Daily Maestroism
DM #102
Friday, September 2nd, 2016
DM #102: Puhlease stop beating the crap out of your IT bands! If you think that you are coming anywhere near imparting 2000 lbs of force by rolling on that hard ass foam roller, you are sorely mistaken…and likely very sore and still in pain.
The ITB is a THICKENING of the fascia on the outside of your thigh, spanning the distance from your pelvis to your knee. Notice I said thickening, and not it’s own entity free to move about and do what it pleases. It is part of the tissue the envelops the entire thigh. Many texts will also argue that it actually has attachments along the entirety of the femur, making it impossible to move forward and backwards over the lateral epicondyle of the femur and cause a ‘friction’ syndrome. But i’m not going to open up that can of worms here. All I’m trying to say is that the ITB is made up of INCREDIBLY dense, strong tissue with only a small muscular component at it’s proximal end (the tensor fascia lata and whatever fibers blend into the glutes). Foam rolling one’s ITB has unfortunately become the go to treatment for any sort of leg pain or dysfunction. Knee pain? Roll out your ITB. Hip pain? Must be a tight ITB. Your big toe hurts? It’s definitely an ITB problem. Some things are supposed to be tight, people!
Now, does rolling out the ITB help some people? Sure. If they don’t die. But just HOW it’s working is likely not through the mechanical explanation that practitioners are incorrectly providing. Perhaps we’re improving the gliding of the fascial layers by working at the interfaces; perhaps we’re providing a neurosenosry input that is helping with pain management and movement patterns; and let’s not discount patient perception and the effect that has out outcomes (no pain, no gain, right?). The long and the short of it is (pun intended) we’re not stretching or lengthening that thing at all. When it comes to ITB pain, it’s very much a case of “where you think it is, it aint.” And yes, there are plenty of studies out there that support this. Don’t believe me? Go look it up. I’m a firm believer in that whole “give a man a fish” thing.
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