IT BAND...

coronalime

Killed my IT band at the knee 3 weeks prior to my marathon. Had to bail the 26.2 and finish just 13.1 and when I say finish I mean hobble..
Saw a chiro 2 weeks prior to the race and did his stuff but NOTHING helped. Foam rolled, icced, stayed off it and some hip exercises.
Its been 1 week off since the race. Attempted to light run today and bailed and did a 30 sec run and then walked a minute or 2 and repeated for 4 miles..30 sec is all I can last till I feel the rub in the knee.

I cant afford the chiro at $50 a pop 3x week...I can foam roll and do the 2 excersises at home. Any thing else..I really wanted to do a 31 miler in Jan but I dont know...

nyy03

Sorry, no advice. I do hope it gets better. I'm sure it will heal by January.

IronmanPanda

It bands are rough. When I had my IT issues I was out for almost a month. This was with seeing a chiro 3-4x's a week and foam rolling once, sometimes twice a day.
The best thing you can do is continue to roll and stay off of it as much as possible. If you don't want to see a chiro try getting something like a racquet ball or tennis ball to really get into it as much as possible.

Also check out
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/10/episode-61-it-band-hell-and-help.html

bert16

I had IT band issues years ago when I was training for a half marathon; tried cortisone shots back then, but they did nothing. Over the past couple months as I've been training for my first marathon, I felt it start to flare up again; I had acupuncture done by a sports medicine doctor, which seemed to do the trick. I also had neuromuscular therapy, which really worked out some tight spots all along my ITB.

Hope this helps!

cynfullcyn

i have the problem too but not as bad. all i do is ice and roll with a softball usually good after a few days but keep rolling even after you feel the pain is gone and icing.

JasonandMichelle

My IT band will knot up about 6 inches above the knee on my right leg. I roll and ice, and it eventually subsides, but I have to keep on it. I've been told to roll/ice/stretch (not necessarily in that order!), but I'd assume your issue might be a bit more drastic than, "I have a sore IT band."!

zemli

As odd as it may seem, focus on posture as well as stretching your IT. I had knee problems for nearly two years and 4 doctors later, I'm finally feeling better. The knee is impacted by EVERYTHING. The latest doctor has me constantly working on maintaining form and posture running and in everyday life. It's been an enlightening experience. I still have pain, but its a fraction of what it used to be.

finnishfemme

Hi there! I've been a licensed massage therapist for 6 years and I've seen my share of tight IT Bands. Assuming you take great care stretching your quadriceps and hamstrings, often times this symptom is a result of weak hip and glute muscles. The gluteus maximus and gluteus medius are the two large muscles in the buttocks that propel you forward and support the hip joint and the pelvis while running. Specific exercises like reverse lunges and one legged squats will help strengthen the hip and glute area and yoga postures such as eagle and pigeon will target the piriformis (use youtube to get a visual of each pose).

There is a wonderful article on the runners world website that discusses this issue further:
www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-285--11807-0,00.html

As a last resort, don't underestimate the healing power of a great massage!

cynfullcyn

Hi there! I've been a licensed massage therapist for 6 years and I've seen my share of tight IT Bands. Assuming you take great care stretching your quadriceps and hamstrings, often times this symptom is a result of weak hip and glute muscles. The gluteus maximus and gluteus medius are the two large muscles in the buttocks that propel you forward and support the hip joint and the pelvis while running. Specific exercises like reverse lunges and one legged squats will help strengthen the hip and glute area and yoga postures such as eagle and pigeon will target the piriformis (use youtube to get a visual of each pose).

There is a wonderful article on the runners world website that discusses this issue further:
www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-285--11807-0,00.html

As a last resort, don't underestimate the healing power of a great massage!

the link isn't working. i have been doing a lot of leg exercises for the glute and hips and have noticed a difference the pain is getting better but i still have have it on occasion. i haven't tried yoga but i read that helps also, i'm going to try that out this week and hopefully that works

btw that article is great! here is a link for the yoga http://www.runnersworld.com/video/1,8052,s6-1-0-5,00.html?bcpid=2888993001&bclid=1504353751&bctid=68928548001

tuneses

Injured mine a month ago I'm soooo sad. been stretching and rolling. Feels fine until I try and run. I've been doing Insanity with no pain. I want to go back to running so bad.

itsmscindy

When I was training for a full, I had to rollout with the foam roller every day, before and after runs in addition to stretching them out a good minute each side after each long run. maybe try the Jeff Sutherland run walk technique where you run 3 min easy/walk 1 min from the very beginning. Much less injury risk or you could switch up to pool running until you heal.

Inlet

I was sidelined for eight months following my initial bout with ITBS.
Here is an AWESOME workout that is getting me back on track.

http://m.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-263-266-14177-0,00.html

DontThinkJustRun

Honestly just time and continue to foam roll. The onlything that has also really helped me is stretching AFTER my runs, yoga, strength training and avoiding hills at all costs.

hkulbacki

Hi there! I've been a licensed massage therapist for 6 years and I've seen my share of tight IT Bands. Assuming you take great care stretching your quadriceps and hamstrings, often times this symptom is a result of weak hip and glute muscles. The gluteus maximus and gluteus medius are the two large muscles in the buttocks that propel you forward and support the hip joint and the pelvis while running. Specific exercises like reverse lunges and one legged squats will help strengthen the hip and glute area and yoga postures such as eagle and pigeon will target the piriformis (use youtube to get a visual of each pose).

There is a wonderful article on the runners world website that discusses this issue further:
www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-285--11807-0,00.html

As a last resort, don't underestimate the healing power of a great massage!

^^^ This! Massage to loosen the IT band, stretching to help keep it loose, and strength training to suport the whole area.
I consider my massage therapist a miracle worker He took care of my IT band and got me running pain free. Stretching kept me from getting overly tight between visits. Lately I've been working out with the Jillian Michaels Killer Buns and Thighs DVD. It works all areas of the quad, hamstring, and glutes and I've been making it through long runs without IT pain and without the expense of the massage. The guy I go to is worth every penny when I need him, but if I can help myself and not need to see him as often I'm all for saving some money