Fellowship of the ITBS

I might have accidentally joined the club.

5 weeks ago I was hiking. 3/4 of the way through, weird pain showed up in the knee, lower outside right where it wants to join with the calf muscles. I took two weeks off of anything and it was fine. Upon returning to running, I would get that pain on the outside of the knee, very low, on the outside, still almost where the calf joins up to the knee.

A couple of months ago, a PT said my ITB and hamstrings were tight. That was preventing a quad injury from healing. That thing is fine now, just waiting on this knee to get better.

I'm trying to get ahead of it with foam rolling and laying on a softball and strengthening the hips. Squats and KB swings on it are fine (I don't know why). I've never had ITBS, don't know why it showed up (other than weak hips I suppose).


That might not be your IT band halfhazzard, your description sounds a little too low, maybe someone with more anatomy education than I have could help you out.

As for my IT band issues, I haven't had any for a long time. I get knee pains now and then, but it's nothing compared to when I started this tread. I discovered a few form flaws that I mostly corrected by going pure barefoot for about 8 months. Adding more knee bend, relaxing, and adding a bit of foot flair was the key. Once I had things figured out, I carefully transitioned back to shoes for my longer and tougher trail runs. All is well now, except for my PF (that could be another fellowship).
 
That might not be your IT band halfhazzard, your description sounds a little too low, maybe someone with more anatomy education than I have could help you out.

I've thought that as well. It stops hurting the day or two after a run if I decided to slug it out. No pain at all. That's why I don't think it's anything serious.
 
I got it band pain about 5 months ago after hiking too much too soon. It seems minor. I can do stairs and short hikes with no problem. But it starts to hurt after more than 6 miles of walking. That's almost more frustrating considering how long it has kept me from hiking.

I took a lot of time off which did nothing, then I did a regiment of hip strengthening which did nothing, and left me very frustrated. I finally went to a physical therapist who pushed me to foam roll more than I had been.

I have found a lot of tightness along the lower half of my it band and a big bump at the half way point. Any one have the same thing? It feels like I'm rolling over a small muscle, but i don't see any horizontally oriented muscles when i look at pictures of leg anatomy.

When doing squats I noticed that the medial side of my knee cap felt tight and my knee was moving medially as I squatted. I could feel my lateral thigh and it band tighten as that happened. So, now I'm rolling the inside of my thigh.

This has been a long and frustrating journey. Hopefully I've found a solution in ramping up my foam rolling. And hopefully someone might get closer to solving their ITBS from reading the posts here. It has been great to hear that I'm not alone with this problem and get bits of wisdom here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: migangelo
Good news, i believe i am on the right track to beating this annoyance (which first started in 2011).
I tried everything, rolling, stretching, and even went to physical therapy.
physical therapy kicked me off in the right direction...i don't roll or stretch anymore.
Just been killing the pistol squats and hip abductor machine at the gym...so much, that i no longer need a belt to wear some of the cargo shorts where i previously needed to...lol.
 
Well I get to join the club again. Which kind of brings me full circle as to why I started barefoot running years ago. Terrible timing as always hopefully I can cure this instance quick!

Any ideas/experiences for quick fixes?
 
Crap Abide! Especially when you are training for a big event. I guess you could give up beer and Ultras.;)

I haven't had any problems for years, even going back to shoes. I get a twinge now and then, but it doesn't blow up. I have problems under the knee cap.

Hope you can figure things out. Great seeing Sarah at Zion.
 
Crap Abide! Especially when you are training for a big event. I guess you could give up beer and Ultras.;)

I haven't had any problems for years, even going back to shoes. I get a twinge now and then, but it doesn't blow up. I have problems under the knee cap.

Hope you can figure things out. Great seeing Sarah at Zion.

Well that's good news, glad to hear its not bothering you anymore. Yeah I think she is planning on going back next year. Her knee has been doing a lot better now.
 
B
Well I get to join the club again. Which kind of brings me full circle as to why I started barefoot running years ago. Terrible timing as always hopefully I can cure this instance quick!

Any ideas/experiences for quick fixes?

Hey Abide, I deal with this every once in a while and even more so recently since I'm training for my first hundred in a couple days, but I can suggest something that will definitely help.

If you stand up, and aren't flexing your legs, the sides of your legs where your IT band is should be fairly springy when you press on them. I'm guessing that on the side you have ITBS, your IT band is pretty tight (for me it's always my left side). To get it like the other leg (or back to normal if they're both tight), it's going to be a little painful and uncomfortable, but it works.

The goal is to put some slack into your IT band by getting rid of all the knots, getting the tissues to release so they're not so tight, and getting the tissues to slide smoothly. The way I do this is by massaging the IT band from my knee all the way up to my hip bone with a softball.

I start off on my side, laying on the ground, and I put a softball (or another ball that isn't too squishy) under my leg. I start with the softball under my leg with ITBS with the ball right above the side of my knee. At first it hurts like hell to put my full weight on each spot but I start off doing something that looks like a side push up with my leg on the ball and then I start relaxing until I can put my full weight onto my IT band.

Once I get into a good spot where I can rest my full weight without writhing in pain and groaning, I start repeatedly extending and contracting my leg to pull the IT band over the spot where the ball is. This works wonders.

It may take a minute to be able to put your full weight in the first spot but once you do that's when you'll really be able to get in there and fix the knotted up tissues. I focus on taking deep breaths and gradually increasing how much weight I have on the ball.

Once a spot seems like its loosened up, I move the ball up my leg to the next sore and knotted up spot and repeat the process until I get to my hips.

I normally spend a good 5-20 minutes on each IT band when I do this but it works wonders. It might not immediately loosen but it almost always loosens by the time I get out of bed the next morning.

Let me know how this goes for you, I know this post is kinda late but I figured I'd add to the wealth of knowledge in here for future ITBSers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Abide