IT Band Syndrome

Iliotibial (IT) Band Syndrome is a common injury that occurs from overuse, often in runners. It can cause pain with activity and swelling in the joint. People that have IT Band Syndrome may think they have a knee injury, when in fact it is coming from a muscle injury. 

Where does IT Band Syndrome occur?

The IT band is a muscle on the outside of the thigh that runs from the hip to the knee. It helps stabilize the knee joint by attaching below the joint. Because it attaches below the knee joint, it slide back and forth over the knee joint when the knee bends. If you have an issue with the IT band, this motion can cause inflammation and pain on the outside of the knee. 

What causes the IT Band syndrome to happen?

It is important to make sure the whole leg is functioning properly when there is pain in the IT band. Making sure the joints are moving and the muscle firing pattern is correct will help speed up recovery from an injury. 

Ankle - if it rolling in too much (pronating) while running or walking, this can put stress on the IT band
Knee - if the knee joint bends inwards during knee flexion (especially squats) the muscles in the area need retrained for stabilization
Hip - needs to be aligned correctly in the socket 

What will you do to help me?

Adjust you! Making sure your pelvis and spine are moving properly gives your body a great foundation to work on. We will check your hip, knee, and ankle for any areas that need adjusted. If your body requires soft tissue work, we can do cupping, Gua Sha, craniosacral therapy, or massage to loosen the area. Once everything is in alignment, we will go over stretches and exercises that you can do at home to speed up the recovery. 

What can I do at home?

Staying on top of the stretches and exercises is important. This will allow your body to start using the correct muscles to do your activities and take pressure off of the IT Band. 

It may also be necessary to get different shoes. If you tend to turn your ankle in while running, you can get shoes or orthotics to help decrease the chance of that happening. 

Change your running route. If you are a creature of habit and run the same, or similar, path everyday, change it! That way you are not putting the same stress on your body everyday. 

Anti-inflammatory diet. This decreases the inflammation in your whole body. Increase water, magnesium, and omega fats. Add in turmeric if you aren't already. Decrease your dairy and gluten intake while you are recovering. 

It is important to let your body rest while you are healing. The more frequently you get adjusted and the better you are at home-care, the faster you will be healed up and ready to run again!