Are you suffering from muscle pain that just doesn’t seem to want to go away? Well, you’re not alone. Commonly known as “muscle knots” this type of pain is a fairly common condition. However, while most of us tend to accept muscle knots as part of the aging process that simply must be endured, despite how painful they can actually become, the fact is that muscle knots can be treated.   UNDERSTANDING MUSCLE KNOTS: A muscle knot, or “trigger point” as it is medically known, is an area within a muscle that becomes highly sensitive. In many cases, a trigger point is only painful when it is impacted physically (i.e., when someone touches or presses on it). These are what we call “latent trigger points” and they’re quite common. However, these latent trigger points can become “active”, resulting in on-going, and potentially severe, pain that is felt even without physical contact. They’re typically caused by an injury, repetitive work, bad posture or a job that requires you to sit still for long periods of time. Because these active triggers can spread to other parts of the body, they can also be difficult to find and treat. However, they ARE treatable.   TREATEMENT MUSCLE KNOTS: The first step to treating trigger points is finding the main active trigger point as well as others in the same general area that may be contributing to the pain. Once found, the next step is to apply regular pressure to release the tension. This process takes time however, once a sufficient amount of tension has been released, an exercise program will then be added to help properly stretch and strengthen the muscle. This not only helps with healing, it also helps with preventing these trigger points from becoming active again in the future. Of course, success depends on isolating the triggers, pacing appropriately and incorporating the right exercises since going too fast or using the wrong muscles could end up re-aggravating the trigger points.   If you’ve been struggling with sore or aching muscles, there’s no reason why you need to live with pain. Just give us a call or send us an email and we’ll take care of the rest. Remember, at Physiomed, Healthier Starts Here!