I am so glad I saw this thread! I just bought a foam roller 2 weeks ago and have used it about 10 times. The first few times were pretty painful (on my IT band) and I winced my way through it! It is getting a little better everytime I use it. I roll from every angle I can think of from the waist down and a little bit on my upper back, too. I bought the 36" length, 6" diameter dark grey one from Sports Authority.
I bought this specifically for my IT band and the area around my knees because I have horrible knee/hip pain while hiking down long declines. This raised it's ugly head on the 13.5 mile descent down Pike's Peak in September
. Since then, if I'm hiking downhill for more than a mile, it will flare up. Really hurts. Someone suggested that my IT band is the cause (I guess this is common in downhill running, too?), and that I need to get the fascia freed up from the muscle.
If anyone can give me some advice on this I'd be very grateful! I have been doing squats, lunges, and high step work for over 20 years but I guess this area on me is weak. Any thoughts?????
Nanbo:
it is not that this area is weak, rather it is that the IT band has gotten so tight that it is pulling on all the structures it attaches to and is causing you pain, soreness and discomforting tightness.
I have exactly the same shit going on and have not been able to run since January because of it. The years of not knowing I was supposed to be stretching the IT band have lead to a state of unrelenting tension on it, and it now pulls on the TFL (tensor fascia lata) which connects directly to the iliac crest of my hip bones, both sides, and causes pain after every run and very fast power walks.
I am in treatment for this: physiotherapy which specializes in myofascial release, in coordination with exercises aimed at strengthening the glute muscles and increasing rotation of the hip area. I use the foam roller every day now for as long as I can stand and it is a must. It will be a daily requirement for me for the rest of my life and if it allows me to stay active, it's a small price to pay.
Part of the problem, I suspect, is that my hips roll too much (are too unstable) when I run and this has lead the IT band to get over tense and inflamed. Maybe this is what you meant by weak area? In this, you are right. What I need to work on, and probably you do too, is strengthening the glutes, especially the gluteus medius, with clamshell exercise, side lying leg lifts with the foot pointing downwards and crab walking or what Cathe calls firewalkers, walking side to side for as long as you can stand the burn with the band of greatest tension you can tolerate. In addition, we both need to strengthen the core which wraps around the hips with specifically targeted core work (lower abs and obliques) and back extensions. Also, we need to specifically stabilize the hips with bridge work and stability ball hamstring roll ins, exercises like these (should also find these on runnersworld.com).
If you do research on runnersworld.com you should find exercises that target prevention of IT band problems. You will also need specific stretches for the ITB which you can find at runnersworld.com and generally on youtube.
It's a three-pronged approach:
1) stretches to ease ITB after all exercise sessions
2) foam roller to bring flexibility and mobility back into the fibres that make up the ITB and TFL (will also break up adhesions if ITB is stuck to quad muscles)
3) strengthening exercises to stabilize hips, strengthen glutes and core area around hips
Good luck!
Clare
