Tight Illiotibial Band? Dig Into Your Tight IT Band with Self-Massage
10 Jun
Illiotibial Band – Do You Have a Tight IT Band?
Lots of hours of squatting, tugging, pulling and pushing heavy loads in the garden can tighten the iliotibial band, a long, strong strand of connective tissue that goes down the outside of your leg. The IT band stabilizes you from side to side and helps control movement as you locomote. When it’s tight it can cause butt and leg pain, and even knee pain. (I had knee pain.)
What do you do about IT Band tension?
Along with an herbal (possibly Arnica) supplement or even an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory (if that’s your bent), strong abs and core posture muscles (check my Posturally! blog for tips on this), certain stretches, gluteus medius strengthening and self-massage can be helpful. You have to develop strong ab and posture muscles over time. Yoga, Pilates and similar systems are great for this as well as for stretching and strengthening around the hips and knees, the domain of the IT band. I’ll cover specific stretches and gluteus medius strengthening in future posts. For now, here’s a recipe for a self-massage you can do. Beware: Giving yourself an iliotibial band massage is hard work, so be prepared for this.
IT Band Self-Massage Instructions
Sit comfortably, but preferably on a hard surface.
Take the hand on the side of the leg you are starting with and find the area near where the IT band attaches. It is just above the knee, on the side of the thigh. Try to feel with your fingers the taut bands, and differentiate between that and the muscles that border it on the front of the leg (quads) and back of the legs (hamstrings). Then, with your fingers, make circles across the width of the IT band. Move up the leg a little and repeat. Keep doing this until your fingers have made their way to the top of your thigh. You can repeat the whole thing going back down to the knee, too.
Some people like to dig, so I’m going to give you another technique. Please do warm up with the circles first though. For this move, start a little higher up the side of the thigh than you did with the circles. You don’t want to put undue pressure on the knee – it’s a vulnerable structure.
Use both hands for this. So cross the opposite arm over the leg and position the hand next to the hand you have been using. For a lighter effect, use your fingertips. If you really want to dig in and release tension, make a loose fist and use your knucles. You’ll have to reach over a little more for this version. 
Now, instead of circles, it’s as though you are “ironing” across the width of the IT band – from the back of the side of the thigh toward the front. Begin lower down and keep repeating up until you get to the top. Adjust your pressure according to what you can comfortably handle. Many of my clients like what they invariably call “the good hurt”. The good hurt is a pressure level you would definitely call pain, but it also feels good. It’s a place of therapy for your soft tissue.
When you get to the top, switch to your finger tips again, and try to locate a big bony knob on the side of your hip. This knob is called the greater trochanter. The muscles near there are usually sore or strained, because the area around the greater trochanter has a lot to do with hip movement. Switch to your fingertips and use a more gentle pressure to work this area. Circles around the greater trochanter often help relieve strain there.
The next time I blog about this, I’ll give you an exercise or two for the gluteus medius and some other hip muscles. In the meanwhile you might want to finish up your self-massage with a nice quad stretch.
