I am assuming my other thread will probably get lost in the ether.
So I was just wondering what people think about this situation.
I’ve been diagnosed with IT band friction syndrome. Went for a run last night (first noticed injury around 2 weeks ago) and was about 25-30 minutes before it began to get sore and was going uphill at the time as well (injury first presented itself running uphill). Physio has said I can still run up until the limit at which it begins to present itself (ie could run right now anywhere up to 20 mins, keeping to a flat surface).
Now I have a major race coming up in early March. It is an oly distance race. I have a fairly good running base…so since I am meant to be ramping things up in terms of intensity, should I still do any hard efforts on the run, so long as they are pretty short? ie less than the time at which it begins to become a problem. Physio, who has a cycling background, suggested I could do 2km hard off the bike.
I have an 8x1000 track workout (off a hard 2 hour bike) coming up which I’d like to do…but don’t think I should attempt this until I get better.
I guess timewise my runs should be relatively short, but what do others think about doing hardish stuff? Should I just keep these to a minimum? The it band doesn’t cause me any discomfort whilst I’m not running, only when I run past a certain point. I am aware of it though…
I guess there is pool running, although I’d have to do this with feet on ground since pool is not too deep. Does pool running have to done in a pool deep enough so that you’re not touching the bottom?
yeah…will be using ice and a rolling pin to massage it band…
the discomfort/pain is to the outside of the knee and and just above the knee (but still to the outside). was real tender above when i saw physio today.
I had ITB friction syndrome really bad a year ago. I had pain at both left lateral knee and left lateral hip, ever-increasing tightness with running, crepitus in the left knee, etc. My chiropractor mentioned that I had a weakness in the muscles between L4/L5 vertebrae. A light went on because I had sprained my left low back twice in the past. I went home and created a lower back strengthening regimen, focusing on the left side, including hip stretching. It went away in 3 days and has not returned (still regularly strengthening the low back).
This is just my personal experience expressed, it may help to think outside of the location of primary symptoms.
From one who has been there, intensity is not the problem right now, duration is. So, go harder than normal, but shorter than normal, until the IT band issue resolves. Stretching and ice are the best ways to resolve the problem. That said, prescription anti-inflammatories can help in the short term, or, if necessary, to survive race day. Good luck.
First tip - stop running before it hurts. you are crossing the pain threshold, not a good idea.
Since it is tender to touch, I would really ease up for a week and then ease back in.
I have had friends who kept going. They eventually ended when they could not finish 6k of a 10k run and had to walk home. They eventually had to have surgery and it took way too long to heal.
I am just saying, be careful with this one. I am all for running with it. But avoid pain!
I would second not running through the pain. When I got it, I could run around 8 miles without pain, then 6, then 4, then 3, then it hurt to simply walk around. This is one injury I would definitely tread lightly. Since you have the fitness already, I would definitely not run much, especially not speed work. Keep the stretching and icing going and make sure you aren’t running in old shoes. In my case I could swim and bike without any issue, so you won’t lose any fitness by cutting way back on the run.
I’ll split the difference in my response. I get this every time I do 2 hours on pavement (ie-every marathon and some training runs) I say take 3-4 days OFF and do all the ice, roller, massage stuff. Then ease back into running. If you do feel you are fit, tempo would be better than the track (because of how the track bends - or run the opposite way than usual ). I have found its a duration and surface-related thing, not intensity-related. So you may just have to cut out the 10-mile longish runs for a couple months: just do bricks instead, to maintain aerobic fitness. Expect it to flare up at the end of your race, just run through it then and deal with the injury in the weeks after. Works for me.
Ask your PT about strengthening your legs, most ITB problems seem to have a root in muscle imbalance/weakness
Single leg squats have been great for me
Any high intensity workout will cause a problem, you will have to find a balance with training, ice, roller, strengthening, massage etc
Good luck
Andrew
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First off DO NOT ROLL THE ITB THIS WILL JUST MAKE IT WORSE. Even massage therapists and PTs don’t seem to grasp this concept. Rolling the ITB (a really damn strong tendon) will not loosen it up in any way, shape or form. It’ll only be painful as hell and make the inflammation worse.
Okay now that the shouting is out of the way, here’s the cure. Get a muscle chart (many on the web) and look at the muscle attached to the ITB, it’s called the Gluteus Medius (Maximus matters too). Get an old tennis ball and sit on it, roll your weight over it and especially on the outside of your hip, just below the hip bone. Chances are there are a few muscles in there that will scream in pain. Do some “hip hikes”, maybe a set of 20 for each leg, it’ll be tough to walk after that…you don’t realize how important those muscles are in stabilizing your body. Take a few days off, stretch like hell, and especially stretch every night when you hop into bed. Lay flat, pull one leg up bent knee to your chest, rotate it to the opposite shoulder, hold, release, etc. Lay flat, put one leg bent 90 deg with the foot flat on the mattress, take your other leg indian-style with foot resting on the other knee, press and rotate. You can do this in a chair too and it hits slightly different muscles.
Someone advised this route of treatment to me when I was having problems 2 years ago. My ITBS went away in less than a week and hasn’t come back. The cause of ITBS is in the hips and lower back, and has nothing to do with your actual knee.
ok…so my IT band was giving me issues on the bike last night and I could feel it in the pool this morning. urgh. right now the outside feels all tight from the hip down, and i can really feel something funny to the outside just below my knee next to that bone which juts out at the top of the calf.
just rest up completely? i am stretching, using ice massage and a roller after training. i also try and stretch a few other times during the day. have also started taking a few anti inflammatories.
i haven’t run since saturday and on saturday it felt fine the whole time. was only a 30 min run. have another physio appointment this friday.