on the blog. I hope that you will take this deep dive with me. I invite you to come back next Wednesday, when we will take a look at some of the newer perspectives out there on what trigger points are comprised of and whether or not a massage therapist (or anyone else) can get rid of them. I want to know WHY massage therapy helps us feel better.
If you would like to know more about the traditional thinking on trigger points, I am including links to the article I mentioned above—along with a link to a great video explaining what trigger points are and how you can treat them.
Helpful Links:
Let’s Talk About Knots
October 23rd, 2019 by Stephanie Farrer
As massage therapists, we deal in knots—right?
This is what I always thought, until an explosive Facebook group post a couple weeks ago. I’m a member of a few Facebook groups for massage therapists, and I love reading posts with perspectives different from my own. I have spent most of my massage career ‘dealing in knots’, so I was surprised to read a post from a fellow massage therapist stating that knots are “not a thing”. It got my back up a little bit, so I decided to read the responses. I couldn’t believe what I was reading! I know that Facebook can be a little bit…confrontational…at times now, with politics and all of that—but you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a bunch of massage therapists duking it out.
So, what in the world do massage therapists have to bicker over? We all have knots, don’t we? Well, yes! If you can physically FEEL knots, then they’re obviously THERE—but what ARE they? How do we fix them? This is the topic we will be discussing for the next few weeks. I’m going to cover the hot debate—but I thought we could start with the “established” thinking on knots, the method that myself and many other massage therapists were taught in school and in countless seminars after graduation: Trigger Points and Trigger Point Therapy.
According to Dr. David J Alvarez, DO and Pamela G Rockwell, DO (University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan), Trigger Points are discrete, focal, hyperirritable spots located in a taut band of skeletal muscle. They produce pain locally and in a referred pattern and often accompany chronic musculoskeletal disorders. (Check out this Link for the full article, it lays the foundation beautifully.) According to Alvarez and Rockwell, acute or repetitive trauma can cause stress on the muscle fibers and result in persistent pain resulting in a decreased range of motion in the affected muscle. These muscles include those in the neck, shoulders, and pelvic girdle. The authors state that trigger points may manifest as tension headache, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), temporomandibular joint pain (TMJ), decreased range of motion in the legs, and low back pain. These trigger points are palpable as harder in consistency than other areas within the muscle. When palpated, trigger points will elicit a pain response.
Knots. The above is a really complicated definition of knots. Knots show up in the muscle as a spot that is harder than the other areas of the muscle. Applying pressure to the knot is painful. Trigger points, KNOTS, refer pain to areas other than the muscle where you find them. When you stay on the knot until it releases, the pain stops. This has been our work. All of my training in massage therapy revolved around finding and getting rid of knots. In fact, I have always looked at my work as a sort of treasure hunt—find the spots and relieve them. I am really minimizing the work of many massage therapists, sports therapists, and physical therapists—but I am doing that on purpose because it’s always been a no-brainer. This is the work we do. This is why people come to see us. They hurt, they find a spot that hurts—they come to us to get rid of it. But, what is it that we are doing exactly? What are these hyperirritable spots, and why are they there? Can we really get rid of them? These are things that I want to look into for the next few weeks here on the blog. I hope that you will take this deep dive with me. I invite you to come back next Wednesday, when we will take a look at some of the newer perspectives out there on what trigger points are comprised of and whether or not a massage therapist (or anyone else) can get rid of them. I want to know WHY massage therapy helps us feel better.
If you would like to know more about the traditional thinking on trigger points, I am including links to the article I mentioned above—along with a link to a great video explaining what trigger points are and how you can treat them.
Helpful Links:
