Injury: ITB Impingement

Recently I caught up with one of my best friends from college following his summer long biochemistry research project at UC Berkeley. A runner, he told me that through running 5 miles a day during the project, he regained his 6 pack only to lose it recently due to a knee injury. The mention of a knee injury immediately piqued my interest.

"Does it hurt at the tiny bump of bone just below and outside of the knee?"

"Yeah, exactly."

"Does it only hurt when you run? It's fine when you walk or bike?"

"Right again."

What he was describing was in all likelihood ITB impingement, a monstrous beast that I had only recently killed after a 2 year long struggle.

The Iliotibial Band is a tendon that runs along the outside of your thigh, essentially connecting the hip with the knee. When it becomes tight, it becomes inflamed by rubbing over either or both of these joints and this inflammation is manifested as sharp pain.

I first felt this pain following Spring Break of my Sophomore year of college. I spent the week as any reasonable collegiate triathlete would- putting in epic volume. Following a winter of heavy running mileage, I thought I was safe putting in massive miles on the road and in the pool. I was quite wrong.

On Wednesday I completed a 50 mile bike / 5 mile run brick workout. 10 miles into Thursday's 14 mile long run, I felt a tightness in my right knee. I managed to limp my way home and elected to take a precautionary week off.

One 'pain-and-tightness-free' week later, I decided to capitalize on the pleasant Spring weather with a 4 mile run. 2 miles in, a sharp pain presented itself right at the bump of bone just outside of and below the knee. I stopped and stretched in various ways,  then continued. 100 yards later, the pain became debilitating and I was forced to limp the remaining two miles back to campus. So it began.

The pain would stay with me for a couple of days, making travel up and down stairs especially difficult, and then disappear entirely. But the bastard was only giving me a false sense of security, and it only took a second exploratory run to learn that it wasn't going away.

After 6 months I could run consistently again, and only after two years can I say that I'm no longer affected. By stretching obsessively, running only on soft trails, and doing ice (or heat/cold shock therapy) following each run, I was able to recover. I believe a foam roller would have greatly expedited this process. If you find yourself with ITB, seek a Sports-medicine trained health care professional immediately and please don't underestimate the condition. It can do a lot to wreck a season.

For more information on ITB impingement, please see this excellent article by Jordan D. Metzle, M.D., that he wrote for Triathlete Magazine.

This site, where I acquired the above photo, is a good resource as well and demonstrates two helpful stretches along with the foam roller.