IT Band Syndrome

[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.

[pll]

This afternoon I became acquainted with my ITBs. I had experienced some sharp pain on the outside of my left knee while running, on two occasions. I went to a sports physician because of that and pain under my knee caps -- prescribed some physical therapy. I saw a physical therapist this afternoon and, in no time, he found that my ITBs and quads are really tight.... fast forward to the roller stretches: they are extremely painful. I'm supposed to do 20-30 reps and I had to take a break after 10. Ouch.

[bluebug32]

My IT band problems were spurred on by a poor bike fit. I also find that doing too much too soon (suddenly adding hills or miles) will stress the IT bands. I ended up getting better through acupuncture and massage. Now that I'm not in pain, I use my foam roller literally every day to keep them loose and I do light stretching. PT might help others, but I didn't get much relief. I also think that yoga (warrior poses esp.) are great for keeping the legs loose. Good luck!

[pll]

Long live the roller!

It hurt quite a bit the first two days. It is now (five days later) much better, easier to do. In addition to stretching the ITB with the roller, the physical therapist gave me a series of strengthening exercises and 2 more stretches. This afternoon I noticed I had no pain under the knee caps and only a very slight discomfort (ITB related) on the left knee. I will be very diligent with the routine.

[Bike Chick]

I'm going to pt now for hip and ITB issues. It's so painful but I've been given strengthening exercises for my adducters and stretching exercises as well and it is helping. Ice baths help too if you can stand it.