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ITB Ouch!!! Help

Since the London tri I have had a bad case of ITB, Been doing the usual RICE ( rest, ice, compression,elevation) but still in a lot of pain , of to the doc's tomorrow.



Any one out there had ITB and have any good stretching tips and or general tips to prevent its return.



If i sit on the train for 30 mins now with my knee bent it freezes up and I am in agony.



Cheers

James

Comments

  • ITB has crippled me in the past and stopped me running but I've come out the other side each time. I did the following which MIGHT help you:



    [ul][*]stopped running completely and stuck with cycling, gym, swim while working on it

    [*]got partner to robustly massage the ITB all the way from its origination at the pelvis down to its insertion - technique used was thumb and ball of the palm rubbed methodically down and back up the ITB, interspersed with small circular movements with the thumb. All very painful but I think it helped. Also get a hard ball - tennis/spikey one etc and roll that up and down the ITB when on the train (yup people will think you're mad) or at your desk at work.

    [*]I hate stretching and do it sporadically but definitely ITB stretches helped I think. So, for example, stand sideways from a wall, arm out steadying your body, cross your feet with straight legs and lean away from your injured leg, pelvis pushes away from the wall and head bends into wall (if you can visualise this!!) so that you feel stretch on the outside of your thigh..... hmm, not very well described. Sorry if you find that difficult. There are others - see the web for stretches or ask your fitness people at the gym if you go to one.

    [*]I also bought MTB trainers which I call my therapy shoes. I wear them when I have any of the many injuries you can get and I think they help over time to realign the body - that's what they are sold to do...... they are expensive though. I have even done triathlons in them when running in any normal trainer didn't work and made my ITB worse. When I thought I could I tested normal trainers, and when I thought there was little or no discomfort I went back to running on the normal ones. But without these MTBs I wouldn't have been able to get back into triathlon - that's just my story, as they may not be effective for others.

    [*]ITB is an alignment issue so seeing a physio specialising in sports injuries may help longterm. Your posture / pronation / supination when standing, walking and running will all make a difference to whether you suffer ITB as you are no doubt aware - and it's very important to find exercises to strengthen the inner part of the Quads to counteract for the sometimes unbalanced strengthening that occurs when cycle training alot.

    [*]Also, I invested in an ultrasound pen which you buy from LLoyds pharmacy for £100 (about 3 x physio sessions I reckoned) and I use that on any soft tissue injuries and think that it also adds to the general rehab process.[/ul]



    Hope I've given you some ideas, or areas for debate at least... . I'm only going by my personal experience of course. As I say the shoes rehab'd me, but they are an expensive experiment if they don't work for you. Good luck!
  • I also suffered with ITB when training for FLM, but with weekly sports massage (ooh that hurt) and daily stretching managed to carry on running, blooming painful though! Starting to up my milage now and also as a sporadic stretcher will be sticking to the daily stretches now to keep it at bay! so all I can offer is stretch..bla
  • RobRob Posts: 209
    James, a mate of mine had this & it took months to get rid of. He was unable to train for ages. That's the bad news. The good news is there were some stretches he was doing which helped. There was an article in 220 a while back, or maybe it was Runners World. I'll go back through my stuff & see what I've got & PM you. Are you SURE it's ITB? Have you been to a physio?
  • BARNYBARNY Posts: 157
    ummmmm...



    WHAT IS ITB?



    WHAT IS MTB SHOES?



    WHAT IS FLM?



    OMFG!
  • James,



    Get yerself a foam roller asap. Rolling up and down it:

    - definitely works by stretching the IB

    - hurts like hell

    - looks a little kinky, particularly if you then use it on the front of the leg as well.

    It has been one of the things I have used regularly in marathon training - and is half the price of a single physio session. They're incredibly good.
  • Thanks for all the tips, I will try them all.



    Seeing a consultant next week to check if it is itb.



    Thks



    jAMES
  • Problem was a torn cartilage , which then cause a secondary hip problem as I had adjusted my gait. thanks for all the tips , I am getting the cartilage sorted at the end of the month. hopefully a quick recover as I have a place in the London marathon in 08



    Jimbo
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