knee pain experts possibly IT band?

[breezy8407]

I've been terribly lucky to not have had any injuries lately. 

Low and behold last week I noticed a little twinge when I was on the treadmill starting Tuesday. It wasn't bad and went away the longer I ran. I just thought it was because I was on the treadmill and not outside. Same thing Wednesday and Thursday. All on the treadmill, little pain. 

Saturday, I went out for a longer run and it got worse as I went. It got even worse if I stopped to walk and then start up again. It eventually went away as the day went on. 

Sunday - same thing as Saturday. 

The pain is located on the outside of my right knee near. It's tender when I push on it with my hand. IT band? I tried foam rolling yesterday, but my kids were all over me when I was trying and I never got back to it. 

I know, I know - go to the doctor. But will you humor me here

[enfuego23]

It sounds like IT band pain to me. Whenever my IT band gets really tight, I have pain on the outside of my left knee. I foam roll after every run because my IT bands get tight. I also get deep tissue massages that help loosen up my hips and IT bands.

[Deleted]

Definitely sounds like ITB. Go to the sports doc and scale back on the mileage. Ditto vtcupcake on the exercises.

[jene]

Sounds like ITBS, I would get to a sports medicine dr to confirm. I would scale back on mileage and become BFFs with your foam roller.

www.runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/stretching-and-strengthening-exercises-iliotibial-band-syndrome

Ditto @vtcupcake, if I skip my exercises, stretches within a week, it will come back to bite me in the ass.

[Wines Not Whines]

Yes, it sounds like IT band and maybe tight hips. I've been there.

[breezy8407]

Uggh it's making me feel old! I can't get away with skipping this stuff anymore. Plus, I have been slacking on strength training which I am usually so good at.

Just in time for my 5k on Thursday and the beginning of 1/2 training in two weeks :/

Thank you all for your help! I'm going to research doctors in the next couple days.

[Stingyshark]

I'm in the minority here - I've been to the Dr. twice for IT band and all he does is send me to physical therapy, which costs me a lot of money for things I could do at home.

I made a youtube video a while ago of stretches I do (did) for my IT band.. I can post if you want. Lots of stretching, and foam rolling and KT tape got me through a 1.5yrs of running w/o incident.

ETA: When I had a flare it usually took about a week of good stretching and rolling to work it out.. Obv if the problem continues, go to the Dr.. but personally, I'd try rolling, stretching.. OH, and there is a good yoga for runners that I used to do. 

[breezy8407]

Jul 22, 2013 8:39:54 GMT -5 Stingyshark said:

I'm in the minority here - I've been to the Dr. twice for IT band and all he does is send me to physical therapy, which costs me a lot of money for things I could do at home.

I made a youtube video a while ago of stretches I do (did) for my IT band.. I can post if you want. Lots of stretching, and foam rolling and KT tape got me through a 1.5yrs of running w/o incident.

Yes that would be great! or if you don't want to post it here you can PM me. 

[Stingyshark]

I'll post it here - excuse my idiocy.. and man, i miss my long hair.

[savan]

I was also going to say that you could probably wait on the doctor. My IT band tightened up for the first time this spring when my mileage reached all time highs. I could feel it get tighter and tighter during my long runs. I bought a foam roller and made sure I rolled it out regularly. That was all it needed.

[jene]

Jul 22, 2013 8:36:40 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

Uggh it's making me feel old! I can't get away with skipping this stuff anymore. Plus, I have been slacking on strength training which I am usually so good at.

Just in time for my 5k on Thursday and the beginning of 1/2 training in two weeks :/

Thank you all for your help! I'm going to research doctors in the next couple days.

My sports med doc in STL gave me a list of clinics that he recommends before we moved here last year, I can look for it at home if you want.

[gumi]

It doesn't sound like you have an injury yet - it sounds like you are developing an injury. I agree with others regarding a doctor, the best thing he can tell you is if it hurts, do not run. I can tell you that, too 

I would go into injury-prevention mode:  yoga, active release  therapy, massage, anti-inflammatories, compression, ice, epson salt and rest.

I like yoga more than just stretching on my own because you target every single area.  A tight IT band can be because of tight low back, making your hips tight, or because of a tight calf.  Basically, it connects everything so it can be ANYTHING.  The nice thing with yoga is you know a good yoga class will loosen it all up.

[breezy8407]

Jul 22, 2013 9:09:41 GMT -5 jene said:

Jul 22, 2013 8:36:40 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

Uggh it's making me feel old! I can't get away with skipping this stuff anymore. Plus, I have been slacking on strength training which I am usually so good at.

Just in time for my 5k on Thursday and the beginning of 1/2 training in two weeks :/

Thank you all for your help! I'm going to research doctors in the next couple days.

My sports med doc in STL gave me a list of clinics that he recommends before we moved here last year, I can look for it at home if you want.

yes that would be great! thanks

[fdcritt76]

I'm currently in my 3rd week of PT for an IT band injury in February. I never had a problem until I reached 9 miles. Since my half I haven't run more than 5 miles, and I miss it terribly! I personally love PT because my evaluation was very thorough, and I understand the tightness and muscular imbalances behind my tight IT band. It turns out that I have a wimpy right leg compared to the left! I also feel confident that I'm doing the proper stretches and exercises correctly. Everything I'd Googled was a guessing game. I did have to take some time off, but I honestly feel it was for the best. I have faith that injury free distance is in my future! Good luck whatever you decide!

[fdcritt76]

Jul 22, 2013 8:43:13 GMT -5 Stingyshark said:

I'll post it here - excuse my idiocy.. and man, i miss my long hair.


I'm doing those last two stretches at PT, and they've really helped me.  Thanks for sharing!

[Deleted]

Jul 22, 2013 9:59:26 GMT -5 fdcritt76 said:

I'm currently in my 3rd week of PT for an IT band injury in February. I never had a problem until I reached 9 miles. Since my half I haven't run more than 5 miles, and I miss it terribly! I personally love PT because my evaluation was very thorough, and I understand the tightness and muscular imbalances behind my tight IT band. It turns out that I have a wimpy right leg compared to the left! I also feel confident that I'm doing the proper stretches and exercises correctly. Everything I'd Googled was a guessing game. I did have to take some time off, but I honestly feel it was for the best. I have faith that injury free distance is in my future! Good luck whatever you decide!

Ditto this.   I was doing my squats, pistol squats, lunges, etc and still ended up with ITB issues.  Sometimes something else is wrong that you alone can't figure out.  If the sports doc had sent me to PT last Nov. instead of just telling me to back off running and XT, I may not be in the mess I am today. 

I have decided I'd rather spend the $$ to have someone more experienced give me exercises to do and make sure I'm doing them correctly than for me to waste time guessing and trying to figure it out myself.

Now that I've found a great ART guy, I'll just go to him for stuff in the future.  He assigns exercises based off his evaluation of your injury so PT isn't really needed.  If you can find someone good like that, I'd try that first.

[AAM2012]

Personally I wouldn't waste money on a doctor right now. Chances are they'll just give you an anti-inflammatory and tell you do to PT/stretches.

I would take some time off of running and stretch and roll as much as possible (i.e 2x day). All runners should stretch and roll on a (very) regular basis to prevent these type of issues but I know it's easier said than done.