Anyone with experience with a messed up IT Band?

[ajdonutz]

I've been doing some research on it after going to the chiro a few weeks ago but all I can find is people who get the pain from running and feel it in their outter knee. My pain comes from leg work, primarily squats and it's excruciating with heavy squats, and I feel it primarily in my outter lower hip and my outter quad.. It hurts like a bitch during and after leg day and is really hindering leg work and hurts in daily life.

I took a week off for other reasons a couple weeks ago and the first leg day back felt great, barely felt it, and the next week it was right back. Anyone with experience with this that could chime in would be great.

 

[pixieled]

I have major ITB issues because I am severely pigeon toed. My best advice is learning how to properly stretch the ITB and the hip flexors (try pigeon pose and runners lunge for starters). The ITB (if that's what is actually causing the problem) is a ligament that runs from the hip all the way to the knee. Since it is a ligament, it isn't very well vascularized, making it take what feels like forever to heal. Try not to irritate it more than it already is. If you continue to treat it as if it isn't damaged, you will be in pain for a very, very, very long time. Warm up the area, and stretch it. Stretch it gently and stretch it often. If you are exercising and it hurts, stop. You are going to increase the chance of tearing the ligament if you force it through a range of motion it can't handle while it is swollen and trying to heal.

My experience with it is due to suffering from ITB syndrome as well as being a biologist and a runner. Hope this is a little helpful, even if it isn't what you wanted to hear.

 

[ajdonutz]

Thank you, pixieled . I kind of figured I was going to have to force myself to take a bit of time away from quad training, really the only thing I can do that doesn't seem to irritate it is leg extensions. Possibly hack squats. But squats and leg press hurt very bad.

I have had hip issues for a few years and had always been bad about doing those stretches which I'm sure helped lead to this, also I read that being bow legged can work against it as well, which I am that as well.

The 2 stretches I have been making myself do every day are my hip stretch, which I cross one leg over the top of the other and lie back and pull it towards my chest. And I found one for it band where you put the hurt leg foot behind your other foot and lean in the opposite direction. I feel it stretching but I dunno how much it's helping.

Have you been able to correct or heal yours when it's been in pain? If so, how long did you have to go easy on it?

 

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

Yeah I suffer on and off with it and it's literally a real pain. Touch wood I'm okay with it at the moment but when I suffer with it it usually starts to come on about 15km into a run.

What I have found to help is a combination of the following:

Regular foam rolling
Deep tissue massage
Running technique can be a causative factor

I found that I was experiencing it last time around because I was running with a supinated foot strike (rolling outwards). This was resulting in my ITB tightening due to everything having to compensate. My physio got me to perform lots of one legged squats focusing on balancing/driving through the middle of my foot and staying stable on it; it took me around 5-6 weeks to change my running gait so that I now have much more of a fore-midfoot strike.

Contrary to popular belief I have been reliably told that the ITB cannot be stretched so you kind of have to just work with it! Good idea to hunt down a good physio that has dealt with this before. All the best MF.

 

[pixieled]

Thank you, pixieled . I kind of figured I was going to have to force myself to take a bit of time away from quad training, really the only thing I can do that doesn't seem to irritate it is leg extensions. Possibly hack squats. But squats and leg press hurt very bad.

I have had hip issues for a few years and had always been bad about doing those stretches which I'm sure helped lead to this, also I read that being bow legged can work against it as well, which I am that as well.

The 2 stretches I have been making myself do every day are my hip stretch, which I cross one leg over the top of the other and lie back and pull it towards my chest. And I found one for it band where you put the hurt leg foot behind your other foot and lean in the opposite direction. I feel it stretching but I dunno how much it's helping.

Have you been able to correct or heal yours when it's been in pain? If so, how long did you have to go easy on it?

I can't say I "healed it", the best you can do is rest it and allow it time to heal without making it worse.

Being pigeon toed leads to the same injury over and over again. I am a runner as well as a lifter, and I have found that walking has prevented further injury as well as stretching daily using the pigeon pose stretch I mentioned. My toes still point in (I start physical therapy next week, the military thinks they can correct it... I am skeptical) but these few things, done daily, have made a huge difference in the frequency of injury.

Considering that you are already injured, stretching it now probably won't do too much good. Just let it heal. Make an appointment with a sports doc (a sports doc was the best use of my insurance co-pay ever. They are all about getting you better and back to your sport. The man I saw was a damn angel in his understanding of not wanting to sit around, inactive).

Good luck!

 

[ajdonutz]

Thanks a lot, all you've said has been very helpful. Hopefully I can get this back up to par!