Knee pain is common and annoying. You don’t have to be an athlete to suffer from it, and often a lot of that pain comes from problems within the muscles. People suffering from degenerative knee conditions can often also find relief with some soft tissue work. Trigger points are a real thing and they need to be released in order to help your pain, but first you need to understand where the problems lie and what you need to address. We’ve discussed it a lot on the blog, but a trigger point is basically a small tight spot in the muscle, which won’t stop contracting. They can cause pain at the location, but they often before pain down or up to a joint or another muscle. Here is a list of places that refer to the knee if they contain trigger points. Work out which kind of knee pain you are suffering, and then explore the following areas with a tennis ball. You will know if you hit a trigger point as the pain will intensify and you can often feel a reaction underneath the tennis ball. Hold that spot for at least 30 seconds or until you feel a release.
Check out The Ultimate Self Massage Guide. It is comprehensive guide about tennis ball massage, with step by step instructions and helpful pictures showing you how to release tight areas.
Trigger Points Causing Anterior Knee Pain
Rectus Femoris muscle is a main culprit for anterior knee pain and it’s trigger points can cause you a lot of trouble.
The Vastus medialis is your inner quad muscle and can refer pain to the front of the knee.
Your adductor longus and brevis are two of your groin muscles whose trigger points can cause you problems.
Trigger Points Causing Posterior Knee Pain
Back of the knee pain can be caused by your gastrocnemius and your soleus. These are your calf muscles.
Trigger points in your hamstring muscles can also cause problems at the back of the knee.
The popliteus is a small muscle at the back of the knee that is problematic.
Trigger Points Causing Medial Knee Pain
If you are having pain on the middle side of the knee you should work on the vastus medialis.
The gracilis and sartorius can also cause problems.
Pay some attention to the rec fem and the adductor longus and brevis.
Trigger Points Causing Lateral Knee Pain
If you are suffering from lateral knee pain your should explore trigger points in your vastus lateralis.
Remember, these are common trigger points that cause knee pain. You will have best results if you take the tennis ball and explore your body. This is outlines well in the Ultimate Self Massage Guide.