Postby alexk » Thu May 30, 2013 5:15 pm
I had a nasty case (my 1st and hopefully last) of ITBS last summer. It sidelined me for 2 months and seemed, at the time, to come out of nowhere. The pain on the outside of my knee was initially so severe, I was convinced I had torn my miniscus. Thankfully, a visit to my family doc quickly ruled out that possibility. He moved my knee around and somehow knew the meniscus was fine - phew.
My rehab was fairly straight-forward. I went for some ART sessions which helped a bit; did lots of icing and just gave my leg the rest it needed. That meant no running, but lots of power walking, until it was healed. It took nearly 8 weeks for me to be able to run 3 continuous miles but once it was fully healed, I was fine.
I also did lots of hip/glute work: single leg dead-lifts w/ a kettle-bell, holding the bridge pose, butt-lifts (for lack of a better word) while lying on my back/squeezing glutes, very controlled side and backwards leg swings w/ a resistance band while squeezing glutes and "air" squats (body weight squats). I remember my chiro saying the clam shell wasn't an effective exercise but I can't remember why!
A ITBS study was published in the Globe and Mail (I think by Alex Hutchison) around the time of my injury. It suggested that ITBS isn't caused by a tight IT band but by weak hip and glute muscles. It concluded that stetching and rolling wouldn't offer much help but strengthening the weak links (hips/glutes) would.
Hope this helps!
We train more joyfully and productively when we focus on the now, rather than on our future race day performance. It's a long road from here to there with many miles to go. We need to run each one. Accept where you are today and simply be thankful for the work you've accomplished. KA
