IT Band

[Darren Tintle]

Ok, as you can see below, I posted about pain on the outside of my knee recently. With much help from everyone here, I've diagnosed myself with IT Band Syndrome.

I ended up running the Half Marathon in August, and it killed, especially after the run.  Since then I basically stoppend running for about five weeks.  This morning, I tried running even a couple miles, and the pain has NOT gone away.  Like I said, I've tried resting it for over a month now, which obviously hasn't worked.  I also worked on it for a couple weeks with the roller, which obviously hasn't done much.

I'm at the end of my rope!  I really want to get back to running, but with the pain, I don't think I will be able to.  I need to treat this right.

Has anyone here dealt with IT Band Syndrome?  What should I do?  As of right now, I am seriously considering going to a physical therapist unless someone on here can give me some ideas that for sure will work.

BTW, I still consider myself overweight.  I am 5' 10" and weighed 205 when I ran the half a couple months ago.  Right now I weigh about 210, and am trying to put off about 10-15 pounds AT LEAST while not running.

Any help is appreciated!

[James Winzenz]

From my limited experience, if the pain in your knee has not gone away in the least after more than a month of no running, I would tend to doubt it is IT band syndrome, which is more or less an overuse/overtraining injury combined with a few other factors.  I would recommend going to a sports orthopedic surgeon (not necessarily for surgery as much as for their expertise) and let them figure out what is wrong.  If you want to see if your IT band is truly tight, do a google search for "IT Band stretches", and you will be able to see how tight your IT band is.  You may have an issue with the meniscus in your knee joint, you may have torn cartilage, or it may be something else entirely.  Bottom line - if the pain hasn't gone away after more than a month, it is time to get in to see a doc.  If your insurance allows, go straight to the sports ortho - otherwise see if you can get a referral.  I would not bother with a PT at this point - wait to find out exactly what the issue is.  Once the doc diagnoses the issue, if it is something that can be taken care of with therapy, he/she can recommend/refer you to a PT.  That is just my take on it.