Has anyone been to a chiropractor to evaluate body balance that may be causing IT Band problems? Also, sort of on the same subject, is it possible with high swim and bike conditioning to fake a 10K? I have recurring IT Band problems that just aren’t going away, and am wondering if I should just concentrate this year on swimming and biking hoping a year rest from barely running would help cure my IT problems.
Rest won’t “cure” IT problems unless it’s from overtraining.
Sometimes a pelvic imbalance will cause problems on one leg or the other.
http://sportscenteraustin.blogs.com/the_view/iliotibial_band_pain/index.html
I’m glad to finally see a different view from the “just rest and stretch”. I do wish the article talked more about how to dissolve the imbalance.
Not sure what caused my IT problem, but I’ve had trouble twice. First time laid me up for about 6 months, no running, just swimming and biking, and bought a XC ski machine, which helped a lot to maintain run like fitness. Second time, a few years later, I bought a “stick”, self massage tool. Works wonders on sore muscles and seemed to help the IT band too. Just backed off the mileage a few weeks, used the stick, and it cleared right up.
Check all of the following:
-
equipment (shoes)
I bought new shoes, rested a month and it came back 2 miles into my first run. -
terrain (camber/hills)
I run mostly on a track, and have even had it flare from a treadmill. -
fit (bike/shoes)
Done it. -
structural alignment (pelvis/leg length … anatomical vs functional)
Haven’t done it. -
training volume (too much too fast)
Eased gradually into it. -
training intensity
I’m in base training -
Q angle (hip to knee - especially females)
Don’t know anything about that. -
adhesions (fascia - deep tissue massage/ART)
Hadn’t thought of that option.
I would love to find the cause rather than relief, but don’t want to spend/waste lots of money looking for the “cure”.
Regular chiropractic care and ART are the way to go, provided you are interested in minimizing downtime and getting back to your training asap.
I couldn’t possibly continue to train and race at the levels I have been without the help from my DC/ART specialist – been seeing Dr. Rob for both since '94.
-Mike
I have a pelvic imbalance caused from my right leg being shorter than my left. Sometimes it’s fine, sometimes it’s not.
I have yet to determine what actually causes it be off when it’s off. The incorrect way of “fixing” it was all the treating of the symptoms. They just come right back until you remove/solve the real cause.
And the kicker is it could be multiple causes. Maybe from running, from biking, swimming (prob not), or all of them, or just a combination of one thing from one with one thing from another. It’s fairly painstaking troubleshooting this.
I had significant pain cycling and running recently, so I lowered my seat. No ITB pain on the bike, but it still hurts on the run. So lowering the seat helped not aggravate in on the bike, but did nothing for running. This is when I figured my pelvis must be out of alignment again. It may have been out of alignment from improper seat height? Who knows. Maybe I slept funny a couple of nights in a row, or had bad posture at my desk for a week, or drove the car too much, it could be anything.
So now I have to get re-aligned, then see if the pain stops on the run too. If it does, then seat height probably was the culprit. If not, then it is probably a running issue or a lifestyle issue? So I’ll check shoes, orthotic wear, terrains, stretching, mileage increase, etc… If none of those change it, then I’ll go to lifestyle issues, sleeping, driving, sitting posture, etc…
See how this works. You have to be very in tune to your body, biomechanics, and training to figure it out. I have found logging every change in equipment/bike fit helps alot.
I am a chiropractor and I would say that yes, it can help… BUT please just don’t go to ANY chiropractor, that sure won’t work. You need to find someone that specializes in sports injuries and know a lot about gait, training, running… ART is a great way to go, and there are some PT’s/LMT’s that do that as well…
Chiropractic/massage keeps me racing. I am SO biased, I am a massage therapist becoming a Chiropractor because of how much Chiropractic has enabled me to keep moving.
Under the right hands (Chiropractic IS an art form) I would suspect you will receive positive results…it is a matter of finding the right hands.
I question why you would want to fake a 10k? Find out what is really wrong with the ITB before you go subjecting yourself to further abuse. 10ks will always be here, get fixed/down the right path first.
Hope you feel better and get in the right hands.
What is ART?
www.activereleasetechnique.com
WONDERFUL work!!! Combines my two loves 
they usually have a tent at almost all IMs. Someday maybe I will have excess funds to learn their techniques.
exactly - that’s what happened to me - pelvic imbalance. Went to a PT vs a chiro though.
Careful. I went to an experience PT working out of a highly respected sport medicine facility. Diagnosed with a leg length discrepancy (military flight physicals never noted it). Provided a lift and some exercises. Doing some research, found there a 2 types of length issues. One is the actual length and the other is functional. Through away the lift and check with a DO who noted a shifted pelvis. Chiro now looks for that on a regular basis along with the ART to take care of the rest of the stuff. Tends to happen when I don’t stretch enough as I’m adding milage. Some yoga and conciencious stretching have kept most of my issues at bay. (knock on wood)
I had this recurring injury many times in the past. A PT who practices chiropractic type therapy cured me of it. The problem(according it him) was that my SI joint was off. He did a simple jerk to the affected leg and it totally went away. Had been laid up for 3 months and then suddenly I could run again. Have a friend or spouse grap your ankle and pull as quickly and as forcefully as possible while you are lying on your back on a bed. Every time it starts to get tight again, I have my wife do this and it goes away.
Its more than rest and stretch. I saw alot of the posts in this thread and pelvic instability and malalignment can contribute to the symptoms. Some of the latest area of research on ITB sydrome are showing that strengthening is the best method to cure it. While its difficult to only strengthen the ITB, I would focus on strengthening abductors adductors of the hip, priformis and glutes.
Triathlon is primarily composed of single plane movement in the hip region, flexion and extension in cycling and running. As the flexors and extensors get efficient and strong with training, the stabilizers and rotator muscles arent able to keep pace with the strengthening of the cycling and running causing an imbalance that leads to sacro pelvic weakness and stresses ligaments and joints more, ITB gets irritated.
Start adding some resistance work with abductor and adductor movements as part of your regular training and it should start subsiding soon, Goodluck
Duke H Young AT CSCS
Orthopedic Physical Therapy
I second this advice based on personal experience. My IT band pain went away when I started doing some regular hip strengthening such as lying on my side and lifting my leg up 30 times (took me time to work up to that number), doing bridges and some other hip strengthening at home that you can probably find easily with a google search. Certainly worth a try since it don’t cost nothin!