Iliotibial band syndrome - runners, help!

[thecatwiththesilveryfur]

I run fairly regularly and started getting sharp, stabbing pains in one knee about two months ago. Did resting, icing, etc. and finally went to a physio who diagnosed iliotibial band syndrome and gave me some stretches. I've done them religiously and today went for a run for the first time in ages - the pain is still too bad to run over.

I'll go back to the physio, but any wisdom from anyone who's experienced this and got better? It's driving me crazy!

Watching with interest. I'm pretty sure I have this, but all I've done is rest it for 2 months. I managed 2 short runs on it last week, but when I've been bending down doing housework today, I've felt it twinge

Ugh, you poor thing, itbs sucks. I had a big flare up when marathon training.

What worked for me was stretching every single waking moment and lots of yoga. I do flow yoga in a hot room, loads of yoga poses stretch out the it band.

I think my itbs stopped me running for about three weeks, and then it's never been back.

I recently also had a deep tissue sports massage because of a load of hip pain, and that was incredible. It was really painful, but totally fixed my hip.

Good luck and hope you get back running pain free soon.

You need to strengthen the glutes, basically they are supposed to stabilise you when you run but if they at weak the itb band shortens to protect the knee. No amount of stretching will help if you don’t also strengthen.
Sometimes it’s not just a strength issue but also an activation issue, you have to wake them up before you run.
You need to do clamshells, leg raises and one legged knee bends.
Its tedious but it works.

I was once told that the itb has a higher tensile strength than steel and therefore stretching would have limited impact. It’s likely you need to be strengthening your vmo and probably glut med with specific exercises

It’s not the itb that’s the issue, it’s an issue with your hips/gait. The itb is a fibrous piece of tissue and has very little blood supply so isn’t very responsive to massage/stretching. It’s also not designed to be soft and very flexible so gets sore if it’s being pulled around by tight hip/flute muscles.

You need to make sure all muscles in hip/groin region are lengthened then you need to start a strengthening regime for hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors as these are your power house muscles when running but are often underused.

Interesting stuff. The strengthening makes sense.

I have mild scoliosis which I assume would throw out my hips when running? It's a shame as the scoliosis pain is relieved by regular running, but longer distances seem to have triggered my iliotibial band...can't win!

Thank you very much - really useful ideas here!

Deadly, how often do I need to do those exercises, and should I do them on both legs or just the one with pain?

for all of you!

(and wine, I hope yours gets better soon - tedious, isn't it?!)

Invest in a decent foam roller if you don't already have one and work hard on strengthening your glute med (clamshell, side plank, crab walks with resistance bands etc).

Do three sets of ten three times a week on both legs.
I also find glute bridges really help don’t do squats because it can make it worse.
I’ve had to do it for myself and it was so boring but it really helped.

I’m a bit of a div and can’t do bold but Wine- yes scoliosis will always affect the hip action but making sure the surrounding muscles are activated (different to being strong) then this will help reduce the associated pain. If it only starts giving you jip on longer distances then that would suggest you’ve got to start doing extra resistance training. You’ve come out of your comfort zone and your body needs time to adapt to the different loads you’re placing on your body so you need to ease into the increased distance. Because it’s not something you can physically change I would suggest gait training with a proper running school so they can advise on what muscle areas need to be activated to help you run further.

Thank you @thecatwiththesilveryfur - yours too, fingers crossed!

Thank you also @Killerqueen2244 for responding. I was ok the first time I did a half marathon, but two years later I did another and although I trained properly, my body was weaker I guess! Must devote some time to sorting out the right muscles - much appreciated info