Foam roller and ITBS

Triathlon Forum
1

Anyone one have any tips on things to look out for when foam rolling for a pretty bad case of ITBS? Should I be rolling on the band itself or on the muscles surrounding it? How much rolling is too much?

Thanks in advance.

2

I roll slowly down the band itself until I find a spot that makes me say bad words and then I work that area until I feel it release. I work from hip to knee that way. I’ve also been seeing a massage therapist for deep tissue work and myofascial stripping and become much more diligent with stretching and the combination seems to have solved the problem pretty well.

3

I went to a physical therapist a while back for ITB issues and he got me started out with deep tissue message, and then put me on a combination of stretching and a foam roller. Starting out I had to stretch and roll a couple times a day, now I just do it immediately after running or biking.

For me the rolling seems to be much more effective than the stretching.

I roll on the band from the just above the knee to just above the hip joint slowly about ten times on each side.

One thing I found out with the foam roller is that as it got broken down my ITB issues would come back, then when I replaced the old roller with a new one they would go away again. So this spring I bought a Trigger Point Quad Roller and have been using that since without any problems. Although, it did take a while to work back up to the 10 times a side with the Quad Roller as it is much more intense than the foam roller, but it doesn’t wear out.

Good luck.

4

Hey Jon-

  I think it's very individual; my wife's IT band responds well to the foam roller whereas mine does not. For me the foam roller only aggravates it further. The real goal should be to loosen it so that the bursa doesn't rub----so whatever it takes to do that.

Things I have seen help:

strengthen gluteal medius

hip hikes

stretch the hell out of your IT band

run in the right shoe

also iontophoresis right on the bursa has helped

5

Better yet, use something called “The Stick”. It works better than the foam roller !

6

One thing I found out with the foam roller is that as it got broken down my ITB issues would come back, then when I replaced the old roller with a new one they would go away again. So this spring I bought a Trigger Point Quad Roller and have been using that since without any problems.
I’ve been using an an inflatable dock bumper instead of foam for 4 years now. It’s still holding up and you can change the firmness by adjusting the air pressure.

7

Thanks for the info, my foam roller now looks like a log of wood because it’s all mis-shapen. Maybe I’ll try the trigger point.
Have you found that rolling on the band itself or in the areas around it are more effective? I can’t imagine all that pressure on the IT band is really good for it.

Thanks!

8

I think Spindog has a whole lot better handle on this than I do, but I do agree with him on what I understood from his post. (Some of it I’m ashamed to say is over my head)

What works seems to vary quite a bit from individual to individual.

But from my limited knowledge, and I apologize if I’m perpetuating any ITB myths here, there are three general areas to work on with ITB.

  1. Use the foam roller and/or deep tissue massage on the ITB to loosen it and break up scar tissue or adhesions.
  2. Use stretching/roller/massage to loosen the muscles the ITB is attached to, which will relieve some of the ITB tightness.
  3. ITB problems are often the symptom of an underlying problem or imbalance. Treating the underlying problem with specific exercises or PT should go a long way towards a final solution.

Personally I do use the roller on the ITB itself and continue on up the outside of my thigh to hit the muscle that I believe the ITB connects to just above the hip joint.

On another point if you are thinking or getting a Quadroller I would recommend picking up a new foam roller first, because if you remember the discomfort you felt when you first started using the foam roller, be prepared for at least that level of discomfort again if you go straight to the Quadroller from a worn out foam roller. For me using the Quadroller just like a foam roller had the best results, but Triggerpoint recommends targeting specific problem areas and using the roller to deeply hit those areas.

Good luck, I know what you’re going through.