ITB Syndrome Cures?

[layton]

Anyone else got Illiotibial Band Syndrome?

I just started suffering from it. First time in my life I wished a descent were uphill. To add shame, it was on a day hike w/my girlfriend.

 

I have started rehabin' myself. This is what i've done:

 

1.stretch- cross one leg behind the other, lean sideways against the wall to stretch the ITB and tensor fascia latea.

 

2.stregnthen a.scisors- lay on my side and do slow scissors w/my legs

b.ab/adduction on a weight machine, you know, the one w/the line of chicks waiting to hop on Suzzane Sommers style?

 

Any other ideas? I saw one stretch that entailed 3 pages of notes to get into the damn thing, so I obviously didn't do it. I see a chiropractor, and I'm thinking of seeing a Rolfer. Sorry I forgot to put all the damn trademarks after Rolfer. Don't sue me.

[AJ]

The stretch you described is very similar to the one I do. It has been a while since my IT Band acted up. The worst it ever got was when I drastically increased my running mileage --> from 5 mile runs (20 miles per week) to 20 mile runs (about 70 miles per week). Too much too fast. Rest and stretching helped me the most. I don't know about Rolfing - I doubt it would do much for an IT Band but who knows.

[Marcus_Engley]

Michael,

 

I haven't had ITB problems, but I've been doing a lot of yoga and stretching lately, and the IT is one of the points I've been focusing on. Here's a stretch (if I can describe it) that might help you:

 

This is from a website description, and there's a link below to a picture...

 

"This is how I would describe this excellent butt and ITB stretch: get on your hands and knees and raise up to hands and feet lifting the butt as high in the air as possible-- downward dog. Raise your right knee to your chest and turn your leg 90 degrees, and place your shin behind your left wrist as you lower your left leg down so that it is straight out behind you. Hold your trunk upright by pressing on the ground with your hands. The closer you can get your bent leg to your wrist, the more intense the stretch. Take it easy! Now, sit your right butt down towards the ground--feel that stretch on the outside of the leg and deep into the butt. Don't be greedy, take it slow, extend the stretch on the exhalation and maintain it on the inhalation. Try to keep your trunk as upright as possible, actually bending the lumbar spine-- This gets easier with time but always accesses a very difficult to stretch area, the upper outside of the leg and butt."

 

Take a look at the picture on the link below. The way I do this stretch, I keep my back leg on the floor, and my hands either on my legs, or on the floor in front of me. You can let your body fall forward and stretch the ITB passively- it can be a really intense stretch, so go easy. Let me know if this doesn't make sense-- it's hard to describe...

 

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/176_1.cfm

 

m

 

[ 04-16-2002, 11:01 AM: Message edited by: Marcus Engley ]

[layton]

I talk w/ my chiropractor today. He said to check what my hamstring : quads stregnth to weight ratio is. It should be 3:2. If there's an imbalance, it could be the cause. I'll check...

[Courtenay]

That 3:2 ratio thing is a bit of a myth... But what might be useful instead is testing right leg to left -- if one leg feels weaker than the other, it could mean that the leg with the ITB problem is tighter/stronger (i.e. doing more of the work) so that strengthening the other leg and stretching the one that's tight could help.

 

You might also want to look up in the glutes/hip region; Sayjay's recommendation actually strengthens the VMO, inner quad muscle known as the Vastus Medialis Obliquus, which in many climbers and hikers is usually a little weaker than the "outer quads" and could take some of the pressure off the ITB if you balance out the legs.

 

Here's a stretch I like to have people with tight ITB/glutes do: sit on your butt on the floor, and bend your right knee a bit, right foot flat on the floor, and place left ankle across the right knee. Lean back on your hands and slide the right foot closer to you, then straighten your arms (on the floor behind you, pushing chest toward the left ankle/right knee) until you feel a good stretch in the hip. Now the clincher: flex the toes of the right foot (one on the floor) and deepen the stretch even further. Great glutes/ITB stretch, but if you're tight in the glutes, really ease into this -- you'll see good progress with time. We have included this stretch among other climbing stretches on our "Train to Climb Mt. Rainier" video (for more info visit www.bodyresults.com.)

[Marcus_Engley]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Courtenay:

Here's a stretch I like to have people with tight ITB/glutes do: sit on your butt on the floor, and bend your right knee a bit, right foot flat on the floor, and place left ankle across the right knee.

---

This stretch is much like the one I was talking about in what it hits... it's easier to get into, too, and oooh, intense...

 

m

[sayjay]

I fought w/ IT band problems for 3+ years after a ski injury. The thing that finally got me to the point of recovery was *strengthening*. This is the specific exercise that I think worked magic for me:

Do one-leg squats, looking down and making sure that your knee does not cross in front of the tip of your toes and making sure your leg doesn't wobble to one side or the other. If you need to, hold on to a door jamb or whatever for balance. *FOCUS ON THE MUSCLE ON THE INSIDE OF YOUR LEG JUST ABOVE YOUR KNEECAP*. That's the key. Focus on building that "eye-drop" shaped muscle that's so awesome on bicyclists...

IMO (and I'm not a PT or anything, just from my own experience) strengthening the IT band itself, at least initially, only lead to more irritation. This squatting exercise helps strengthen the muscles that will take the stress off your IT band.

 

Oh, and ICE LOTS.

 

Good luck! This is a bitch of an injury...

[Self_propelled]

I have also been hobbled by ITB. One knee scope and lots of strengthening and stretching laterand I'm starting to round the corner. Here's my 2 cents worth.

 

1. Posture

2. Mid section strength: Front (crunches) and back (lunges), squats also help tremendously.

3. weight loss

4. Rolfing or some other form of deep soft tissue/miofacia release works very well. Any massage therapist should be able to "release" the IT Band.

[bballer44]

you can get one of those straps used for patellar tendinitis and wear it about 2" above the knee cap or where it feels most comfortable. this can relieve some of the pain. also they make machines the are used to massage knee tendon problems with ultra sonic sound waves...they only cost a couple thousand dollars, but they work really well. i know from personal experience with patellar tendinitis. my trainer at college had me on that treatment everyday before practice. if you have access to a college training facility i would really reccommend this. just dont hold it still for more than about 2 seconds or it will burn you from the inside out.

[Tanked]

So...Agent Orange DOES have at least 1 redeming quality. Good to know after the Stuart bilers comments. Obviously something his various spray partners are lacking after the drubbing they laid on Colin.

[layton]

Well I'm slowly recovering from my ITB. Turns out my hips are outta alignment since my quads and hams are playing tug of war on my hips and lower back. ITB synd was just a side effect (although a painful one). It still hurts, but chiropractic active stretching, ICE, and a good massage therapist (AGENT ORANGE) are getting me back in shape. It's interesting having A.O. as your massage therapist and Necro as your partner (see Stuart 'Bilers link).