Iliotibial Band Friction Syndrome (ITBS)

Long-distance running or cycling has always been fun until the day you feel pain at the side of your knee or sometimes, the hip. ITB (Iliotibial Band) Friction Syndrome is one of them most common injury amongst runners, cyclists and intense court sports.

ITB Friction Syndrome
It is when the Iliotibial Band rubs against a bony protrusion just at the side of your knee. The ITB is a continuation of one of the largest hip muscles and spans as a thick band of tissue on the outside of the thigh. It starts from the pelvis, over to the side of the hip and ending just below the knee. Just before it crosses the knee, it runs over a protrusion in the thigh bone (lateral femoral epicondyle). The frequent rubbing of the band over this bony protrusion from bending and staightening of the knee irritates the band, causing a inflammation. The tighter the ITB, the harder it rubs over the protrusion.

In my own words (in case you didn't get what the slightly profound terms are):
The knee is one out of the many joints and there are many movements that relate to our knees. When the ITB rubs against it every single time, friction is created and thus, pain comes along. The tighter it is, the harder the ITB rubs against the protrusion and the pain keeps getting worse.

So what actually tightens the ITB?
Three basic things that tightens the ITB:

- Training methods
- Bio-mechanical gait issues
- Weak outer thigh muscles

Training Methods
Running on banked surfaces, insufficient warm-ups or cool-downs, increase in distances too rapidly or excessive downhill running are faults associated with running which strains the ITB. In cycling, having the feet toed inwards commonly caused the band to get tight.

Bio-mechanical gait
Problems with foot structures such as high or low arches and uneven leg length typically tightens the ITB on one side. A complete biomechanical assessment helps determine the faults. Where appropriate, foot orthotics can correct these problems.

Weak outer hip muscles
Weak outer hip muscles forces the ITB to work harder to compensate and becomes tight as a result. Exercise to strengthen the outer hip muscles helps to lighten the load on the ITB.

Let's face it. Even when we try to avoid these three issues mentioned, athletes with a high training volume (like me) still experiences painful ITBs. In such cases, deep tissue massage will help release the tight band.

Neglecting the ITB tightness such as not stretching it can lead to groin pain and low back pains.

99% of the above information is from Core Concepts.

Associated links

~ Strong! Massage Experience (http://sgrunner-yuxin.blogspot.com/2009/08/strong-massage-experience.html)

~ Core Concepts (http://sgrunner-yuxin.blogspot.com/2009/08/core-concepts.html)

~ Why should injured athletes go for physiotherapy (http://sgrunner-yuxin.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-should-injured-athletes-go-for.html)