Hi, and welcome back to the Mohsin Salya blog.
Have you ever been on a run, and started to feel an ache down the outside of your thigh? And has the pain got steadily worse – usually by the side of your knee – until you can’t run any more? If so, then there’s a good chance you’ve fallen victim to IT band syndrome. It’s an incredibly common complaint among runners – both amateur and experienced – but it can side line you for weeks at a time if you don’t pick it up early.
So, first things first – what on earth is your IT band, and what happens when things go wrong? Well, the iliotibial (IT) band is the long length of ligament that runs all the way down the outside of your thigh from your hip to your shin. The IT band attaches to your knee and helps to keep it stable as it moves – but it can sometimes become tight or inflamed.
There are a few things that can cause this – running up and down hills, running on surfaces that are banked, causing your foot to turn inwards, or just overdoing it. The key is to make sure you rest as soon as you start feeling the ache on the side of your knee – either a complete break for a few days or just fewer miles. In terms of treatment, rest, foam rollering the IT band or deep tissue massage is recommended.
Luckily, there are also a few ways to avoid getting it in the first place – don’t run on concrete, banked surfaces or on hills (where possible, for a while at least). Another tip I’ve heard is to run in the middle of the road, where you’re not running with your foot banked on the camber for miles, but obviously this carries its own risks, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
The best piece of advice I can give is to warm up properly – a good walk before you run always does the trick – and don’t try and run through the pain if it does happen to you.
Until the next time,
Mohsin Salya