IT Band Knee Injury

BrightonMTB

I'm 5 weeks in rehabilitating from Iliotibial Band Friction Syndrome - physio, stretching, full warm-up/Cool down, deep tissue massage and foam roller etc. I've also had a bike fit, cleats set-up, and body-geometry insoled fitted (I'm eager to get out riding again).

Having rested from the bike, for a month. I'm now starting to do short (30mins - 1hr) flat rides, keeping the pedal RPM up, and avoiding overloading.

However, I still have discomfort / pain after an hour or so.

Has anyone else experienced this injury? When can I hope to be pain free again?

Dr_Death

5 weeks is still fairly early days... I would continue to take things fairly easy.

I know you say you have had a bike set up but still the most common causes of this are poor cycling position, and cycling position is a very personal thing. Excessive stretching of the outside of the knee is the usual cause and can come from a number of sources.

- Badly adjusted cleat position - toeing your feet in too much.
- Feet too close together on the bike i.e. narrow BB (can also be caused by having a wide pelvis)
- Low saddle height or conversely too high
- Pushing too big a gear


You could try adjusting your cleats to toe out a little more, positioning the cleats further in to push your feet further from the cranks or adjusting the seat position a little. (There's not really a lot you can do a bout the width of your pelvis without resorting to drastic surgery!)

Make small adjustments, one thing at a time so you can figure out what works and what doesn't.

BrightonMTB

Point taken ... i'll try not to rush things but it is very frustrating! :x