Category: knots in your back

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Six Reasons for Painful Muscles between Your Spine and Shoulder Blade

Miserable Upper Back Pain
Without even seeing his face, you can tell this man has pain!  Does it look familiar?
Arrrgh!  Do you hate having that upper back pain?  Those muscle spasms between your spine and shoulder?  Those miserable knots in your back?

I hated having them, too.  But that was a very long time ago.

I got rid of the knots in my back naturally and you can, too.  🙂

So many people just don’t understand how bodies work and why we get into pain! It’s something they don’t teach us in school.

But there are perfectly logical reasons you have that pain in the rhomboid area.  (Poor rhomboids–they get blamed all the time and it’s just not their fault!)

If you’ve got “knots in your back,” or if you know someone who does, I wrote this post for you! Or them! ?

So here we go:

Sometimes muscles complain.  When you get “knots” or muscle spasms in your upper back, that’s one of the ways your body says, “Hey, pay attention!  I’m not happy!”

Knots in your back muscles are symptoms that there’s an issue somewhere—a cause.  The knot aren’t the problem.

They are the result of ‘something.’

There are common causes of one-sided pain between your shoulder blade and spine and we’re going to talk about them right here.  When you discover those causes, you’ll be on the road to get rid of your painful knots.

So, what causes one or more muscle knots in your back?

1.  Thyroid.  Thyroid or other immune system dysfunctions can cause a tendency to have muscle spasms (knots.)  I’m not a doctor and you may need to work with your doctor if you have this diagnosis but natural therapies can still help you, too.

2.  Posture. If you have a “forward head” posture or rounded shoulders the muscles in your upper back get stretched and strained and complain.  They get into spasms or “knots.”  Slouching or even straining to see the computer screen can be a cause.

3.  Weak back muscles. If your back muscles are weak, the stronger, shorter muscles in the front of your body will pull you forward.  This can be a cause or a result of poor posture.  It strains your back muscles and causes muscle knots in your back muscles.

4.  Holding an area of your back in contraction (shortened) for a long time.  Perhaps you work with your elbow behind the midline of the side of your body?  Muscle contractions that continue for a long period of time make your muscles think they are supposed to be in that position all the time.  You get lopsided. Perhaps you lean on the armrest of your chair, couch or in your car?  Or, always cross the same leg over the other leg?

5.  Tilting or rotating. This can happen due to habit if you always stand or sit in the same off-balance position.  It can be caused by such things as stretching to keep your hand on a mouse or leaning to one side a lot.  Scoliosis (curvature of the spine) can also cause tilts and rotations.  Scoliosis can sometimes be corrected naturally, by the way.

6.  Mineral deficiencies.  Muscles really need to have certain minerals in order to function their best.  Magnesium, potassium and calcium are big players in muscle health.

Minerals help prevent miserable muscle spasms.

Now you know the most likely possible causes of those nasty knots in your upper back naturally.  If you get rid of the causes, you’ll be rid of the muscle knots.  

If you’d like, I can help you do that. 🙂

If it’s okay with you, I’d like to invite you to discover an online course I designed just for you!  https://www.KnotsInYourBack.com

Knots In Your Back has all of the information you need to get rid of the gnawing pain between your shoulder blades and spine from a trusted, reliable source (me!) in just one place.  You won’t have to search the Internet trying to figure out what’s actually helpful and true and what’s not.

I’ve done all the research for you and have over thirty years of experience helping people get out of physical pain.

Upper back muscle spasms?  I’ve helped lots of clients get rid of them and I’ve gotten rid of my own miserable knots in my upper back, too!

Check it out and see if it sounds interesting to you.

And thank you for reading!   https://www.KnotsInYourBack.com

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A Good Stretch For Neck And Upper Back Pain

Would you like a good stretch for your neck and upper back pain?  Would it surprise you if I told you the real problem could be the muscles in your chest?

Chest Muscles Cause Pain In Neck & Upper Back

Chest muscles tend to get short and tight and this can cause neck and upper back pain.  So part of the solution to get rid of the pain in your upper back and neck is to stretch the muscles in the front of your chest and the fronts of your arms.

When these chest muscles are tight and short they cause you to have rounded, forward shoulders and that stresses your upper back.

This picture shows the chest muscles that you will target with these stretches.  It’s the pectoralis minor muscle.  There may also be other soft tissues in the chest and arm that will stretch at the same time.

Here are two ways to stretch your chest and arms so you can start getting rid of your neck and upper back pain.

1. Lie on the edge of bed with your shoulder at the edge of the mattress so your arm if free. Only your shoulder should be off the bed; your body should be securely on the bed.

Let your arm gently drop off edge of bed. (One arm at a time.) Pretend your arm is a butterfly wing moving from your leg to your head.

Do this with your palm up if you can.  At least do it with your thumb pointing to the ceiling.

You will feel stretching in various places in your upper, front arm and your chest muscles. It’s okay to wait a bit when you feel something stretching to let it stretch. Gravity helps you stretch when you do it this way.

Always Continue reading “A Good Stretch For Neck And Upper Back Pain”

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What Causes Muscle Knots In Your Upper Back And Shoulders?

What causes your shoulder muscles to get all knotted up?

You don’t just “get a knot.”  Muscle knots happen for a reason.  Something that you did or did not do made your muscles unhappy and now they are complaining.

A knot in your upper back or shoulders is a complaint.  It’s a symptom.  A symptom indicates that something is wrong.

Most often the thing that’s wrong is what you are doing…or not doing.

The thing you are doing wrong could be the way you sit, sleep, drive or work.  This is changeable.

The thing you are NOT doing is this:

You are probably not working to keep your back strong.  A strong back can hold its own against daily living.  A weak back has poor posture and gets strained muscles and knots in the upper back.  This is changeable, too.

Your body CAN get better.  It CAN heal!

Why do muscles get knots?

Muscles like to balanced.  That means that they are all working together holding your body in a neutral posture or position.  No area is stronger than another area.  They are in balance.

But real life is often different.

Some muscle groups get too short and tight and strong–like chests and the muscles in the front of necks.  They cause other muscle groups–like your upper back and shoulders and the back of your neck–to be overstretched.

Overstretched muscles get knots.

Here’s an article I wrote that will give you more information about the most common cause of upper back pain.

How can you get rid of the knots in your upper back?

And here are six easy tips to help relax your upper back and shoulder muscles.

While you are at that website check out all the other articles.  There is a lot of good information about the causes of muscle knots in your upper back and shoulders and how to get rid of them, naturally!

 

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What Causes Muscle Knots In Your Upper Back

A “knot” is a contraction (shortening) or spasm in a muscle. It is a place where a muscle has become ‘tight’ for one reason or another. Overwork is the most common cause.

That doesn’t mean that YOU are working too much–it means that some of your muscles are.

When you were a child you used all of your muscles all of the time. You have over 600 muscles! But then you grew up. Most of us adults use fewer than 100 muscles on a daily basis.

That’s how we get into pain. We get out of balance.

Some of your muscles are Continue reading “What Causes Muscle Knots In Your Upper Back”

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The Muscle That Causes Carpal Tunnel & Knots in Your Back

There is a set of muscles on each side of your neck that can cause pain in your upper back, arm, wrist and hand.  Those muscles are called the scalenes.

If the “knot” between your spine and shoulder blade “won’t” go away, blame the scalene muscles.  It can’t go away until the scalene muscles are released (relaxed.)  The knot is a symptom; the scalenes are the cause.

If your carpal tunnel symptoms “won’t” go away with conventional treatment, blame the scalenes.  The symptoms can go away when the cause (the scalenes) are released.

Nerves run from your neck bones to your upper body and arms.  If those nerves get compressed, or pressed on, by the scalene muscles they can cause uncomfortable sensations in the areas that the nerves serve (enervate.)

If your doctor thinks your pain is “all in your head,” boy, is he Continue reading “The Muscle That Causes Carpal Tunnel & Knots in Your Back”

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You Went to a Massage Therapist for Your Back Pain–Why Didn’t It Help?

I recommend therapeutic massage for almost every type of physical pain.

Why?  Because it works!

Massage is old medicine.  It’s used all over the world for a wide variety of ailments.

Why?  Because it works!  (Oh, I already said that, didn’t I?) 🙂

But sometimes when you go to a massage therapist your pain doesn’t go away.  Maybe it feels better for a short time, or even just while the therapist is working on your painful area.  But, it comes right back.  Or, it is back within just a few hours.  Or, doesn’t feel better at all.

When that has happened to one of my clients, I told them what that means.

That means I was wrong about the cause of their symptom (their pain.)  It means I didn’t work on the muscles or soft tissue that was the true cause of their pain.  That means we have to try again.

The unfortunate thing is, many massage therapists only know how to do a relaxation-type massage.  Relaxation or stress-reduction massages can be really great, but…

When you have pain, a relaxation massage probably won’t give you much benefit.

If you have pain symptoms, and you want relief, you will have to find a massage professional who “knows his or her stuff.”  Someone who can assess WHY you are having pain.  Someone who can figure out a “treatment” plan to help you become pain-free.

If your massage therapist rubs and presses on the painful area (and some will do this for the whole hour) and your pain doesn’t go away, then that therapist doesn’t “know their stuff.”

And, if that therapist can’t figure out why your muscle won’t release (relax) then she doesn’t “know her stuff.”

And, if she says it’s the worst “knot” she has ever seen, she should not be in the massage field at all, in my opinion.  Her job is to help you feel better, not worse.

When your painful muscle spasm won’t release, it Continue reading “You Went to a Massage Therapist for Your Back Pain–Why Didn’t It Help?”

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