IT band... Do you have an experience or advice to share?

bert16

Foam roller has already been mentioned many times... you can look online to see how to target your entire ITB (and, yes, it will hurt!).

What worked for me was acupuncture - I had never tried it before, but when I first felt my ITB flaring up when training for my marathon, I had acupuncture done by a medical doctor and I never felt it again.

Also, I used to have major ITB issues years ago, even when running in shoes for which I had been fitted, but I've had way less issues running in minimalist shoes (vs. the more structured ones the running store recommended). I'm most definitely not trying to start the great shoe debate here, but it seemed to help me, so thought I'd suggest it.

In any case, best of luck to you with your ITB! Hope it heals up quickly.

scjl132

Massage and chiro if you can afford it.

lrbassmom

I got rid of IT band pain by getting a couple of massages and chiropractic treatment -- the massage gave me the most relief -- if you can afford one or two it may help.

Exactly what I was going to suggest! As a former massage therapist that specialized in orthopedic massage aka Orthomassage (all the chronic pain stuff) I would first go with the chiro and massage, if you can't afford that, get a foam roller. Most of the time the problem starts with an injury resulting in a trigger point (balled up muscle fibers that have scarred). Massage therapists locate the trigger point, get rid of that, release the surrounding tissue. From there the problem is usually fixed. Although if there is muscle imbalance, then you'll want to see a PT. PTS usually start with the imbalance and never get to the underlying problem.

How do you know if you have a trigger point? If there is a certain area in your IT band (and it runs from your butt to your hip bone to the tibia and it's just a big band of thick white connective tissue and tendons) feel around on it, press on the area with fairly deep pressure - if you have someone that can do this to you with their elbow it'll be much quicker. You'll know you're getting close when the pressure nearly sends you off the table or whatever you happen to be laying on. The actual trigger point will refer pain to another area- say your butt, hip bone, front of your thigh, or even to your shin area. And it may not be actual pain but it will feel maybe more like someone is poking you in that other area.

The way I always explained to my clients what a trigger point is, ... think of a sweater or blanket with a bunch of seperate strands running all different directions... what happens if you pull and pull just one strand? It puckers somewhere else. That results in the muscle being in a somewhat contracted state, constantly and just kind of stuck. It can't fully relax. Thus resulting in the rest of your muscles compensating for this contracted muscle. Throws your whole body out of alignment. I'm willing to bet one shoulder is higher than the other (even though it 'feels' like you're standing straight), one hip bone is higher than the other, your pelvis tilted either forward or back.

Seek chiropractic and massage therapy first. Ask the chiro for a recommendation. Someone that specializes in sports massage. Save the relaxing massage for birthdays, anniversaries, and valentines day.

Hope this helps.

mudmonkeyonwheels

Definitely a foam roller! Painful at first but very helpful.