IT Band Syndrome Surgery?

I had one for a year and been IT band injury free for 9 years and counting without surgery. Don't do surgery. Just go to a chiro and get it fixed.

So what did you do to recover from your IT band syndrome and how long did it take?

After 3 or 4 years of on and off problems, my ITBS got bad in January of 2014. In March of 2014, it set off hip bursitis. As time goes on I just keep finding imbalance after imbalance. Now my patella isn't tracking correctly.

I have tried everything. Each different effort helps part of the problem but not all. At first, a foam roller was good for the ITBS but it was part of setting off the bursitis. Rest was good for the bursitis but does nothing to balance the pull of my IT band with my other quad muscles. Hip exercises are good for stability overall but don't help me improve the timing I need to be stable when my foot lands.

To make a long story short, the only thing I have done right is to NOT have surgery. Surgery is final. If you guess wrong as to what is causing what, you are stuck with it, forever.

Good luck

I understand what you are saying and I am hesitant myself to have surgery unless it is very critical that I have to.

The only reason I began considering this surgery option is because it has shown really impressive results from studies. An arthroscopic surgery is also minimally invasive so there is very little chance for damage and recovery is extremely fast (running in as little as one week after surgery).

3 months? that's it? some folks battle it for years before arriving at a solution

what kind of PT have you done?

what kind of objective examinations and analyses have you had?

if you have any sense, you will try everything before you have surgery

I haven't read the article yet, but, I think it will be like liposuction. You look good for a while but since you did nothing to address the cause of the problem, it comes back.

Off to read the article...

First, you need to figure out why you have ITBS. If you can't figure out what about your body, gait, shoes, habits, or whatever is causing you to get ITBS then there's almost no chance you're on the verge of taking the proper preventative measures.

I found that deep tissue massage fixed it for me. It removed the tightness around the IT band enough that I could run again without everything in my leg pulling excessively at one another. I'd go to a massage therapist long before I'd consider surgery. Keep in mind though that if you have poor form, imbalances, or weak muscles even deep tissue massage is just a temporary relief before you stress those areas again. It's very likely that you have bad hip flexion, weak glutes, strong Q-angle, extra pronation, unlevel hip/pevlis, or any number of contributing factors that you could address with exercises and footwear before needing surgery.

impatiencekills wrote:

3 months? that's it? some folks battle it for years before arriving at a solution

what kind of PT have you done?

what kind of objective examinations and analyses have you had?

if you have any sense, you will try everything before you have surgery

I'm a college athlete so I can't wait for years if there is a quicker solution. I have to be back to shape immediately and start logging in at least 50 miles every week.

No one waits years. We BATTLE for years.

Surgery is great for certain things that need to be cut out, say a bone spur or appendicitis.

ITBS is a symptom of a bigger problem. You can hack off all you want but your underlying problem is still there.

$)2ljkdf349 wrote:

No one waits years. We BATTLE for years.

Surgery is great for certain things that need to be cut out, say a bone spur or appendicitis.

ITBS is a symptom of a bigger problem. You can hack off all you want but your underlying problem is still there.

Well, there might be an underlying issue to the problem but I do not think that is the case for me. I have always been doing a lot of lower body strength work so it is very unlikely that I have a biomechanical issue stemming from hip weakness. My injury resulted mainly from overuse and it just won't heal.

I don't know why everyone has a negative feeling about surgery.

I had surgery in 2008 and never had it again. The surgeon cut the it band and spread it to get access to an extra bursa that had formed due to inflammation. He took that out and shaved the bone, which had also become bumpy from inflammation. I was running 3 weeks later.