ITB

[jagguy]

I suffer fro ITB syndrome and have seen many physios. I know what I am supposed to do strengthen VMO and stretch ITB and surrounding muscles.

Sounds easy but anyone else had this and can get rid of this for good. I seem to have recurring issues and orthotics havent cured it.

[Colin_T]

If you don't mind me asking, what's ITB and VMO?

[jagguy]

If you don't mind me asking, what's ITB and VMO?

well if you dont know then I am envious because you havent had ITB syndrome or needed to strengthen the inside quad.

[Colin_T]

nope, haven't had ITB but I do have IBS (upset insides after eating too much chocolate)

[Kalgrm]

Illio-tibial band. (Spelling?) It's a tendon in the upper leg from the hip to the tibia.

[jules21]

i have a recurring ITB inflammation, due to slight scoliosis.

it caused me heaps of drama until i learned how to stretch it out properly. as far as i can determine, it will never go away. i just have to keep stretching it out after every ride (and ideally, after a warm up). it doesn't bother me greatly during the ride, but if i don't stretch it afterwards, i will be limping for the next few days. icing it is also recommended.

[Colin_T]

Illio-tibial band. (Spelling?) It's a tendon in the upper leg from the hip to the tibia.

thanks for the explanation

If it's caused by scoliosis then there isn't really going to be a cure until they can straigthen your back, maybe in 20yrs or so

It sounds rather annoying more than anything. If you don't stretch after cycling you can't walk properly. Man I would be stuffed, I hardly ever stretch
So how do you stretch it, bend over and touch your toes or pull your foot up and hold it for a minute?

[jules21]

like your courtseying the queen. the affected leg is tucked behind the other and pushed out sideways, then you weight it slightly until you feel the outside (ITB) stretching.

[Colin_T]

crumbs that's hard to do. I nearly fell over the first couple of times I tried to curtsy. No wonder guys simply bow

[jules21]

that's probably not the best description

[Colin_T]

that's probably not the best description

lol

[Aushiker]

Hi

PM Cavebear2. He has a lot of experience with ITB and treatment ...

Andrew

[jagguy]

i have a recurring ITB inflammation, due to slight scoliosis.

it caused me heaps of drama until i learned how to stretch it out properly. as far as i can determine, it will never go away. i just have to keep stretching it out after every ride (and ideally, after a warm up). it doesn't bother me greatly during the ride, but if i don't stretch it afterwards, i will be limping for the next few days. icing it is also recommended.

OK thnks I will PM Cavebear2.

What stretches work for you?could you please explain?

[jules21]

google "itb stretch". this one (fig 2) is the one i do, you should push your hip outwards until you feel the (mild) burn. works a treat. as for all stretches, 3 mins minimum per set.

it's worth consulting a physio to help get the technique right and other advice. other than that, they'll all tell you the same thing though - stretching and ice.

[Wayfarer]

Physio's may cure your symptom, but may sometimes not know the cause of the problem. if they fix you, and you do yourself in again, then you're wasting alot of money in vain

my advice would be to get a proper bike fit done. if you're in NSW, you can check Steve Hogg, who I've heard about dealing with specific problems that riders didnt even know they had.

[jules21]

that's good advice. fwiw, my physio told me an excessively raised seat height is a common cause of ITB syndrome.

[jacks1071]

I suffer fro ITB syndrome and have seen many physios. I know what I am supposed to do strengthen VMO and stretch ITB and surrounding muscles.

Sounds easy but anyone else had this and can get rid of this for good. I seem to have recurring issues and orthotics havent cured it.

If your physio is worth their salt the they'll have asked you to attend their practice with your bike and a wind trainer so they can check you don't have some fit type reason for the problem. You might need to find a pysio who is a cyclist which shouldn't be difficult.

I have had an ITB problem earlier in the year - I put a 12-27 on my bike and road everywhere at around 120 cadence for 3 weeks, did no hill training in that period as to not overload my knee. Saw the physio 3 times a week plus did all the stretching exercises they'd given me twice a day.

Problem took 3 weeks to 100% resolve and hasn't reappeared, if I ever get any ITB pain now I stretch for a few days and it goes away.

I should probably keep up the stretches but I am lazy with them...

A common cause of ITB issues is a rapid increase in your training load rather than a gradual build up.

[trailgumby]

If you're in Sydney PM me - I have a guy I've used who fits the above description and who is mates with Steve Hogg. He knows his stuff.

[Burt 'Pigeon Racer' Jones]

Illio-tibial band. (Spelling?) It's a tendon in the upper leg from the hip to the tibia.

Hmmm. According to another website, ITB means 'In The Bum'!

Gives the term 'ITB Syndrome' a whole new meaning really.

[RobRollin]

I have suffered from the same problem and occasionally still do. I was told to massage the outside of the leg from the hip down int the quad with a rolling pin or you can buy a massage roller just for this purpose which will help loosen the tension of the band and help resolve the problem. Also stretching the quad will help. I like the idea of seeing a physio who is a cyclist to help with this but in Hobart options are limited.

[anth73]

Interesting read as i found out on sunday what ITB inflammation is like after doing the kinglake climb. Wow was the outside me my knee sore!

I've been icing and stretching religiously as well as using a rolling pin to massage the side me my quad. Hopefully its just an overuse issue as i did 1000km of training with plenty of hills in the last 4 weeks after taking the first 2 weeks of January off.

[ft_critical]

I suffer fro ITB syndrome and have seen many physios. I know what I am supposed to do strengthen VMO and stretch ITB and surrounding muscles.

Sounds easy but anyone else had this and can get rid of this for good. I seem to have recurring issues and orthotics havent cured it.

I suffered for about a year, but am pain free now. I can occasionally note when I am straining the ITB, but I can fix it. My advice:

Don't take advice from the forum, get professional help,
The sight of the pain is not where the problem is - it could be your leg length being uneven, your hip rotation or even as high up as your back. I used an excellent Physio in North Sydney, and working together he found a number of structural issues that we worked on. However, the truth was, I used these as pointers to what was wrong with my bike fit rather than what was wrong with my biomechanics. By that I mean I didn't benefit from the strengthening excercises (though the do help in the short term) but by learning about the idiosyncracies of my body I employed changes to the way I rode and the fit to my bike.
In my case I fitted wedges under my left cleat, I got my saddle height (fore aft was not any effect for me, nor stem length etc,) right, and moved my cleats back (this reduced the flex of my ankle and hence lengthening of my ITB.
Next pedalling technique. I had been dropping my heels to try to get better hamstring engagement. Fail. Anyway, this was the hardest part, but getting a smooth action on the pedal and not over working any part of the stroke. This really fixed things. Once fixed I was able to bring power back - i.e., turn a big gear on a hill without pain.

My summary is, the problem was uneven leg length. The uneveness was excacerbated by fit, pedalling and biomechanical issues. Recommendation, see a physio and pro bike fitter.

[shiv]

If you're a fan of pain, get a physio to give you a good hard ITB rub. One of the worst pains Ive felt, different to hurting yourself but still bloody bad

[anth73]

I tried riding my commuter (a cyclocross bike) this morning after 4 days off the bike and it wasn't much fun!

I noticed that my right leg (the one with the sore ITB) was - in my view - overextending a little and I know that my right leg is 1cm shorter than my left. On my road bike I have shims on my right shoe to address this and have had three fitting sessions to get my bike position just right. I covered 6000km on it last year without issue. When I bought the commuter late last year I set it up as best I could to mirror my road bike setup but perhaps I got the seat height slightly wrong.

I've also felt some lower back tightness for the last couple of weeks since coming back from holidays and sleeping on a crappy bed. This may also be contributing to the ITB. Hence my plan of action is:

1. Lower my seat height a couple of mm
2. Chiro appointment tonight for my usual "whack, crack n' slap" to get my pelvis sitting correctly again
3. ITB stretches and the rolling pin!

Will let you all know how it progresses.

[1q2w3e4r]

A squash ball is better than a rolling pin IMO lets you really work into it. Quite hard to get all your weight effectively onto a rolling pin I found.