Is it a knot?

guys / girls


Did some squats on saturday, and my right leg seems fine, but left leg feels uncomfortable, like its constantly tight or something, i can feel it when sitting (when legs are spread and to the side i can feel it in the quad and ham) and when walking the same sort of thing.
Is this just doms or could it be a knot or something else as its not pain but feels like the whole upper leg is just tight together.


Tried massaging it out with a bit of force seems to be a bit sore now.


Any ideas?


Cheers

Exactly where on your leg is it sore? Be specific. Does the pain feel like it's coming from a centralised point or just a general soreness and tightness?

after the massage the is a point about 4 - 6 inches up above the knee on the outer quad, and another half way up.

Before that it felt like tightness all over.

You have a huge sweep of fascia, or thin connective tisssue in a sheet, called your ITB (or TFL for pedants out there) which runs from your hip, down the outside of your leg to your knee. This frequently becomes tight and causes many people trouble. I'd suggest a tight ITB is your culprit. Using a foam roller, massage, and stretching to a lesser extent will all help.

And the Ugly said:

You have a huge sweep of fascia, or thin connective tisssue in a sheet, called your ITB (or TFL for pedants out there) which runs from your hip, down the outside of your leg to your knee. This frequently becomes tight and causes many people trouble. I'd suggest a tight ITB is your culprit. Using a foam roller, massage, and stretching to a lesser extent will all help.

Click to expand...

I have googled and tried myofascial release with a tennis ball and have massaged.

Does it take a while to go down, or after the release will the pain still be there over night or so?

If you get it right you should get immediate release to some degree, but you're not going to fix something like that perfectly. Do it again before bed and again in the morning.

And the Ugly said:

If you get it right you should get immediate release to some degree, but you're not going to fix something like that perfectly. Do it again before bed and again in the morning.

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So after a couple of times it should be better.

Is it better tosquat while I have this?

If say I don't do anything and just leave it can it come good on it's own?

Mate I haven't seen it or assessed you in person. Nothing i've said is definite, but given the information you've passed on, it's my best idea right now.

There's nothing wrong with squatting while you have it, lots of people have it often. In fact it might help by loosening you up and bringing bloodflow to the area.

Eventually it will improve on it's own, but i'm giving you the most accepted method of treatment to speed up recovery.

thanks again mate.

It is feeling less "tight" today, and soreness has gone down, just a little pain left in those certain spots

Mate, if it is ITB. Ice, rest and massage. Foam rollers are good but strengthing your glutes is what will make it go away. I had cronic ITB last year. Saw a physio. He gave me a few exercises to isolate the glutes and now no more ITB problems.

Apply sport massaging oil (forget the name) on it, worked for me. But ugly is right.

Is ITB the same thing?

Will seeing a physio be the only real way to tell if it is actually the problem?

is there a healing process after it has been released?

I have ( i think i have) released one, today when the muscle isn't in use eg sitting down it feels fine slightly tight. But say if i was standing up on the train going home, it feels like the whole upper leg is tight. Where as the other one does not.

On the outer side of the leg about 1 - 2 inches above the knee it is still slightly sore, i don't know if its just from the massage or if its a fascia still there or another one that i missed.

ok, this issue has come down alot, however not completely. i sent an enquiry to a therapy place and this is there response

[FONT=&quot]"Hi shashank[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thanks for the inquiry [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sound like you have 2 sets of problems but both related to each other. Firstly primary prob coming from lower back and glutes. Secondary prob is the compensating muscles which seems to be your hip flexors, tfl, and itb. And if the above is the diagnoses, then naturally your quads and hamis will tighten up. Also could mean another thing that may have caused it your using that leg as your dominant strength. Which means it's doing twice as much work as the other leg. Many reasons why that could have happened. Regardless you need to firstly reduce the weight down 30-40% start stretching twice a day lower back down inc legs front and back. And you will need 2-3 sessions of sports massage treatment which Inc myfacial release. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I will be flying out sat evening with work for 2 weeks. So if you want to come in to clinic on thurs pls contact me ASAP on 0413540540[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thank you[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mike Manoukian [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Absolute Healing [/FONT]
Sports massage"


I just invested in a foam roller and want to see how that goes first, main question here is, is it neccessary to reduce the weight, the problem has eased up a fair bit.

Your ITB will get tight and sore when you use it instead of the muscles you are supposed to be using to support your weight (like standing on mainly one leg with your hip pushed out.)
After you had released your ITB, you will have to figure out how to activate / strengthen whatever was being underused.

OP, allow me to say that I have a huge amount of experience with massage and self applied soft tissue work. I was able to stave off injuries that should have occured because of serious imbalances for quite some time because my muscle health was always excellent.

Everything UGLY has said so far has been spot on to the T. Listen to him word for word.

Gunner said:

Mate, if it is ITB. Ice, rest and massage. Foam rollers are good but strengthing your glutes is what will make it go away. I had cronic ITB last year. Saw a physio. He gave me a few exercises to isolate the glutes and now no more ITB problems.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but this is an absolute crock of shit. Minimising stress on a muscle, and treating the inevitable build up of knots and scar tissue in a muscle or two completely separate things. EVERY muscle that is stimulated will develop tightness and scar tissue as a result. The only way to alleviate these issues is with regular massage, foam rolling and other applied forms of friction and pressing on the muscle.

Shank said:

is there a healing process after it has been released?

I have ( i think i have) released one, today when the muscle isn't in use eg sitting down it feels fine slightly tight. But say if i was standing up on the train going home, it feels like the whole upper leg is tight. Where as the other one does not.

On the outer side of the leg about 1 - 2 inches above the knee it is still slightly sore, i don't know if its just from the massage or if its a fascia still there or another one that i missed.

Click to expand...

There might be soreness, but you are pretty much good to go once it has been released.

Shank said:

ok, this issue has come down alot, however not completely. i sent an enquiry to a therapy place and this is there response

[FONT=&quot]"Hi shashank[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thanks for the inquiry [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sound like you have 2 sets of problems but both related to each other. Firstly primary prob coming from lower back and glutes. Secondary prob is the compensating muscles which seems to be your hip flexors, tfl, and itb. And if the above is the diagnoses, then naturally your quads and hamis will tighten up. Also could mean another thing that may have caused it your using that leg as your dominant strength. Which means it's doing twice as much work as the other leg. Many reasons why that could have happened. Regardless you need to firstly reduce the weight down 30-40% start stretching twice a day lower back down inc legs front and back. And you will need 2-3 sessions of sports massage treatment which Inc myfacial release. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I will be flying out sat evening with work for 2 weeks. So if you want to come in to clinic on thurs pls contact me ASAP on 0413540540[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thank you[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mike Manoukian [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Absolute Healing [/FONT]
Sports massage"


I just invested in a foam roller and want to see how that goes first, main question here is, is it neccessary to reduce the weight, the problem has eased up a fair bit.

Click to expand...

Good investment. The thing is,t he foam roller has to hurt you, find the tender spots and move a few inches up and down around it. YOu will want to cry but just tough through it and eventually the pain will get less and less. You need to spend a good 5 minutes starting at the the bottom of the itb and working right up to the top.

That therapy place sounds absolutely perfect, the guy has clearly identified the issue. I would strongly suggest that you see him atleast once a month, and dedicate times for regular foam rolling.


It's easy to spend plenty of time lifting, and to a point working on your diet. Where most people really fail is the little recovery work like this that makes the biggest differences. You think the Bulgarians could have handled what they did where they not getting massage 2-3 times a day?

All things considered, this is a relatively minor problem that will sort itself out with some applied pressure. When it is is sorted, it's up to you to keep ontop of this recovery work.

Fuzzy said:

I'm sorry, but this is an absolute crock of shit. Minimising stress on a muscle, and treating the inevitable build up of knots and scar tissue in a muscle or two completely separate things. EVERY muscle that is stimulated will develop tightness and scar tissue as a result. The only way to alleviate these issues is with regular massage, foam rolling and other applied forms of friction and pressing on the muscle.

Click to expand...

Pull your head in Fuzzy. I was only sharing my opinon and there is no need for you to reply calling it a crock of shit. You might think it's a crock of shit but from my experience with ITB, the prescribed exercises and advice given to me by an Army physio was what finally fixed it. Foam rollers and massage are good to relieve the pressure and soreness but to get rid of ITB for good, you need to strengthen the failing leg muscles. For me it was the glutes not engaging, therefore allowing other leg muscles not to be insync and pulling the wrong way.

Gunner said:

Pull your head in Fuzzy. I was only sharing my opinon and there is no need for you to reply calling it a crock of shit. You might think it's a crock of shit but from my experience with ITB, the prescribed exercises and advice given to me by an Army physio was what finally fixed it. Foam rollers and massage are good to relieve the pressure and soreness but to get rid of ITB for good, you need to strengthen the failing leg muscles. For me it was the glutes not engaging, therefore allowing other leg muscles not to be insync and pulling the wrong way.

Click to expand...

I concede, my language was not appropriate and I do apologise for that.


But my point still stands. ANY muscle subjected to contraction will develop tightness, knots and scar tissue as a result of training. Just because you never specifically feel an issue in the ITB as a result of improved musculature in no way means that this is still not happening, and that there are not potential issues there.

Engaging the glutes will ofcourse limit stress from the ITB, agreed. I think we can both agree that 90% of chronic issues stem from a weakness in the surrounding area rather than the source of pain itself. This still does not change the FACT that there will be tightness, scar tissue and knots building in the ITB, which tends to be extremely susceptible to such issues.

The reason I acted like a dickhead in my post, was that I wrongly assumed you suggested ice and rest only, as well as strengthening the glutes instead of getting the applied therapy. I also felt that you implied that you would therefore never need soft tissue work on the ITB ever again. I do not consider it merely a personal opinion when I advocate regular sot tissue work, it should be universal for anyone who takes their training seriously.

Apologies again.

Fuzzy said:

I concede, my language was not appropriate and I do apologise for that.


But my point still stands. ANY muscle subjected to contraction will develop tightness, knots and scar tissue as a result of training. Just because you never specifically feel an issue in the ITB as a result of improved musculature in no way means that this is still not happening, and that there are not potential issues there.

Engaging the glutes will ofcourse limit stress from the ITB, agreed. I think we can both agree that 90% of chronic issues stem from a weakness in the surrounding area rather than the source of pain itself. This still does not change the FACT that there will be tightness, scar tissue and knots building in the ITB, which tends to be extremely susceptible to such issues.

The reason I acted like a dickhead in my post, was that I wrongly assumed you suggested ice and rest only, as well as strengthening the glutes instead of getting the applied therapy. I also felt that you implied that you would therefore never need soft tissue work on the ITB ever again. I do not consider it merely a personal opinion when I advocate regular sot tissue work, it should be universal for anyone who takes their training seriously.

Apologies again.

Click to expand...

Apologie accepted.

I do agree with what you are also saying.

The pain I felt was on the upper Fibula and I never would have guessed that it would be from the result of a muscle that is not in the vicinty of the pain. It was the pyshio that suggested the isolation exercises. Before that all I did was ice, rest, stretch & massage (hand & foam roller. Even used a rolling pin once or twice). All that did was ease the pain for a limited time.

You are correct that others who get this pain chronically are not that lucky in identifying where their ITB pain stems from and therefore require plenty of soft tissure therapy.

I am but one of the lucky ones who no longer suffers from it.