Treating The Dreaded IT Band Syndrome

Today's Workout: stretching, lower body strengthening, yoga video, elliptical 30 minutes

The past few days have been absolutely gorgeous in NYC and its been killing me that I can't run. I've been watching all the happy frolicking runners with the smiles on their faces and secretly saying not-so-nice things under my breath. No, I am not cursing at the runners themselves but they are a reminder that I am sidelined. I am just jealous! Its as simple as that. I really, really want to rewind to a time when I was a happy runner... like 3 weeks ago...

NYC Half 2012. A happier time.

You may be asking yourself... "Megan, what happened to you?" For those of you who are new to my blog, unfortunately a week or so ago I was "officially" diagnosed by my doctor with IT Band Syndrome (even though I self-diagnosed myself at least 2 weeks ago). Since that time I've become slightly obsessive in learning everything I can about this injury and reading blogs, medical websites, and forums to see what the best treatment techniques are. I need to get healthy and back to running ASAP! You understand, right?!

I hate you IT Band. We are not friends.

Since this is a common injury, I know many people probably are wondering what they can do for it. I already described the causes and symptoms of IT Band Syndrome in a previous post, so I'm assuming this information is mainly for those of you who already know you have it.  I've decided to compile some of the information I know about this condition and tell everyone exactly what I've been doing for treatment.

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 Treatment strategies

Disclosure: these are things I have found that helped me, but everyone is different. Also, I am not a doctor (the schooling takes too long) and these recommendations are only from personal experience. I recommend that you visit your doctor for additional information about your own injury.

Anyone with this injury will tell you that the first step in recovery is stretching, and lots of it! I found a lot of good stretches around on the internet, and this video below summarizes pretty much all of the major ones I use. I also do the pigeon pose (yoga pose), but be careful with that one at the beginning. Also, this stretch is great but its another one that I don't recommend doing while your injury is still really acute.

These stretches I do daily at least 2x each. You can do them while watching TV, but its crucial that you stretch for this condition. Its the only real way to recover and prevent it from coming back again. 

The other major thing I do is foam rolling. I use The Grid foam roller, but you can pick up a cheaper one at most stores like Target. Usually, I foam roll for 5 minutes then take a break and do 5 minutes more. I do that 2-3x a day. Usually while I'm watching an inspirational show or something.. like Millionaire Matchmaker (hm, not inspirational you say? I beg to differ). Honestly though, with foam rolling the more often you do this, the better. It WILL hurt like hell at the beginning but after a week or so the pain won't be as bad.
***This might be one of if not THE most important thing you can do for this injury.***

Ice baths and ice packs are also recommended since this is an inflammatory condition. The main goal here is to reduce the inflammation and ice is the way to do that. You can put ice packs on the side of your knee where the pain is a few times a day for no more than 15 minutes at a time. I usually take 15 minute ice baths instead since it covers the whole length of the IT Band. Once you are in there for a minute or so, your legs get numb and you'll barely notice the cold. It's not as bad as it sounds. Plus, feel like it's helped me so it might be worth a try.

No idea who this is but ice baths aren't this horrifying!

Also, there's no need to put ice up to your neck. Ever.

It is also possible that muscle weakness in the core and lower extremities played a role in your IT Band syndrome. The condition will only return if you don't focus on strengthening the weak muscles. Specifically, the most important areas to strengthen are your glutes and thigh and leg muscles. I have been following a really great routine that was posted by a runner. It provides 6 different exercises to use in order to properly rehab the IT Band (below). Do these exercises only when your acute pain has diminished or you may continue to irritate the band. I do these every other day 2x each.

Also, even though its a small muscle the gluteus medius is crucial to running, but is weak in most runners. It's job is to abduct the hip and stabilizes the pelvis. When it is weak, it can cause tension in the IT Band which can lead to inflammation (see the photo below).  I have been working on strengthening this muscle and have been using these awesome exercises. I typically do these every other day (to allow the muscles to repair themselves) along with the other strengthening exercises.

Imagine your IT Band stretching over your hip and knee joints in photo B. Not good.

Core strengthening is also recommended during rehab, since a weak core can have negative effects throughout your body and lead to injury. Since I definitely have a weak core (watch me do a plank... I'm pathetic), I have been doing yoga for this and also for general stretching. In a previous post I provided two yoga for runners videos that I do every few days as possible.

Once the acute phase is over and your pain diminishes, you may want to try some light crosstraining (e.g. elliptical, bike, swimming). I highly recommend swimming since it put the least amount of stress on your IT Band. But if you do the others, take it easy with minimal resistance. And ease back into these exercises slowly. DO NOT do any of these if they cause you any pain, you will only make your condition worse!

Other suggestions to help heal your IT Band include: taking anti-inflammatories (daily from a doc or Aleve), checking your shoes to see if they could be causing misalignment of your lower body, and eating right. A friend suggested to eat more protein during the healing phase so I am trying that (not sure if it works, but hey I'll try anything). I am also making sure to take my multivitamin, my random assortment of vitamins, and also Vitamin C. Vitamin C has been said to aid in healing, so why not give it a try.

Don't we all just love our vitamins?!

If you really NEED to run or are just returning to running after this injury, you can check out the IT Band strap. It helps distribute pressure to minimize friction of the IT Band over bone. This should not be used as a permanent solution by any means but is an option for some situations.

I really hope this information helps some of you. I will keep you posted on my recovery and how all these strategies are working for me. Heal well everyone!

Summary of treatment strategies:

stretching, foam rolling, ice baths/ice packs, lower/core body strengthening, yoga, light crosstraining (especially swimming), taking anti-inflammatories, IT Band strap, eating right, checking your shoes.. and just hoping your body cooperates!

Any other suggestions for IT Band Syndrome recovery?

What injuries are you dealing with at the moment?

What types of vitamins do you take?

The Runner's Rule Book

Today's Workout: stretching, 25 minute elliptical, 12 minute bike

The foam roller was my best friend today. We have a really nice relationship with one another, even though it put me through hell at the beginning. Just like any normal relationship, right? Not.

 "The Grid" foam roller. That's not me on it, obviously. I look far less graceful that this girl.

I decided to take advantage of this beautiful Sunday by spending lots of time taking care of my IT Band Syndrome by stretching, strengthening, rolling, and working out. I even took a nice 15 minute ice bath tonight to decrease any inflammation after I spent some time at the gym (Thanks Claire@ Let's Go on a Living Spree for the suggestion!). I feel like the bath ices the entire IT Band, which a typical ice pack can't do. Plus you stay cold for a while.... I'm still defrosting from my ice bath.

So since I am still not running I decided to share some running wisdom from The Runner's Rule Book by Mark Remy. Its a great little book that has little tid-bits of information for runners. Plus its super funny and always gives me a good laugh. I would definitely recommend reading it and adding it to your running book collection, especially since its pretty cheap on Amazon (~$12).

Here's some funny and true excerpts from the book:

Rule 1.2. Expand your definition of fun

As a runner, your definition of fun--which previously might have included such activities as visiting water parks, watching screwball comedies on DVD, and scrapbooking--must be... well, let's call it broadened. For runners, fun might include:

-Waking up at 5:30am to run 10 miles

-Running in blistering heat

-Running in the rain

-Running in 400 meter circles

-Feeling as if your lungs are about to explode

-Paying a race director good money for the privilege of turning your own toes black and blue

-Any combination of the above

Rule 1.11 Signing up for a race is instant motivation

A race--weeks or months away--is the proverbial carrot, dangled out there for you to pursue. Even if you don't plan to really race your race (in the "run till you feel like puking" sense), registering for an event that is 6 or 10 or 26 weeks down the road remains the single most foolproof way to motivate yourself to get out there and run day after day.

Rule 1.26 Running plans must go on the fridge

...Nothing can replace the printed-out training plan stuck to the refrigerator... So put the plan on the fridge. Remove a child's artwork to make room, if need be. We won't judge.

Rule 2.32 Do whatever it takes to finish ahead of a costumed runner

Because being outkicked by Elmo is too much to bear.

Rule 3.5 Save the race shirt for post race

Wearing the official race shirt during the race is like wearing a U2 t shirt to a U2 concert. Not cool. Don't do it.

The Runner's Rule of Thumb (excerpts)

1. If you see a porta potty with no line, use it. Even if you don't need to.

3. If you have to ask yourself, Are these shorts too short? The answer is yes.

17. Whenever possible, begin and out-and-back run into the wind.

31. A long-sleeve shirt and shorts will always look better than a short-sleeved shirt with tights.
37. No one sleeps well the night before the race; the night before the night before your race is the important one.
51. If you even care a little bit about being called a jogger versus a runner... you're a runner.

Those are just a few examples of what's in the book. I definitely recommend getting this one, its a fun and light read! Plus, if you are a new runner there's some good running tips in there. Anyway, spring break is over for me and its back to the grind tomorrow!

Also, good luck to all the Boston Marathon runners this marathon weekend! Supposed to be a hot one, but just keep an eye out for this...

Have you read any good running books lately?

Got any good tips for fellow runners?

What were your workouts this weekend? 
Anyone running or watching Boston?!

Namaste: Yoga for Runners

Today's Workout: yoga video, stretching, lower body strengthening

I will be the first to admit that I am as flexible as a pencil. My body is just tight all-around, which probably helped lead to my recent injury. Ugh, that sucks to admit. So since I can't run for a while (2 weeks, 6 days and counting..) I've made it my personal mission to become more flexible so something like this injury doesn't happen again.

Step one of my mission: try to do yoga at least 4 times a week.

I've never really done yoga before even though pretty much everyone I know does it and tries to talk me into going to classes with them. My problem is that I just really like sweating and moving alot when I exercise. Yoga requires me to pull myself back and go super slow in the workout. For me, this is incredibly difficult which is probably why I was never thrilled with yoga. But I think its time I gave it a chance, for my body's sake. I want to be like a rubber band, not a pencil. Yes, another school-supplies reference.

I'm trying to be like the girl in the pink rather than the girl in the blue. Although I could go for a drink right about now...

I did some online searches for yoga videos for runners. I hope that by following a video geared towards runners, it will help open up my hips, stretch all the important leg muscles, and improve my balance which also is pretty pathetic. During googling, I found two pretty good videos that I tried today. While I wasn't amazing at them by any means (and I realized just how inflexible I really am), I seriously felt the stretches and think it will help me out for the future. Also I realized while doing all the warrior poses and lunges that my quads aren't as strong as I thought they were. Whats up with that? Anyone else notice that, too? I guess running doesn't necessarily make the quads stronger, it just makes them look like they are.

These are the two videos I tried out:

 Yoga for runners: 25 min

Yoga for Runners: Injury Prevention

I'll definitely try to keep up with these two videos and see if I can get any better at them. Honestly I think I can only get better at these anyway since I pretty much stink at the moment. Imagine the worst person you've ever seen doing yoga and I bet I'm at least twice as bad as them. Yup. But other than yoga, I've been foam rolling the heck of of my IT Band and doing any stretch that I can find for it. I'm also working on strengthening my glutes, quads, and abductor muscles. I've read that all of this helps with recovery for this injury for anyone else interested. Claire@ Let's Go on A Living Spree also suggested ice baths, which I may try out tonight. Thanks Claire!

Since I am still on spring break this week, I also spent a good chunk of today catching up on the TV shows that I missed the past few days. I know I should have done something more productive like read or make something, but I like TV. I'll admit it. The two main shows I watched today were the newest Glee episode (Fox) and Hart of Dixie (CW11).

Glee seems like its dragging a little bit to me but I'm hoping the season will improve. Also, they keep picking on certain characters. I mean how much more crappy things can happen to Quinn? Leave the girl alone already! Hart of Dixie is also a cool show that is slowly creeping to the top of my favorites list. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. Seriously! NYC doctor goes to the South, yeah its one of those shows. Plus Rachel Bilson is the main actress and shes pretty cool.

Such a cute show.

Do you use any yoga videos for runners? If you do, post it below!

What TV shows are currently on your rotation?

Why IT Band? Why?!!

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I never claimed to be a doctor. If you want one, my sister will be one in a few years. But I never will. In that case, the information I am presenting comes from my own experiences and from reading books and the internet. If you have a similar problem, its recommended that you do not self-diagnose like me but go see an actual doctor for a real diagnosis and treatments.

Ask anyone who knows me really well, or actually anyone who knows me even just a little bit, and they will tell you that I am incredibly accident and injury-prone. Its just in my family genes. Thanks mom and dad. I've had more injuries than I can count and since I have always been an athlete, the number and severity of injuries was probably doubled because of that. Since I started running last year, I've had problems with shin splints and blisters. So I got compression socks for shin splints and sport shield for blisters. Problems solved.

Now a new issue has arisen. And while I'm not surprised I have another ailment, it is disappointing when all you want to do is run pain-free. During the end of my 5 miler yesterday, I started to get a little throbbing pain on the outside (lateral part) of my knee. It stuck around after I stopped running and was still there in the morning. So in my crazy mode I googled everything under the sun until I realized, "Hey I spent money and bought a book for times like these". I opened up the Running Doc's Guide to Healthy Running (by Lewis Maharam) and turned to knee injuries. Pretty soon, I self-diagnosed (not recommended!!) myself with Iliotibial (IT) Band Syndrome.

So what the heck is the IT Band? Well, it looks something like this....

 

Look at those sexy muscles. The IT Band is that big ugly white band running from your iliac crest (hip) to your tibia.

 A few of the major symptoms of this common running injury include: pain on the lateral side of the knee a mile or two into a run (check!), but no pain on the first step (check!), pain going up and down steps (check!), and tender points over lateral femoral condyle (check!). The pain is caused by the IT Band rubbing on bone over and over during running. This causes inflammation and... you guessed it: pain. 

There are so many reasons someone can have IT Band Syndrome including types of arches, body structure, over-pronation, uneven leg lengths, and weak muscles. Also, it could just be that the IT band is tight (I'm hoping this is it for me). That's sort of where the doctor (the actual expert) comes in because they can actually pinpoint the cause of the problem. Gotta love doctors and them being so smart!

You might be asking: I might have IT Band Syndrome... what now?

Well, as you can see by the amount of symptoms I have, I am pretty sure I have this condition. Luckily I just started feeling this pain/irritation recently so recovery should be quick. Running Doc and the internet suggest foam rolling the IT band or using the Stick (love this thing), doing stretches, taking anti-inflammatories, cold therapy (aka ice packs), and massages. When the pain is gone, then strengthening begins to prevent this injury from coming back.

 The Stick. Looks so simple, but its a miracle worker. Really wish I invented this.

Well since I'm crazy I'll probably be trying each and every of these things. Often. I'm sure my boyfriend Karl will appreciate me rolling around on the floor on my foam roller all night during American Idol. So attractive. As if watching AI wasn't torture enough for him.

Unfortunately this means I'm going to have to stop running for a few days, probably until Monday to be safe :( To normal people, that doesn't seem like such a big deal.. but for anyone who loves running as much as I do, you know how much that sucks! Its like someone telling you you can't breathe anymore. Except you don't die when you don't run. At least not right away. But I have been trained to understand that health comes first, so I shouldn't cheat and run anyway (as a student in a healthcare field I should probably learn to take the advice I would give to patients and not be such a hypocrite. Blah.). Cross-training it is.

What kinds of running injuries have you had?