tight IT band and foamrollers

@molgrips I am not dismissing foam rollering my unscientific opinion is that it may help. I agree it cant really hurt unless you are a real masochist… I am a believer in “frictional” massgae techniques and they can be excruciating!

Yeah there could be many issues that appear the same. I can’t imagine what would only take to roller sessions to resolve and not come back despite how infrequently or frequently I run, but there you go.

Sorry-ish for the long post…

I have had “ITB” type problems for years when running. I use speech marks, as I went to see about 4 different physios (might have been 5) over the years, they all had an opinion on the cause & all had different solutions to solve the problem. I am reluctant to call it ITBS specifically, even though all the symptoms point to it.
Nothing really worked to solve it.
The last time I attempted to solve it through healthcare routes, I had private healthcare so threw everything at it – consultation with a knee specialist (who apparently used to be part of the GB Olympic medical team), ultrasound, MRI, physio & gait analysis.
I did everything asked of me & that didn’t work. I basically gave up running as a result.

I can cycle for hours on multiple days & get no issues although the outside of my thighs going up into my hips always feel tight.

Several years ago I started doing yoga once a week at work. Once I got used to the moves, I started doing my own short stretching routine to target the area.
I do a combination of pigeon pose, piriformis stretch, happy baby pose as well as the traditional figure four stretch & a seated variation (no 4 here:)

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325377#10-hip-stretches

I also started doing some exercises to strengthen my hamstrings and the muscles in the outside of my hip (adductors, or abductors I can never remember).

This made a massive difference & I went from being unable to run for 20 mins, to training for a half marathon. I didn’t get to run the half marathon in the end:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/13/great-eastern-run-called-off-armed-police-response-peterborough

but ran an unplanned one about 6 months later on local roads.

I didn’t find foam rolling made much difference. It was the regular stretching that got me running again after struggling with this for years & years (~15 years I suppose).

A few days of foam rollering now and doing some of those stretches advised – I can feel a significant difference

Clearly there is a lot of differing opinions as to what is actually going on and its not an area I know much about beyond the basic anatomy so I will organise a physio appointment to make sure I am not just treating the symptoms but go after the cause.

Ta for your thoughts and help

A few days of foam rollering now and doing some of those stretches advised – I can feel a significant difference

Clearly there is a lot of differing opinions as to what is actually going on and its not an area I know much about beyond the basic anatomy so I will organise a physio appointment to make sure I am not just treating the symptoms but go after the cause.

Ta for your thoughts and help

A few days of foam rollering now and doing some of those stretches advised – I can feel a significant difference

Clearly there is a lot of differing opinions as to what is actually going on and its not an area I know much about beyond the basic anatomy so I will organise a physio appointment to make sure I am not just treating the symptoms but go after the cause.

Ta for your thoughts and help

A few days of foam rollering now and doing some of those stretches advised – I can feel a significant difference

Clearly there is a lot of differing opinions as to what is actually going on and its not an area I know much about beyond the basic anatomy so I will organise a physio appointment to make sure I am not just treating the symptoms but go after the cause.

Ta for your thoughts and help

FFS – got the 502 failure so clicked reload – usually this does not result in multiple posts.

If you watch that video I linked above, there is really no need to see a physio to treat this issue.

I had pain so bad in that area it stopped me sleeping. It was the stretching that sorted it. Foam rolling hurts too much. Try just stretching without the roller, see if that works.

edward – sorry mate but what I need is a diagnosis which needs a hands on professional.  Youtube vids are no susbstitute.  I do not have pain at that point that he shows so that vid is irrelevant to me

Oh sorry. I misunderstood the first sentence in the OP

FFS – got the 502 failure so clicked reload – usually this does not result in multiple posts.

When that happens I click back, and on Chrome my text is still there in the box. But if the post actually worked you can see your post already committed so you know if it’s received it or not.

edward – I thought I had the classic IT band syndrome but after a few answers actually what I have is a tight IT band but not the classic pain at the knee.  so my failure – sorry

I will organise a physio appointment

YMMV, I did 10+ physio sessions and follow-up exercises over many months, it fixed me (ITBS) for a sedentary lifestyle but not hiking and biking. Paid for an app-based course “mountain proof knees”, did it religiously and was sorted in 6 weeks. I’m sure it could be sorted free with the right research and understanding (I tried and failed), but I just got to the point where this thing had to be fixed ’cause I really like going up hills and coming back down again.

I need a hands on diagnosisand a suitable set of exercises / stretches I think not a series of treatments

I have been continuing with the stretches and rollering tho and it feels better