are KNOTS (muscle knots) real?

[mm107]

Always hear people saying, "oh man my kneck is all knotted up" and sometimes when i message mine u can hear it "crunch" as if it is knotted up

Are these real things? Or myths?

 

[Lextasy]

im pretty sure its muscle fibers in between muscle tissue that bounds over from pressure, strenuous work etc... i.e. a knot!

taken from ..http://www.answers.com/topic/trigger-point

Trigger points are described as hyperirritable spots in skeletal muscle that are associated with palpable nodules in taut bands of muscle fibers. The palpable nodules are said to be small contraction knots and a common cause of pain. Compression of a trigger point may elicit local tenderness, referred pain, or motor dysfunction.

According to proponents of the concept, a trigger point does not really cause a contraction, but rather causes a contracture. A contraction is muscular activity mediated by the nervous system, while a contracture is said to be a mechanical "sticking" of the muscle fibers with no involvement from the nervous system. The hypothesis is that usually an event of muscular overload causes a prolonged release of Ca2+ ion from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (storage unit for the muscle cell) which results in a sticking of the untrained or overloaded cells. This leads to a compression of capillaries and results in an increased local energy demand and local ischemia (loss of blood circulation) to the area. This "energy crisis" (as it is termed in the seminal work on trigger points) causes the release of chemicals that augment pain activity. Since an involved muscle is weakened by this theorised sustained shortening, surrounding muscles themselves may develop trigger points in a compensatory fashion.[1]