Iliotibial Band (ITB) stretching

[Nomad]

Iliotibial Band syndrome is one of the most common injuries amongst runners and to a certain extent, bike riders.

I have been faced with this injury for the better part of 4 weeks now and can tell you that it isn't fun. It shoots your heart rate up into the sky, you try to compensate with your other leg and before you know it, you are back to taking a break from your workout plan.

This post here is set mostly for our DEP's and other members who would like to get back in the shape they were in during their glory days.

The pain most commonly associated with ITB is on the outer portion of your knees. As usual, the best thing you can do is practice RICE (Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate).

Here are some of the links I compiled from google, wikipedia and some other search engines and medical references.


http://www.itbs.info/html/stretches.html

http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/itband.html

http://www.itbs.info/

http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/itb_stretch/

http://www.drpribut.com/sports/spitb.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliotibial_Band_Syndrome

http://www.serpentine.org.uk/advice/physio/itb.htm

[Atrax]

Appreciate the links Ranger Matador275. ITB Friction sucks, no doubt about it. It kept me from running for the better part of 3 months. Largely due to my own stupidity and refusal to stop running. The messed up thing about ITB Friction is that you usually don't notice the pain until the day after you run. I would keep running, thinking it only hurt because I was a bitch, until one day my knee hurt so bad I couldn't walk. What eventually worked for me was stronger emphasis placed on stretching after my run, before the ITB had a chance to contract and pull on that knee.

[SA Yons]

Matador,
Great info here, I used this stretch before my first marathon a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately I didn't do it long enough. Mile 9 to 15 was all downhill (1000 ft in 6 miles, see attached picture of the great view). At about mile 16 I was experiencing some excrutiating pain on the outside of my left knee. Nothing a couple Motrin couldn't fix, so I was G2G after that. Figured it was the ITB, especially after all that downhill pressure on my knees.

Lesson learned: STRETCH PROPERLY!



-SA