Hello,

Been off my bike for nearly 2 months now with IT Band syndrome and it's starting to wind me up. After having done no exercise bar press up's in this time and it feeling good for 2-3 weeks I attempted some yoga only for it to flare up again.

I've been reading a bit online and some people have reported that Patella Knee Straps such as the below help to relieve the pain.

Has anybody used one of these with any measure of success??

I do have an appointment with a specialist booked, but its not for 2.5 weeks and I'm getting restless.

Cheers

I struggled with this, I found a mixture of seeing the physio for torture massage sessions, loads of time on a foam roller, and stretches for glutes, outside of thighs, and also calves and hammys sorted it out. In February/March time I couldn't run more than about 200 metres, by July I did 100k with no problems.

Basically never sit down in the evenings ever again, just spend all the time you would normally be sitting down lying on the floor doing the roller thing and aggresively stretching everything in your legs.

Sorry, as for the original question – no idea

suffered from a lot of knee probloems related to itb.

lots of stretching, massages and strengthening the medial quads helped.

In February/March time I couldn't run more than about 200 metres, by July I did 100k with no problems.

now that is impressive….

No idea about the strapping but a Sports Physio sorted mine out by application of pain. He was clearly a sadistic pervert but my knee is fine.

I had this for 11 months and it pretty much put paid to my (very modest) running aspirations.

The advice above ref stretching is correct however it may take a while before it has any apparent affect.

Good luck

Foam roller is also important, do that while you wait for your appointment. Your ITB doesnt stretch so getting the tension out of the surrounding muscles is the quickest way to ease it. I think I was taking ibuprofen as well to combat any swelling. Also any time on the roller will make the physio less painfull. My sessions would typically involve the girl massaging away while I lay on the bed, sweating because it hurt so much, while shouting "f*ckin hell" repeatedly through my gritted teeth

Steve. Where di you get your foam roller from??

Cheers

The guy who tortured me used to be Millwall's physio. I think all those years of dealing with fooballers made him hate everybody. Very funny bloke though. I suggested that he should have his own chat show where he tortured sportsmen whilst telling them what a bunch of poofs he thought they were.

He just gave me a look… then dug in his thumbs again ARGHHHHHHH!!!

Yeah, I've been stretching it loads, at least 30 minutes a night. Not sure if I'm doing it wrong as that alone doesn't seem to have done anything.

The foam roller is another idea I'd echo this

Steve. Where di you get your foam roller from??

I'm thinking TKMaxx might have some with the yoga and pilates stuff maybe?

Your ITB doesnt stretch so getting the tension out of the surrounding muscles is the quickest way to ease it.

My mate is a physio and has told me this previously.

have you tried an orthotics guy ?

After a year of physio & only minor luck the doc referred me to an orthotics bloke who diagnosed my issue in 30 seconds.

I now where inserts in my shoes and do stretching morning & night.
My problem appears to be short tendons every where and very bandy legs to exacerbate the problem.

prior to his work I could not walk more than a mile without my knees locking up. Riding as always faired better with only epics causing any real issue.

I used those knee bands for a while when I had badly mistracking patellas. Seemed to help (they apply pressure to the front of the knee and help straighten up the kneecap ASAIR).

Not sure if they did any actual good, mind. My physio scoffed and coughed "placebo" under her breath.

Thankfully my knees have so much play in them now that everything can flex about more 🙂

(Oh and as an emergency measure I used to physically tape my kneecaps across using nasty, take-your-skin-off-tape. Glad those days are over!)

No substitute for physio and massage. I had one of them foam roller things but the pain was "off putting" to say the least.

TM

Had IT related problems all winter.

As steve-g said, foam roller works wonders. I had physio for a while but it didn;t do much. They gave me a massage but there not as good as real sports therapists can do.

Went to get a proper sports massage and it worked instantly. Got one every week for a couple of months now I just get them wen I need. Use the foam roller and all is fine.

My recomendation is find a sports masoose (sp?) and get one. It will be painful but in my case did the trick. Was able to bike again straight after it with no problems.

Foam roller from ebay is the best bet. Stretching is hard to do as you cant get a very deep stretch. Also even though your knee is sore its probably coming from your hips.

For those asking where you can get a foam roller, i just googled physio supplies. I think the place I found was actually called physiosupplies.com…..

Yeah – here ya go….

http://physiosupplies.ie/acatalog/Fitness_Rollers.html

I tried a strap for ITB and it didn't do anything for nme personally.

Rest, foam roller and physio FTW.

I use the foam roller at my gym, and as per advice from here I got an old camping mat, rolled it up as tight as I could, gaffer taped it up, and then shoved a couple of empty cans of shaving foam in the middle to toughen it up. Does the trick.

Twas me!!

Thanks Stumpy and Steve

can someone explain how you use those foam rollers. I am intrigued.

I can remember using a wobble board years ago to cure a twisted ankle. Great fun and along with all the other stuff cured my ankles a treat.

Basically lie on the roller with the out side of you leg (IT band). Role from you hip to your knee, keeping your feet in the air. Regulate the pressure with your arms.

Youtube has a few good videos.

But by rule of thumb, if its not hurting then your not doing it right!

I always use one when running and it helps hugely.

Got the Patella strap today, seemed to feel better on the walk home but too early to tell if it'll make a lasting difference.

Managed to find a place in Sale that sells foam rollers for £14 so I'll be picking one of those up on Saturday.

Cheers for the help

Your ITB doesnt stretch so getting the tension out of the surrounding muscles is the quickest way to ease it.

your right no it doesn't stretch, but tensor fascia lata does, so stretching is good for ITB pain. rollers are good too and pain inducing physio sessions as mentioned above.

I just had a 'roll' on my own version of a foam roller – a wooden step ladder with rounded off rails. I wouldn't exactly say I was rolling, more shuffling, but good for digging deep into the areas of concentrated pain. Have a look on Google for ideas – loads of stretches and exercise – and get ready to scream!

get ready to scream!

Sweet baby Jesus those foam rollers are painful! I though I was kind of prepared after reading about it, picked the roller up this morning and its like someone is stabbing me in the thigh!!