IT Band Syndrome

[Maui girl]

Anyone out there had trouble with this? Mine came on very suddenly and although I took 5 weeks off the bike, iced, did strength exercises and stretching, the pain begins again at about mile 10.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone else out there who has dealt with this

[westtexas]

Anyone out there had trouble with this? Mine came on very suddenly and although I took 5 weeks off the bike, iced, did strength exercises and stretching, the pain begins again at about mile 10.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone else out there who has dealt with this

Is yours too tight? That's what I have. I'm going to physical therapy and it's helping a lot. The goal for me is to strengthen the muscles of the inside of my leg (the adductors). Rest, ice and stretching doesn't do anything for me. I have to keep the muscles inside strong so my patella doesn't luxate to the outside of my knee. And you have to keep doing it forever, apparently. Or surgery, that's the other option they gave me.

[Dogmama]

Stretching and a foam roller. A good massage therapist.

[Artista]

Do you use clipless pedals? If so, it's possible that your foot is being held in a position that stresses your IT band. A professional fitter may be able to adjust your cleat to reduce the stress on your IT band. That's what happened in my situation although I still experienced some IT band pain after long, hilly rides. I ended up switching back to platforms because of an ankle injury. The platforms have totally eliminated my IT band pain.

[redrhodie]

Massage is good; it can relieve the problem, but in my case, it did not fix it. Neither did the foam roller. Mine was cured by tweaking my bike fit. It was a lot of trial and error. I can't recount all the things we changed, but mainly, my saddle was too high and too far back. Of course, moving your saddle changes everything else, so you may want to get a pro fit.

[indysteel]

My right IT band bothered me when I used a triple crank on my bike. When I switched to a compact double, the pain instantly went away. Triples generally have a wider tread or "q factor" than doubles or compact doubles. For some, that doesn't cause any IT band issues, but for me, the only fix (at least currently) was to switch cranks.