muscle "knot" advice? PLEASE HELP!

Does anyone have advice for a muscle knot in the upper back? From my limited Internet research, these are also referred to as Myofascial Pain and/or trigger points. In my own case, it's about two inches away from the spine, near the top of the scapula. It feels like someone has stabbed me in the back with one of those bull-fighter picador gizmos. If i lean my head forward, this causes a neck muscle to tug on the trigger point, causing more pain. It doesn't hurt as much when I lie down flat; I can also swim and weight lift without causing too much discomfort. But just sitting at my desk causes this chronic ouch sensation. Earlier last season, I hurt my opposite shoulder and was swimming one armed for a while, which may have been the original cause of the discomfort. But now that it seems well-established, is there anything I can do to get it to go away? Note: I've had it, off and on, for weeks if not months now, but it's been particularly noticeable over the past week. I went to Y masters nationals, and it killed me on the 7 hour car drives over and back--but mysteriously disappeared during the four days of competition. Any advice would be truly appreciated.
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  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Jimbo, You are experiencing exactly the same thing I have in my right shoulder. Your trapezious muscle, like Jeremy said tonight at Roma's, is all stressed out. While in our cases it doesn't cause much discomfort swimming, etc, it does cause major ouch to occur while sitting at a desk, or driving, as my case has it. The others on this forum are unequivocably correct: have somebody massage it out. Flex-all and similar analgesics are also good at relieving the tension your trap muscle has inflicted on itself. See you next week, after my retreat in good old Midwest obscurity. Steph
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  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Jimbo, You are experiencing exactly the same thing I have in my right shoulder. Your trapezious muscle, like Jeremy said tonight at Roma's, is all stressed out. While in our cases it doesn't cause much discomfort swimming, etc, it does cause major ouch to occur while sitting at a desk, or driving, as my case has it. The others on this forum are unequivocably correct: have somebody massage it out. Flex-all and similar analgesics are also good at relieving the tension your trap muscle has inflicted on itself. See you next week, after my retreat in good old Midwest obscurity. Steph
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