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2013-01-19 6:11 PM

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Subject: foam roller - freq and time
I've got ITB and foot issues and have been rolling it out with the foam roller.  How long should I roll per session and how many sessions per day.  IT HURTS SO BAD!!!  How long will it take to get well and then if it gets well, how about rolling maintenance.  Thanks!


2013-01-20 10:47 AM
in reply to: #4586318

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Subject: RE: foam roller - freq and time

I had first ITBS issue after Half Marathon in Oct, and then it got WORSE in full Marathon Nov last year.  I have not run sense.  I have see Physical therapy, and researched at length.  Need about 8-10 weeks not running, stretching and rolling.  Many experts say rolling does no good, its like trying to roll a tire.  The IT band is soooo stiff that rolling may do no good.

Ice, stretch and lots of rest.  Good luck

Marc

2013-01-21 8:50 AM
in reply to: #4586318

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Subject: RE: foam roller - freq and time

KWDreamun - 2013-01-19 6:11 PM I've got ITB and foot issues and have been rolling it out with the foam roller.  How long should I roll per session and how many sessions per day.  IT HURTS SO BAD!!!  How long will it take to get well and then if it gets well, how about rolling maintenance.  Thanks!

Sorry to hear about your ITB issues.  I'm an ITB sufferer as well and would love any advice people have on this topic.  I'd also like to know if increasing the amount of time spent on the roller will help and how to go about increasing the time while avoiding injury.

Thanks for the advice.

2013-01-22 5:55 AM
in reply to: #4587650

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Subject: RE: foam roller - freq and time

I have been battling IT band issues for awhile.  Mine started giving me pain after I pushed really hard in a half marathon last April.  Got a PR of a 1:33, but the next day the outside of my knee was brutally sore. No pain during the race, but I have had issues ever since that dreadful day.  Took a couple of months before I even knew what it was after going to the doctor.  Orthopedic doc offered a steriod injection; didnt do anything for me. Kept training and finished a HIM in September.  I figured I would use the off-seaon to start finally resting.  Started going to PT in October 3 times a week all the way through Christmas.  Lots of stretching and strengthening with them, ice and heat.  

I was foam rolling at home on my own just to try it out during the PT sessions. Very painful at first, but not so bad now.  The Physical Therapist said that it can help, although they don't use it at the clinic because nobody would come back! You are not really rolling the IT Band from what I understand since it is like a tire, you are just massaging the muscles around the ITB, which can help.  One of my friends is a Physical Therapist and he said that you can roll your ITB area to much and start irritating the nerve, so there can be a limit and more pain can be caused if you roll it constantly.  After one patient was improving for awhile with rolling, they started to develop more pain and after stopping for a week from the rolling the pain subsided.  After month 2 of PT I started back a little swimming and it felt good.  

By the end of the 3rd month I was ready to start trying to run again, which was about Christmas time. Ran on the treadmill at the clinic for 1 min, 2 min the next session, then 4 min next session up to about 8 mins before I was discharged.  Some tightness, but not to bad.  Ran a mile over Christmas with some pretty good tightness below the knee, but nothing to dramatic and a couple of days rest it subsided.  Started back biking and things seem to be pretty good.  Ran 1.5 miles outside week later, tightness, but not too bad.  Ran 2 miles outside, not too bad, but feeling a little frustrated because it wasn't feeling as good as my other knee after all of my work and rest!  I have to interject that this injury is the most frustrating event I have had to deal with!  Anyway, still rolling a little, ice after every event, stretching constantly.  

A week ago I tried to run 3 miles on the treadmill and couldn't get past 2.5 miles!  Felt like I was back at square one again.  Very bad day for me...morale constantly going up and down.  Resting from running for another month and going to see some more doctors to look at some other options (not surgery though!)  Anyway, I don't think there is any magic, just rest.  If I rested for 6 months, I am sure that I could run just fine, but I love triathlons and it has been hard.  Stretching and strengthening are probably going to help in the long haul with injury prevention, but I don't think that anything will be of more benefit than rest, rest, rest.  I have been able to swim and bike at moderate levels in the mean time, but the running is going to be a longer journey.  I am scheduled to compete in the Raleigh HIM in June, so hopefully I can get a little running in before then and gut it out, but after that I may have to take the year off and get right.  My wife rested for a month of doing nothing and hers was good to go...figures!  

2013-01-22 9:39 AM
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Subject: RE: foam roller - freq and time

As a foam roller lover, I'll toss in my two cents.

From what I understand from my therapist and my masseuse, the roller is designed more for the extensive web of fascia that covers our bodies.  Often, especially with athletes, the fascia is so tight and constricted that it prevents us from getting a good stretch in the actual muscle and connective tissue underneath, like the IT band and hamstring.

So the idea is to roll out the fascia over the IT/outer thigh area to almost "soften" the area.  Then we can follow with some traditional static stretches of that area which will now be much more effective (if anyone needs detail on some basic static IT stretches I'd be happy to provide a few).

As far as how long to roll, 5-10 minutes per side; but don't forget to not only ROLL but also HOLD at the points that feel particularly tight/painful for 1-2 minutes per spot.

As for frequency, daily really, if you have the time.  If not, at least after every run or bike workout.



Edited by noelle1230 2013-01-22 9:40 AM
2013-01-23 5:26 AM
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Subject: RE: foam roller - freq and time
noelle1230 - 2013-01-22 10:39 AM

As a foam roller lover, I'll toss in my two cents.

From what I understand from my therapist and my masseuse, the roller is designed more for the extensive web of fascia that covers our bodies.  Often, especially with athletes, the fascia is so tight and constricted that it prevents us from getting a good stretch in the actual muscle and connective tissue underneath, like the IT band and hamstring.

So the idea is to roll out the fascia over the IT/outer thigh area to almost "soften" the area.  Then we can follow with some traditional static stretches of that area which will now be much more effective (if anyone needs detail on some basic static IT stretches I'd be happy to provide a few).

As far as how long to roll, 5-10 minutes per side; but don't forget to not only ROLL but also HOLD at the points that feel particularly tight/painful for 1-2 minutes per spot.

As for frequency, daily really, if you have the time.  If not, at least after every run or bike workout.

Great post.  I didn't really say specifically in my last post, but I definitely believe in the foam rolling and always feel better after, regardless of the "pain" during.  It is a very nice massage and definitely helps if I hold on knots.

Went to my 3rd Physical Therapist yesterday and now a completely different attack on some stretching and focus areas.  He seemed focused on me and didn't seem so eager to get to the next patient in his factory.  He is also a dry needling specialist and had my first session of that.  Anything is intimidating when needles are being used, but this was pretty amazing and has already provided some relief in my thigh and knee area.  



2013-02-01 10:17 PM
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Subject: RE: foam roller - freq and time
noelle1230 - 2013-01-22 9:39 AM

As a foam roller lover, I'll toss in my two cents.

From what I understand from my therapist and my masseuse, the roller is designed more for the extensive web of fascia that covers our bodies.  Often, especially with athletes, the fascia is so tight and constricted that it prevents us from getting a good stretch in the actual muscle and connective tissue underneath, like the IT band and hamstring.

So the idea is to roll out the fascia over the IT/outer thigh area to almost "soften" the area.  Then we can follow with some traditional static stretches of that area which will now be much more effective (if anyone needs detail on some basic static IT stretches I'd be happy to provide a few).

As far as how long to roll, 5-10 minutes per side; but don't forget to not only ROLL but also HOLD at the points that feel particularly tight/painful for 1-2 minutes per spot.

As for frequency, daily really, if you have the time.  If not, at least after every run or bike workout.

 

Please provide some static stretch ideas for the IT band,

Thanks

2013-02-05 3:24 PM
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Subject: RE: foam roller - freq and time

I've been dealing with ITBS for a long long time - since 2009 i think!

As for how long to roll, when I was in PT they told me 2 mins at least. I sit in front of the TV at night and roll my calves and IT. What really helped the ITBS is rolling my butt with a tennis ball. If you hit the right spot with the tennis ball you will feel the sensation right down your IT band. I do that more than roll on my IT because my IT is at the point where it doesn't hurt to roll.

Like a previous poster, I got it suddenly the day after a hard run and have had to watch ever since. I feel like it never truly went away but I am able to keep it at bay.

As for static stretches. A couple I like:

Lay on the ground. Put one leg in the air and grab the foot with your hand or use a towel/strap. Cross that leg over your body.

Sit with your leg extended and grab your foot like you are stretching your hamstrings. Instead of your toes straight up point them inwards and keep holding on and stretching.

Stand straight. Cross your right ankle over your left ankle and put your weight on your left foot. Twist your body to the right. Twist and bend over to deepen stretch. This stretches the right IT. Do the opposite for the left.

2013-02-13 10:39 PM
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Subject: RE: foam roller - freq and time
get A 2 foot section of 6 inch pvc pipe, wrap it in athletic tape.  roll away! feel the pain!!!!!
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