Hi guys, so for about 4 years my upper traps have been filled with these testicle sized knots/fascia balls. I've never been able to release them, however recently I'm thinking of mashing them out finally.


My thought is that if the upper traps are knotted/whatever, there will be muscle compensation patterns going on across the entire body because the upper traps are so messed up.

Is this true? Can someone elaborate,.

If true, this may change my entire life as the rest of my body has a ton of muscle tightness/imbalance and I'm tracing it back to the upper traps.


Thanks!

Anyone have any ideas? Upper traps and the whole posture scene is driving me crazy.

As much as a single unvaccinated scum can disrupt a whole society.

Yeah

Bump?

look into thoracic/shoulder mobility exercises

I've actually been doing thoracic stuff a lot lately. It hasn't done anything.

Awesome! That does make sense. I just need reassurance on the concept as the internet doesn't really have case by case specific information out there unless you dive in properly lol.

So have you ever tackled upper trap knots or anything similar?

Get em dry needled

I tried that a while ago, all over my body actually. It didn't help.

Have you dealt with this kind of thing before? I swear I recognise you from a year or so ago on a similar topic, not sure.

have u got those testicle sized 'knots' checked? are u sure they're just 'knots' ?

is the problem 'tightness'?

Well, the testicle sized knots have been there for years and that's the only thing I haven't given my 100% attention to. I asked the doctor and he just said it's fine. (Lol)

Yeah, it's tightness. When I walk down the street for 5 minutes, my upper traps feel horrific.

Had this issue for a year. Sucked. I just stopped deadlifting and training traps for a while and it eventually went away

Really? So when you stopped training traps what exactly happened? (It's funny as I've never trained traps before lol)

It can cause chronic issues for your entire upper kinetic chain over time. See a sports med doc for trigger point injections. There’s different cocktails that can be used in combination (lidocaine, Toradol, Kenog, etc). You may need several sessions. A referral for physiotherapy would help as well.

Really? Can you elaborate on the first bit? That's kind of what I'm after, just an explanation.

I'm actually still doing physio now, I'm doing thoracic moves. However I want to pay more attention to my huge upper trap knots that are probably destroying function in that entire area.

Thanks.

Get a full body assessment by someone who knows what theyre doing. Its possible you need to stretch the upper traps and activate + strengthen the lower traps and other muscles

Are your lats tight too?

Hmmm, my upper traps rom is good, they just take over in everything I do for some reason. I have strengthened my lower traps and I feel as if the upper trap knots are the last step?

I did think about my lats a lot as this whole issue started when I was doing weighted pull ups as a fixed routine for over 3 years. However stretching the lats didn't do anything.

I see, my thoughts are that my knotted upper traps are influencing the levator scapulae big time. (Ie, when my upper traps are unknotted, my levator scapulae will stop elevating my scapular, then boom, everything goes back to normal??)

I see! My issue is that I honestly don't know if what I'm feeling is a knot or not (lol).

Some other guy mentioned how fixing the upper trap would fix your upper kinetic chain. Another guy said it'll mess up your lifting form from the neck down. What do you think about these concepts?

Really? I was going to tape a lacrosse ball to a low pull up bar and squat into it to tackle the upper trap knots.

I always thought you should seek older specialists as they can spot it from a mile away?

Physio will help reverse and prevent those chronic changes. If you let it go the spastic muscles will cause compensation in your scapulae, as well as cervical and thoracic spine. It will lead to asymmetries and poor biomechanics and posture.

Makes sense! A ct scan in 2019 caught that my cervical spine is straight. Ie, military neck. So I'm assuming that the tense muscles around the neck like the upper traps can cause this?

Thanks.

Thanks for the information, appreciate it.

Hmmm I see, crazy how the body works haha. (Upper traps first being overused somehow, then being knotted and dormant.) But even still, my upper traps feel like they're dominating in every task I do? (I strengthened my lower traps, so I'm thinking that the knotted upper traps have made the newly strengthened lower traps useless?)

Other than that, yeah I'm following the logic. The body is just so large, so finding the patterns is a real challenge.

That sandbag method sounds tough. Are you saying to put a lacrosse ball on the upper trap, then chuck a 60lbs sandbag on top?

Ohhh right I see, I guess it's just luck to find a good specialist. So why do you think the younger/newer ones are better? I would've thought they'd be worse as they're more likely to follow the books and mess up. (Like, they may think "nah that case is 1 in a million", then waste time because I am that 1 in a million)

Thanks.

car salesman?

I actually got a job recently and am thinking of quitting since my body wrecks for no reason.

That's what you did? Did they ever reappear though? (I remember I tried my best to roll them out, then they just reappeared a week or so later)

Plus, the tightness persisted even when the knots were gone?

[QUOTE=lexbishop post_id=1649047673][img]https://i.ibb.co/9cnpN6Y/798794b1-7538-43f6-a956-299a3701c260.jpg[/ig]

See this picture?

1) This picture works for any trigger point, you have to find the right spot on yourself, wherever that is. It's concept that matters, not the exact spot of this picture.
2) Tennis ball. Racquet ball. Golf ball. Use whatever ball you need for the right pressure, for the right size, for your trigger point. Get one of each. Mess around.
3) Since the concept for trigger point release requires pressure, or motion, or pressure AND motion, it would make sense that sometimes some trigger points are more rigid, and require more pressure/motion to release.
4) if 3 is true then putting a heavy sandbag on top of you would create more pressure for the ball to dig into your trap.
5) you can also angle yourself in any way that gives you a better digging into the trigger point spot

This is all hard to convey via text, I hope you realize that, lol.

As far as the kid, I got lucky. He was fresh out of massage school and he made money through a combination of salary, per person massage, and tips. So he was great trigger point, but mostly doing Swedish massages. Therefore he loved working on me because he got bored doing Swedish all the time, and wasn't burned out on trigger point.

Trigger point masseuses are often too burned out on doing trigger point and don't have the pressure you need unless they charge top dollar and only take a smaller amount of clients. Many will lie and say a lot of pressure isn't needed. It's not totally wrong to say that, but I found a lot of them wouldn't do what I needed them to do.


A foam roller won't get into the upper trap too well, this will, and I already linked it.

[URL=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZPMAIO6/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_KCJGZH2XS4JA8NPN8C9Y]https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZPMAIO6...2XS4JA8NPN8C9Y[/URL][/QUOTE]
Awesome! Yeah I understand haha, typing out these kinds of things is tricky lol.

I like your points on 3 and 4. I'm taking that into account this time. Previously I would just mash the knot with vertical pressure, then not bother moving at all. I recall you using the phrase "peeling" before, so yeah[img]//assets.bodybuilding.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Ohh I see, makes sense.

So, you're going to these massage places, why are you going there somewhat frequently? Like, most people can go through entire lifetimes of perfect physical health. I would've thought that you picked up on why your knots are reoccurring, then fixed the cause?

EDIT: I thought that poll/stick thingy is just scratching the skin as opposed to squeezing out knots?

Ah yeah makes sense. I'm just getting all the information together for when I finally crack this thing.

So, I'm assuming your knots dissapeared? In your case, why did they appear in the first place?

I must have some sort of superior genes because I have never had a muscle knot and never saw any benefit to even the best of message therapists except for relaxation. But from an actual physiological standpoint I have never had a "knot" or an injury that was best resolved by massage. Its a bogus practice for medicinal uses imo outside stress relief. Otherwise I hate how its touted as a measure of fixing people with muscular and joint issues.

Ah right, so as far as the whole posture game goes, you're doing well now? (I didn't know Lyme Disease has any impact on this situation)

Also, can shoulder impingement impact the upper traps at all? I'm thinking that it may influence the upper trap activity based on the rotator cuff muscles being possibly messed up due to impingement?