Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS)

[MediumMike]

In short I've got a case of ITBS, and would like advice from anyone who treats or is being treated for this. Particularly I'm looking for some advice on how to keep squatting and deadlifting while dealing with this problem. I've read a lot about runners with this problem, but not so much weightlifters.

Below is my experience with it so far:




Around July last year my left knee started to feel a little off. Didn't hurt but it didn't feel right either. I've never been a runner but I did squats/deads etc in the gym plus some social squash and basketball games. Saw a physio and after a few sessions he diagnosed me with ITBS. I stopped squatting and deadlifting and anything else that put strain on my knees, while getting physio treatment over the next few months. They gave me deep tissue massages up the side of my leg and gently massaged my knee as well as ultra sounding the sore areas around the knee. Was told to stretch and ice the area which I did daily.

I wasn't happy with the progress so I checked out another physio who put it down to ITBS also, but tried a few different techniques - no change. Just to be sure, I saw a sports physio and he booked me in for an x-ray, then a CT scan to check for signs of arthritis and other nasties. Nothing showed up here.

The week before I left for Canada (end of November) I saw Metallica live. Fucking awesome show, they've still got it after all these years. Poor knee or great knee I had to be in the mosh and it felt sore the next morning. Coincidentally, after this my right knee started playing up and the pain in my left knee subsided. The problem with my left knee was very uncomfortable but not really painful, but when my right knee started playing up, it did hurt a bit.

In the last few hours of my flight to Canada, my right leg started to go numb. Figured it was just the way I was sitting but it happened again when on the bus to the ski resort I'm living at. For the following few weeks it would happen every now and then when laying down in bed. Scared the fuck out of me but eventually it stopped happening so much until I forgot about it.

I thought it was strange, but at the same time I'm stoked that for the whole winter season I snowboarded daily without much pain in the knees. My left knee was a thing of the past and never bothered me, and my right knee occasionally felt off.

So now it's the off season, and I've started hitting the gym again 3-4 times a week. Since there's no snowboarding to be had and my knees felt alright I've picked up squatting and deadlifting again. After 3 sessions of squats, both my knees are playing up big time. I'm confident it's not from poor form but I might take a video just to be sure. If anything I might have been going too low for my knees to handle (pretty much ATG). Still catching up to my old weight, only up to 80kg at the moment.

What I am doing right now

- Squatting and deadlifting at the gym at my max weight and adding weight each session
- Foam roller on ITB, calves, glutes most nights
- Many glute/ITB/hip flexors related stretches twice daily
- Icing sore areas

What I'm thinking about doing

- Fish oil
- Taping/strapping knee

Any advice/experience to share on this will be hugely appreciated. I want to get my lifts back up ASAP!!!!

Mike

 

[adamklam]

Personally, I found doing a lot more hamstring work did wonders.

I've added lots of:
Leg curls
Stiff leg deadlifts
Romanian deadlifts
Sprints
Sled/prowler pushes/pulls

Need to make sure the front and back of your legs are balanced

 

[adamklam]

Also heavy kettlebell swings focusing on squeezing the glutes at the top and feel the hamstring stretch at the bottom

 

[MediumMike]

Cheers Adam, hard to believe but we don't have a leg curl machine in the gym (only a little resort gym). Also no kettle bell, and I won't have the money to buy one while I'm here. Fortunately it does have a squat rack, a couple of benches and plenty of free weights to play with.

Last night I did my first set of SLDL since I left Australia and it felt great. 80kg 5 x 5 and my hammys are feeling loved this morning. SLDL and RDL are in my new routine starting next week so hopefully this helps. Will throw in 2 days of sprints a week also.

Did you have IT band problems in the past? What did you do for pain relief?

 

[adamklam]

I had it pretty bad around this time last year, caused by long running and heavy weights with no proper stretching/hamstring work.

RICE and massage was the only thing that really helped for pain relief.

Stretching helped, but only for the duration of the stretch.

Also, you can do swings with a heavy dumbbell or even a sack filled with something

For the leg curls, you can lie face down on a bench and hold the dumbbell between your feet - this is even harder than the leg curl machine as you can't cheat it as easily

 

[MediumMike]

So the main leg that gives me grief at the moment is my left. Just the past few days my little toe has been getting a cramping sensation. It's not causing pain, but the sensation is getting stronger and it's very uncomfortable.

Can this be caused by tight muscles in the leg? I stretch for 15 mins twice daily and use the foam roller every other day, so I really don't know what else to do.

Adam did you ever experience anything like that?

 

[adamklam]

So the main leg that gives me grief at the moment is my left. Just the past few days my little toe has been getting a cramping sensation. It's not causing pain, but the sensation is getting stronger and it's very uncomfortable.

Can this be caused by tight muscles in the leg? I stretch for 15 mins twice daily and use the foam roller every other day, so I really don't know what else to do.

Adam did you ever experience anything like that?

I did when I had pinched/impinged the sciatic nerve. I would strongly recommend seeing a physio / osteo ASAP!

 

[MediumMike]

Fk, I'm really not in a financial position to do that but if it gets any worse I will. How did they treat your case and what did they say might have caused it?

 

[adamklam]

my case was caused by bad posture cause by sitting on my wallet in my back pocket, which meant I through out my lowerback/hips out of alignment.

lots of massage/manipulations, stretching and pre/rehab exercises over about 6 months.

Although there can be lots of causes, which would require different treatments.