Why do my shoulders always feel so tight and knotty?

Do you often wonder this? You’re knot alone! This is one of the most frequently asked questions in my treatment room.

Muscles don’t actually tighten or become knotted, what is actually happening is a process of ischaemia and fibrosis. This means your muscle’s blood supply is compromised and the muscle is losing its soft, springy tone.

What you feel as knots, hardness, lumps and point tenderness is the muscle reacting to reduced oxygenation, which eventually creates a fibrotic or hardening effect in the muscle over time.

It’s usually caused by inefficient use of the muscle through prolonged poor posture, overuse, alignment issues, chronic and mismanaged injury, movement or position habits, or a sedentary lifestyle.

 Symptoms such as mid-back or neck ache, headaches, radiations to the arms or hands, muscular spasms, tingling or throbbing often accompany shoulder tension and can result in feelings of fatigue, anxiety and distraction.

 So what can you do about it?

Muscles that have got into this state are usually weak and fatigued, so the best thing is to use strength training, especially eccentric focussed, to rebuild strength, length and great tone.

Try it:

•      Use a cable machine or tie a resistance band to an anchor point on the ground.

•      Grab the band or handle and step away from the anchor point so you feel a stretch and pull in your shoulder

•      Then gently shrug the shoulder up

•      And then SLOWLY lower the shoulder down

Repeat 10x each side and do it daily. The video is up on the website for further guidance.

 Keep your band tied to the anchor point of your desk leg so you have a visual reminder!

Apart from alignment and postural issues that can affect your shoulders, it is worth also considering other lifestyle factors that may be influential. The quality of your sleep, stress levels, the change in seasons, hunching against the cold, depression or anxiety and poor movement habits will all affect muscle tone.

Make sure you consider all these areas to really get to the bottom of why your shoulders hurt, and if you need a hand figuring it all out, we have some particularly skilled hands at the SOP ready to assist! And to help get you going with your shoulder exercises we also have a great selection of resistance bands you can pop in and pick up.

Shrug off your shoulder tension with this great little exercise!

Emma Wightman

www.the-sop.com