What are the Best Iliotibial Band Stretches?

We encourage our patients and readers here at Joint Pain Clinic to use preventative measures; not just seeking cures and remedies once a medical issue has gotten out of hand as it were. So, with this ethos in mind we do recommend regular exercise.

So what are the BEST stretches if you suffer from Joint Pain specifically? That is rather easy: Iliotbial Band Stretches are highly recommend.

The Iliotibial Band (ITB) is a large tough fibre of bodily tissue that is located on the outside of your leg. Running from your knee to pelvis this is a very important area if you are advancing in years and suffer from regular pains. Actually, your bottom and hips have muscles attached to the ITB and these all together work to give your knees stability, in theory that is if in a person with Joint Pain and in their youth.

So Why should we Stretch the ITB way?

The best way ITB works is making sure the tightness you feel is reduced or removed completely.

As you can see from our fellow Physiotherapists in the USA

(Famous American Respected Physical Therapists Bob Schrupp and Brad Heineck) watching the video below they will describe in detail the 3 top ways to stretch your IT Band- your Iliotibial Band.

You can find out more about Bob and Brad here.

FOAM ROLLER AS SEEN IN VIDEO AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

So as you can see this is a very important area of the body to take care of especially as we get older. The gist of the problem can be seen in this medical diagram. Its easy to see even for laymen as yourselves the complex nature of the muscles in this part of the body. It is a lynch-pin for most of the weight-bearing joints in the body.

So when things go awry this can lead to patell “maltracking”, where the kneecap isn’t able to slide as it should when you move your knee. This can compound several issues. In younger people it can plague knee pain in long-distance runners.

The overall tightness with when untreated can irritate the knee bursa and hip area. There are sacks of lubrication produced by your body in sacs that are meant to provide suspension of sorts like a car, cushioning between the Iliotbial band and the bones underneath. When this is out of sync it can cause inflammation and joint pain.

A painful Iliotbial Band causes the following:

• PROBLEMS WITH BURSITIS (TROCHANTERIC)

This means you will feel pain on the outside of your hip (look at the diagram above). Also find out why Bursitis does flare up sometimes.

• ILIOTIBIAL BAND SYNDROME

This is common in younger long-distance runners and causes pain on the outside of the knee and thigh.