ITBS success stories

Just 'finishing' my ITBS myself. Downhill work probably did it for me.

Got it early may, tried not running for a few weeks, got more sharp lateral knee pain, said screw it, and started working on Glute/hip strength.

I didn't know the names before, but I do now

3 x hip hikes, using a 15lb weight

3 x theraband type thing doing a crab style leg raise with the band over the knee,

3 x theraband same place straight legs leg raise

3 x crab walk with the band over the ankles

3 x single leg squats

I generally do these to failure so I'm not sure what the number of reps are.

Doing this work has definitely alleviated the pain and I've been able to train now 4 days in a row no significant pain.

No change in shoes, never tried an orthopedic sole.

And plenty of foam rolling.

I suggest as you get back into things to include some running on grass to help with the timing of your glutes firing. The grass keeps your stride from being a perfectly repetitive motion.

I suggest putting the theraband around your knees and working against the band while you do your glute bridges and maybe alternate with hip thrusts with the band around your knees. These will help the medius as well as the other glutes.

Here is a partial reason why strengthening isn't enough to fix ITBS.

http://breakingmuscle.com/uk/strength-conditioning/why-the-glute-bridge-will-not-make-your-squat-better

Your other exercises might hit it but some lunges couldn't hurt.

Thank you for your replies, very helpful :) I am going to a dad lunges to my regime :)

This stretch helps keep my ITBS away,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WBAebsHKeY

Also, for immediate relief, I've used an ART (Active Release Therapy) practitioner. I couldn't run at all for three weeks because of the knee pain. After one session of ART, I was running 20 minutes pain-free.

Do a hundred Roman chairs or super mans every day. My guess is your lower back is weak. Also, do you run on uneven surfaces? If so switch sides so half your running is low on each side. When I had itbs I was running on the right side of the road and left side of the sidewalk all the time. That seemed to tilt my pelvis and weaken my back.

ermahgerd wrote:

Do a hundred Roman chairs or super mans every day. My guess is your lower back is weak. Also, do you run on uneven surfaces? If so switch sides so half your running is low on each side. When I had itbs I was running on the right side of the road and left side of the sidewalk all the time. That seemed to tilt my pelvis and weaken my back.

This. I agree with the popular sentiment to strengthen glutes and hips (I'd add some hamstring work too), but see a chiropractor to throw your pelvis and back into line. It's easy for it to tilt to one side, one of the prime causes of ITBS.

I am 50 years old and have had ITBS at least a half dozen times in the past 30 years, always in my left leg, never on my right. When it hits me the only thing that gets rid of it is 2-3 months of not running at all. I have tried physical therapy and every stretch and strengthening exercise imaginable recommended for ITBS and none of this ever helped, although I know it does help some people. Last year at about this time ITBS hit me again and I finally decided to have surgery. My surgeon did a Z-plasty (a Z shaped incision in the IT band to effectively lengthen it) and removed the underlying bursa. I started running six weeks post-surgery and for the last eight months have been running 90-100mi/week with no IT band pain and little fear it will return. I'm not recommending immediate surgery, but if it becomes a recurrent and intractable problem I wouldn't wait until 50 to consider surgery.

I get the Z incision. But what's the benefit of removing the bursa?

Thankyou for the replies, I am a little wary of surgery to be honest but I am pleased it has proved good results for you, I think the z plasty is preferred over the traditional release which effectively cuts the it band and weakens this vital structure, causing joint and knee instability, I have been prescribed orthotics which are currently being produced, I have a pronounced leg length discrepancy :(

Unfortunately I had to cancel my orthotics, I don't really want them going on my medical records :( I visited a physiological and he said my flutes were okay but has set me some single leg deadlifts in front of the mirror to improve pelvic drop and rotation. I also have to improve my arm form and to ensure my arms do not cross over my body and rotate my pelvis. Thank you for all the advice :)

So far so good... with all the extra strengthening trails and hills have been a breeze. I've also been told my form is excellent and I've never looked stronger (running wise).

After a 65mi week I had some minor tightness 1/10 maybe 1.5 since the last two runs had plently of trails/downhill on them, but this week I've been good again. Continuing to do the drills.

I switched my shoes to Hoka's, did a lot of foam rolling and did the stretch with your affected leg behind the good one and did a side bend to stretch the hip. Took a few weeks but it was fine after that. I heard walking lunges help big time also.

I fixed mine by foam rollering and switching shoes. I went to less heel but I think the lower pronation control was the larger switch.

Figure out the cause and treat it.

What caused my ITBS was tight and weak glutes and poor form.

I strengthed and stretched my glutes and fixed my form.

The first time I had ITBS I went to a Sports doctor and physiotherapist. I was given stretches to do but the pain wouldn't go away. I ran reduced mileage with knee pain for a month and then took a month off from running. When I resumed running the pain was gone.

My second bout with ITBS was 8 years later and I had learned about massaging. I self-massaged the Vastus Lateralis and the Tensor Fasciae Latae (TFL - the muscle the IT Band inserts into). I find foam rolling doesn't go deep enough into the muscle but rolling on a lacrosse ball or even a smaller hard ball works well. I also stretched the Vastus Lateralis and the TFL. I took one day off from running and then ran the following day with slight pain. The day after that I ran pain-free.

Thanks for the replies guys :)

I managed three miles today, the run was ok but sore afterwards :(

Have you tried upping your stride cadance? When my IT band acted up, I had weak glutes and hips (like a lot of people), but besides all of the exercises posted in this thread, my PT worked on helping me improve my stride cadance, so that my glutes were firing. Hope you get things figured out.