knots

[emsillystudent]

Okay I was just wondering - when you get a "knot" in your back or neck, what is it? You can feel a bunp under there, and it gets better when someone rubs it (well, for some people, I guess, maybe not all of them). Anyway, there can't really be something in there, so why is it that you can feel them? And why do they fell better or get better when you rub them? Thanks!!

[Cursed Irishman]

In a nutshell: "knots" are when your muscle has contracted and instead of releasing, it stays contracted. I'm not going to go into vivid detail about how muscles contract, but suffice to say that due to over-use/tension the muscle may stay contracted and not relax. It feels better because when someone is massaging you, they are mechanically, through the pressure, causing the muscle to relax and unbind.

[emsillystudent]

Thanks! So why does just part of the muscle stay contracted? I didn't realize that was possible. I thought all the muscle fibers kind of worked together. It seems like a knot is sort of right in the middle of everything.