Could I have overstretched my IT band?

[LBTC]

Ladies in the know, can you help me out with this?

I was thinking that the new extra ache in my left hip and radiating down the outside of my left leg was a virus that was deciding to make me ache instead of the myriad other symptoms that a virus can provide.

Now that I've studied the stretch links that Wahine so kindly posted, I'm wondering if I've overstretched my IT band. And, sadly, not from anything heroic and excitingly active, but from sitting on the couch with my left foot under my butt, then leaning forward to get Diva's squeak to throw for her....I felt a brief sharp pain, followed immediately by that strange numb feeling that can happen, both radiating from my hip down the outside of my leg.

Since then it has been intermittent, but the hip and outside thigh have both been aching, and the hip joint seems a bit tender.

Today, after a few days of doing not much, I got on the bike and spun in a super low gear - it took me 30+ minutes to go 7 km - then did lots of stretches, including the ones Wahine posted.

Do you think it's the IT band? What can I expect to fix it - how and how long should it take?

Thanks so much for your help!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[KnottedYet]

"numb feeling" makes me think a nerve issue. Wahine? What do you think?

[Wahine]

Sounds like a nerve issue to me. Could be that you torsioned your pelvis while bending forwards and a muscle in your butt decided to protest and now...

You know, I'm kinda toasted right now as Veronica would say. I'll look at this more closely in the AM after the wine has worn off. The wine I drank to make the waxing of legs etc less painful. It works for that but doesn't help me much on navigating TE.

[bmccasland]

~T~
Not to dishearten you, I'm still dealing with IT Band issues (2 yrs +). I feel it in the outer part of my knee, then the hip, and sometimes in the ankle. Was seeing a massage therapist, gee that was pre-Katrina, who taught me a few yoga stretches, the same ones on the web site Wahine posted. It's really important to stretch AFTER you ride. Found a yoga DVD off Terry - yoga for cyclists - that seems to get me stretched in all the right places. Meanwhile take your favorite anti-inflammatory, hot bath, and work the knots in your cramped muscles.