Injury/Rehab Iliotibial band syndrome (ITB Syndrome)

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swifty

swifty

Senior List
Jul 26, 2008
193
80
melbourne
AFL Club
Essendon
Has anyone else had this problem?

What were some methods that you have used to get rid of this and run again? And how long did it take?

Ive currently had the problem for 2 weeks now. Been doing a few stretches here and there and some leg work. Its slowly healing but cant run on it still.

Thanks
 
Much like any muscular injury, RICE it....Rest Ice Compression Elevation.

Beyond that, Ice massages are a good tool. Foam rollers are useful at stretching it out. Best bet is to go consult a massage therapist or sports massage clinic and have them stretch it out for you....at the very least you'll get a nice relaxing massage and relieve some of the tension.

Youtube is a great resource for stretches aimed at individual muscle groups. Just spend the next week devoting 15-20 minutes to dynamic warmups, 15-20 minutes to stretching and another 15-20 minutes icing and relaxing. Revist the injury in a week and see if the swelling and tightness has come down. Over time you will be need to focus on stretching and hopefully it will alleviate your issues.
 

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icing won't do much - get yourself as foam roller and roll those bastard itb's everyday and night then straight after it activate and strengthen your glutes
 
Thanks for responses,

Kirk - is this going to be a problem that keeps arising throughout the year?

Kong - how long have you had it for? Have you used the foam rOllers to no effect ?



Thanks
 
FavoriteSun said:
Much like any muscular injury, RICE it....Rest Ice Compression Elevation.

Beyond that, Ice massages are a good tool. Foam rollers are useful at stretching it out. Best bet is to go consult a massage therapist or sports massage clinic and have them stretch it out for you....at the very least you'll get a nice relaxing massage and relieve some of the tension.

Youtube is a great resource for stretches aimed at individual muscle groups. Just spend the next week devoting 15-20 minutes to dynamic warmups, 15-20 minutes to stretching and another 15-20 minutes icing and relaxing. Revist the injury in a week and see if the swelling and tightness has come down. Over time you will be need to focus on stretching and hopefully it will alleviate your issues.
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I've been cycling, row machine and doing some leg work which seems to be fine and doable without pain .. Is this going to slow the healing process? Or will it benefit ?
 
Had some ITB probs from riding, I feel it needs to be treated rather aggressively once it becomes chronic it's much harder to rid. I would see a sports doc & see if you an get a cortisone jab in there.

Found the best way to release the ITB is not through rolling the itb itself but release through the Glutes & TFL, as these are what it attaches to.
 
what does rowing, biking and leg work all have in common? hip flexion which exasperates itb tightness

as i said before, foam roll it then really those glutes firing (they itb is being overused because it's opposite muscle, the glutes, is doing nothing) with activation and strengthening stuff, especially in hip extension
 
Had it and still have it. Got it from a basketball injury after being undercut and leg collapsing which stems from previous ankle and knee injuries. Basically all you can do is rest and stretch it. If you're stubborn like me you'll just work through it and it will never completely heal :)
 
WALL-e said:
Had it and still have it. Got it from a basketball injury after being undercut and leg collapsing which stems from previous ankle and knee injuries. Basically all you can do is rest and stretch it. If you're stubborn like me you'll just work through it and it will never completely heal :)
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Had it all last year. Couldn't run without a heap of tape. Took anti inflamatories and pain killers before each game which worked short term. Came along with lower back pain and hip pain. I've had heaps of deep tissue massage, chairopractic work etc to get rid of it, but too much training has given me an imbalance and the pain is now on the inside of my knee rather than the outside. Rest I guess is the best way to go if you want to get back into things seriously, but if you're just casual, you should just push through the pain barrier as suggested.
 

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cheers guys,

just an update.. knee felt pretty good, i could walk down stairs without pain, could jog and run without pain... went to training the other night and had to stop halfway through.. 2 days later my knee is sore again.. anyone had cortisone injections before? Does this last long term to fix the problem?
 
cptkirk said:
did you do what i suggested?

cortisone doesn't fix anything, it just takes the pain away, not the problem
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yeah ive been foam rolling the IT band, quads and hammy. and using a tennis ball on the glutes up against the wall. along with some stretches. It seemed to be ok, but when i went back to training and went through some running it has flared up again. not as bad but the pain has definately returned.
 
start with short sprints and gradually increase them as pain subsides...you're gonna have to work out what you're breaking point is and not go past it as well as maintaining the rolling, stretching and proper gym work
 
You probably have poor glute control. Try a single leg squat and see what your knee and pelvis do. Knee will probably move medially and your pelvis will more than likely drop on the opposite side. Glute strength exersices with correct form and some quad work as well would be beneficial
 
keyboard_warrior said:
You probably have poor glute control. Try a single leg squat and see what your knee and pelvis do. Knee will probably move medially and your pelvis will more than likely drop on the opposite side. Glute strength exersices with correct form and some quad work as well would be beneficial
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If I do a single leg squat my injured leg goes slightly more inward than my non injured leg i guess..

Is this what you were talking about ?
 
i find the single leg swquat a poor test for this, there's a lot of other reasons why you're knee would fall in (ankle/hip mobility, poor core strength, hmastring imbalance to name a few) so it doesn't really hit the nail on the head or anything
 
swifty said:
If I do a single leg squat my injured leg goes slightly more inward than my non injured leg i guess..

Is this what you were talking about ?
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Thats exactly what im talking about


cptkirk said:
i find the single leg swquat a poor test for this, there's a lot of other reasons why you're knee would fall in (ankle/hip mobility, poor core strength, hmastring imbalance to name a few) so it doesn't really hit the nail on the head or anything
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i normally agree with a lot of the stuff you say but this i dont. i have never met anyone that doesnt have 60 degrees hip flexion (which is more than enough for this test) so hip mobility will never come into play. shouldnt get anywhere near end of ankle range either. im not sure what hamstring imbalance you are talking about or how this is a factor. if you mean they are dominant over glutes then we still come back to weak glutes in comparison so they will need work. even if its a motor pattern problem it will be glutes that is letting him down.

Glutes also help in lumbo-pelvic stability so they assist your core in that respect.

but im up for your ideas too man. i love a good anatomy/biomechanics debate.... makes you think at least

but back to the point, if you fix up that hip drop/knee movement you should go a long way to sorting out your problem.
 
if you have limited to zero dorsi flexion, which a lot of footballers do because of taped ankles for years and years, then you'll use femoral internal rotation to get extra dorsi flexion in the closed chain (where we all should train but that's another story for another day) - this is what a single leg squat is

so does that mean you have weak glute med? maybe yes, maybe no but you still need to test it directly and look for compensation patterns during movements that use the glute med function (abduction mainly)
 
cptkirk said:
if you have limited to zero dorsi flexion, which a lot of footballers do because of taped ankles for years and years, then you'll use femoral internal rotation to get extra dorsi flexion in the closed chain (where we all should train but that's another story for another day) - this is what a single leg squat is

so does that mean you have weak glute med? maybe yes, maybe no but you still need to test it directly and look for compensation patterns during movements that use the glute med function (abduction mainly)
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Arent ankles taped into dorsiflexion? I am yet te see anyone without a severe (and i mean a debilitating injury where walking is virtually imposible) problem have a knee to wall score of less than 3cm which is about20 degrees DF so it should not play a role in a sl squat test.

When u stand on one leg, to prevent your hip dropping glute med/min essentially abduct and externally rotate the femur to maintain the position.

How would you test it directly? Does that relate to anything functional like running? It may be strong but if the motor pattern is out of whack the it doesnt matter how strong it is in open chain abd. Still the hip drop needs to be corrected or the problem will not resolve
 
keyboard_warrior said:
but back to the point, if you fix up that hip drop/knee movement you should go a long way to sorting out your problem.
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So how would I fix this problem? Do you now think that I may not have ITB? And just have a muscle imbalance that is causing the pain in my knee ?
 
keyboard_warrior said:
Arent ankles taped into dorsiflexion? I am yet te see anyone without a severe (and i mean a debilitating injury where walking is virtually imposible) problem have a knee to wall score of less than 3cm which is about20 degrees DF so it should not play a role in a sl squat test.

When u stand on one leg, to prevent your hip dropping glute med/min essentially abduct and externally rotate the femur to maintain the position.

How would you test it directly? Does that relate to anything functional like running? It may be strong but if the motor pattern is out of whack the it doesnt matter how strong it is in open chain abd. Still the hip drop needs to be corrected or the problem will not resolve
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true but if the weak muscle/s can't work in isolation they certainly won't work in integration so they need to be activated separately and then trained together

i persoanlly look for at least 10cms btw wall and feet for ankle mobility w/ absolutely NO pronation and pressure taken off the heel
 
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