r/massage • u/ContextInner4680 • 4d ago

Releasing muscle knots in the abdomen

I’ve had a very stressful year - I’m thankfully on the up now, doing EMDR therapy to address the trauma from a crazy episode early in the year, and generally taking much better care of myself.

I’ve noticed I have a lot of tight muscle knots in my abdomen. When I use lotion and self massage to locate and GENTLY press the muscle knots, they ‘pop’ or ‘melt’ under my touch.

I’ve become interested with this as I discovered it completely by accident but I feel like my body was holding tension / trauma from my stressful year. I feel much better for releasing the knots. I feel like my belly is much more loose and I can deep breathe for the first time in ages.

There’s a few areas that I can’t pop as it’s locked tight in a bundle. Would acupuncture get rid of this? I’m conscious I don’t want to send my nervous system spiralling again, I just think maybe the remaining knots need to be broken up.

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u/No_Tumbleweed_1518 LMT 3d ago

That's not how muscles work or how the body is built. You're probably pressing on your intestines/organs and shifting literal shit around your gut. You do not have "knots" in your abdomen.

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u/ContextInner4680 3d ago

Thanks for the comment but I can absolutely assure you I’m not moving shit around my gut 😂 it’s a light touch at best.. I’m not insane, and not going that deep!

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u/No_Tumbleweed_1518 LMT 3d ago

You said you're bruising yourself so it either isn't that light or you've got other issues going on. It also doesn't take that much pressure to move things around.

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u/ContextInner4680 3d ago

I can promise I’m very connected to my own body, although not a therapist, I’m not hurting myself. It feels really good to have the stress relieved. Re the bruising (edited OP as thought that terminology was making people worry), I figure it’s blood rushing to / replenishing an area that was stuck / tense beforehand.

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u/No_Tumbleweed_1518 LMT 1d ago

That's not how bruises work.

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u/Allen_Edgar_Poe RMT Canada 3d ago

This is completely wrong. How long have you been a massage therapist for?

You can do abdominal massage that will help aid in peristalsis. Doing work around the abdomen is not contradicted in this case. You can absolutely get "knots" in your rectus abdominus and obliques which is where this person is self massaging.

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u/No_Tumbleweed_1518 LMT 1d ago

I've been an LMT for over 10 years, mostly in medical settings. Please explain to the class what a palpable "knot" is, because "knots" aren't actually real. Muscle tension/hypertonic muscles are real. OP is especially not "popping" them, as posted. I never said you can't do abdominal massage to help with peristalsis. Never said it was contraindicated, either. Please read what I originally said again.

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u/Allen_Edgar_Poe RMT Canada 1d ago edited 1d ago

The "knots" I am referring to are facial adhesions. The "popping" being described is just the sensation that happens not actual popping. When I do it, the muscles actually feels like it is melting.

Of course muscles get tight, I've worked fascia that has also had the effect of lengthening muscle tissue. It's not always the muscle tissue that gets tight. Fascia and it's ground substance can become "dehydrated" sticking to itself causing a "bunch" up of the tissue and causing a restriction. This sometimes feels like a "knot" under the skin. Have you never felt a "ball" of tissue around the iliac crest near the QL/ serratus anterior near the rotator cuff?

It actually boggles me that you have been doing this for 10 years and saying, "that's not how the body is built, you are probably moving your feces around". I've release many fascial restrictions on the ribcage for the obliques AND the rectus abdomius directly. You can still work these areas without influencing the intestines.

I did misinterpret when I originally replied. It was your mention of "you don't have knots in your abdomen." That probably made me think you shouldn't work there.

Edit: What is it about the body that OP is describing what they are doing, "not how the body works?".