Muscle Knots linked to gluten and wheat
I’ve noticed the increase in my muscle knots and muscle/joint stiffness after eating wheat products.
Example: if I eat wheat crackers at night I can barely walk the next day.
Eliminating all wheat and gluten products is helping me a great deal. Check out the article below. The quote is from the comment section on that site. Hope this helps someone else besides me!
Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and Gluten Intolerance
“Probably 90 percent of my muscle knots have cleared up.”
Food Safety: wash produce and then kill bacteria
Wash fruits and vegetables
Thorough washing of fruits and vegetables with water removes some bacteria and viruses as well as many pesticide residues. Use a small vegetable brush to remove surface dirt. Don’t use soap or detergents. Don’t eat the outer leaves of leafy vegetables (lettuce, cabbage). Removed bruised areas, as bacteria grow readily in them.
For an added measure of protection against bacteria, you can create a simple, safe disinfecting spray. Use two new clean spraying bottles and put 3% hydrogen peroxide (the kind you buy at the drugstore) in one and white vinegar in the other. (To maintain its effectiveness, hydrogen peroxide must be stored in a container that does not allow in light, or be kept in a cabinet. A simple solution is to screw a spray nozzle onto the hydrogen peroxide fruit.jpgbottle.) Spray them on fruits and vegetables one after the other in either order. Rinse with water. (This one-two combo can also be used to clean surfaces. It is more effective at killing potentially lethal bacteria than chlorine bleach or any commercially available kitchen cleaner. Using them one after the other in either order is 10 times as effective as either one alone. Also, it is less effective to combine them in a single bottle.)
Healthy Families, Heathy Environment
My personal experience using this method:
I have found that if the peroxide (which I tend to use before the vinegar) actually foams, it will usually happen on something that was questionable to begin with. Yesterday, I bought a 1/2 cantaloupe, something that I usually do not do because I’ve often noticed they they don’t wash the outside of the melon before cutting (ugh!). Well, I knew I had better spray it (although the normal tendency would have been to just dig in). When the hydrogen peroxide hit the cut surfaces, it began to foam like crazy! I tossed the whole thing in the trash–better than being sick from bacteria. This has happened only a few times over the last few years–once with fresh broccoli that had been in the fridge too long. I keep a large plastic bowl in my drainer–always ready to toss in the veggies or fruit, grab the spay bottles and give them a good squirt all over, then wash and rinse well. I just love this method, and its very economical and safe.
Nordic Walking Continues to Gain Attention
June 15, 2007, excerpt of an article BY KARA SPAK, Suntimes
NORDIC WALKING
Nordic Walking evolved from its humble roots at a 1997 cross-country ski camp in Finland to one of the world’s fastest-growing fitness crazes, advocates claim. Nordic Walkers say if done correctly, walking while using specially designed poles engages 90 percent of your muscles, which can lead to hot bods, regardless of age.
“A lot of people buy a pair of poles and walk around with sticks in their hands,” said Bernd Zimmerman, president of the American Nordic Walking Association. “That’s walking, but that’s not Nordic Walking.”
A solid set of Nordic Walking poles cost between $100 and $200, and Zimmerman recommends novice Nordic Walkers buy retractable poles before committing to a fit. There are instructional DVDs available to help teach proper technique and occasional local classes.
Katja Stamer, a German immigrant living in Hoffman Estates, said she was surprised when she moved to the suburbs that so many people were walking without poles. “People should get excited,” Stamer said. “I think in a few years everyone will be walking with poles.”
Muscle Knots
Spasm One important event, which occurs early after an injury, is muscle spasm. This feels like tightness in the muscles in the area, and is sometimes, but not always, painful. Treatment of the spasm is significant in the overall treatment of the problem. This is because after an initial period, if the basic injury is not fixed, the spasm forms muscle knots. Usually this happens about two weeks after the initial injury. These knots are painful, and become part of the problem. Sometimes, the pain from the muscle knots is the reason why someone first goes to get help with the problem.
What Are Muscle Knots? Muscle knots are abnormal areas within the muscle, which cause pain. The medical term for the muscle knots is myofascial trigger points. We do not know everything about what they are. When doctors have biopsied (cut a piece out of) muscle knots, some abnormal protein deposits seem to be present. Some treating practitioners believe that there is excessive connective tissue in these areas, but there is little evidence in the (unfortunately few) studies that have been done to support the idea of excess connective tissue. There is a two volume medical textbook entirely about muscle knots:
Why Muscle Knots Form The knots form because the spasm keeps the muscle continuously “on”. Normally, even when doing heavy lifting, no muscle is working continuously. Instead, as the body moves in normal activities, different muscles cycle on and off. The muscle spasm makes the muscle work continuously, around the clock. The muscles are not designed for this continuous work. After some amount of time the muscle overloads and forms these knots. Treating spasm helps reduce this problem. Spasm occurs after other kinds of injuries, but muscle knots only become a problem when the source of the pain doesn’t go away quickly. This happens most often (but not only) with injuries to the neck and back.
How Are Muscle Knots Treated? There are several methods to treat muscle knots. Choosing among them is the job of the health-care practitioner who is working most closely with you. As discussed on the exercise page, exercise is an important method to help with the muscle knots. Often, exercise can be a supplement to the other treatments discussed. Massage therapy is a helpful treatment for the muscle knots. Therapeutic massage of this type can be uncomfortable when it is being done, but the patient is expected to feel better later. Treatment in the category called “modality”, heat, cold, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation, as applied by a physical therapist or chiropractor, can help with muscle knots. Injections into the muscle knots, called trigger point injections, are another method of treatment. Acupuncture can have an impact on these areas also.
Info from Healiohealth.com
My comments: I do not recall a recent injury to my shoulder/pectoral area; however the knot was there. I found this statement on another site: “Pectoralis major is strained or shortened by: Hunching shoulders forward, sitting or sleeping with arms crossed on chest, typing / keyboarding…” My Chiropractor suggested some stretches to relieve the tension in my shoulders.
January 2009 update: I have been told that I probably have fibromyalgia.
I have begun putting Salonpas patches (purchased at Walgreen’s for under $4) on painful areas and tender trigger points, and have gotten more relief from those and anything else! Also, my back recently went “out”. I discovered extremely sore tender spots all across my lower back from hip to hip. I put the patches on those areas, and the back pain was drastically reduced in just a few days. I love those things!
Healthy Proverb
The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out. Proverbs 10:9
