Has anyone else ever been diagnosed with ITBS, if so how long did it take for you to recover and how did your knee perform when you got back on the trail. Was just diagnosed today, and was just curious how the recovery went, if you did any therapy, etc. I know it doesn’t cause any permanent damage, but man does it hurt when it flares up! Most of what I have read about it pertains to runners, want to know about hikers’ experiences with it.
Almost There
I got this last year. My physician prescribed an anti-inflammatory but I didn’t take it. No therapy, it went away in 3 weeks. That was the weirdest thing. I got it the same time I got tendonitis in my insteps, my physician says it’s from descending mountains. BTW I use trekking poles. It never came back. Be patient. :girl
Marsha
What is ITBS? It is excessive friction between your Iliotibial Band (around your knee) and your knee (or hip) bone. This causes a sharp pain at either the side of your knee or the side of your hip. Usually caused by increasing your hiking, running or biking too fast and/or with bad form.
You can go to this website to find stretches that can help prevent it. http://www.itbs.info/html/body_stretches.html
Bilko
I had this problem when I hiked in '03. I took a week off right around hot springs to give my body a chance to recover from the pain I was in. I refused to go see a doctor b/c i didn’t want to be told not to hike. I found the stretches online which helped TONS! I also decided that I depended on my upper body (through hiking poles) when ascending mountains - thus reducing the amount of work my legs had to do going UP. Thus they weren’t as strong as they needed to be coming down. I actually stopped using my poles as much - carrying them horizontally on the ups and using them for steep downs. I felt better by mid-virginia…though there were times I was probably taking far too much Ibprofin to ease the pain when I was too stuborn to stop and stretch.
moonshadow
I developed ITBS during the winter of 03. It was caused by the street running I did to train for my 04 AT thru-hike. I strongly recommend getting physical therapy prescribed by your orthopedic doctor. My physical therapist determined that because I have pancake-flat feet, both my legs were out of alignment, causing cartilage damage as well as the IT band problems. The therapist casted my feet for orthotics. What a huge difference that made for my hike! I also do stretches to keep the IT band flexible. If you can get to the cause of the ITBS you may be able to prevent the problem from developing again and minimize or avoid the use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
The Walking Stomach Kent, CT
I have undergone some therapy this year to strength my knees and I also bought a Cho-Pat knee brace which helps this problem. Read Jan Liteshoe’s Journal from 2003 to get some idea of her problem and how the Cho-Pat helped save her thru-hike.
Swallowtail
Thanks all for the input, talking with the doctor it seems that my real problem might be flexibility. My Quads are huge and my hamstrings are tight, he explained the way the band works and it is most likely that if the upper part becomes stretched out then it should alleviate the knee problem, but we’ll see. Anyways, it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one with the problem!
Almost There