Stubborn tight muscle? Spasm?

[Joni]

Has anyone ever had a muscle that seems to refuse to stretch out? My right inner thigh feels extremely tight and even though I stretched well, it's a little painful to do lunges and plie squats on that side. Regular squats are okay if I try to favor my left leg more, and I felt okay on the elliptical trainer - but exercises that isolate the inner thigh somewhat are very uncomfortable. It's not a sharp pain, it's more like I feel if I try to work though it I might pull the muscle.

Any solutions/suggestions? I tried staying off it for 2 days, and 've been stretching constantly, but it just seems to come back.

Thanks!

Joni

 

[kathryn]

IF stretching alone doesn't help, then perhaps massage might.

I've just been reading about trigger point massage, which can help unblock tight muscles. You can use your knuckles, or a tennis ball to press into an area that is tight. Find the trigger point by poking around until you feel a tender spot, then apply as much pressure as you can for as long as you can. My acu/chiropractor has been using this for a lower back spasm I've been having,kind of "poking and grinding away" at the trigger point area, and though it hurts like #@$#& at the time, it feels so much better later.

This might help. But seeing as how sensitive my inner thigh is when I try it there, it won't be fun!

Another idea is to soak in some epsom salts.

 

[lorajc]

Everthing Kathryn said is very good advice. I have constant trigger points and spasms due to a herniated cervical disc and when the spasms get severe, I dig into them with a wooden hand-held massager. I also have 2 small squishy balls (or also called the Elaine Petrone Method ElainePetrone.com) that I lie on every night and let the muscle spasms release into the balls .....which sort of dig into the spasms and help relieve them. I also soak in an epsom salt tub every saturday and sunday and I have a percussion massager that I use on the weekends also. I also do a series of focused stretches for my neck and shoulders every morning after applying heat. You might want to apply heat and then try to stretch it and massage it.