Self-diagnosed ITBS... Should I ride??

mask of sanity

Over the last two weeks I've developed symptoms in my knee to suggest I've got ITBS and I plan to see a physiotherapist in the not to distant future to confirm it and get appropriate treatment etc.. But until then should I avoid going out on the bike until the pain goes or just stick to low intensity flat rides? I've got a few cycling events coming up so want to try and keep my fitness, but obviously not at the cost of my knee. :?

I think the main cause of it was down to cleat position as the leg in question had the toe pointing inwards, and I've now sorted that out. I also lowered the saddle slightly as it seems my leg was a bit close to locking out.

Thanks in advance,

MoS

robrauy

Having had a variety of reasons to see Physiotherapists over the years, I've come to understand that by the time you feel pain the damage has been done!

Based on this I would take a proper rest and take a small hit on your fitness, then start again slowly, monitoring your knee's reaction 24 hours or so after each ride. If you've fixed the problem as you think then you should be fine, but better IMHO to take some time out now, rather than have it drag on and become a chronic injury

SteveR_100Milers

I believe I had the same problem with my left leg after raising my saddle 3 years ago by an inch in one go. The pain came and went intermittently ever since, even after a amos a year away from any form of competitive racing and training, and riding about 2 hours a month for most of last year. I still get the twinges occasionally - a pain in the thigh at te rear/side near the hip, and sensitivity where the tendon attaches to the knee/shin. Now that I have all of my bikes with the same saddle height and setback it rarely surfaces, unles I ride my MTB when it flares up the next day.

IanPV

Don't ride with ITBS pain.

Consider a foam roller - worked wonders on my ITBS

mask of sanity

Cheers for the responses guys.

IanPV, I'm guessing then that you were doing stretches then? If so how often would you do them? I'm happy to do them as often as necessary but am worried about over doing it and causing more damage.

Cheers.

IanPV

It is notoriously hard to stretch the ITB, but I was doing gentle stretches morning and night when I had an acute problem, and more sporadically since. A bunch of serious friction massages, ice and rest sorted it out - I had about 2 weeks complete rest and then a couple of weeks of gentle riding after that.

I still sometimes feel it, but the foam roller seems to have sorted it out. 10 mins on the roller (look up youtube for the ITB exercises) isn't quite as good as a real massage but it isn't far off and it is a lot cheaper.

Word of warning - the roller is agonisingly painful for the first week or so :twisted:

yakk

Hi there, just to say that some people have responded really well to having acupuncture directly on the ITB (I've done it as a physio treatment). If you did go and see a physio, you could ask if they offer that if you're interested in looking into it.
The rolls can be very effective.
Wish you a speedy recovery.
Yak

yakk

Sorry, to answer the original question, spin a gear, stay seated and monitor your response. What you will be looking to avoid is giving yourself a bad consequence after ie sore/painful for hours after or the next day. If you get occasional twinges during but no problems after, you are not doing yourself any harm at all.
Best of luck.
Yak

mask of sanity

Thanks again!

I've got a foam roller on the way. How quickly will something like that start to help? On some product reviews people have said it's helped in a matter of days, is this realistic?

Yakk, was acupuncture beneficial to you? I'm a bit sceptical about it to be honest but if you benefited it then I guess I would consider it.

dennisn

If you've diagnosed yourself then you should be able to prescribe treatment and activity levels.