Relieve Hip And Knee Pain
A common injury for athletes and runners is IT Band syndrome. The IT or Iliotibial band connects the hip bone to the side of the knee. It is a long, thin band on the side of the hip. Because of various reasons, this band tightens and rubs against the hip and knee causing significant pain.
Physical Therapy is an excellent way to treat IT Band syndrome because it naturally cures the cause of IT Band syndrome. The causes of IT Band syndrome are usually a combination of muscle weakness and tightness. This weakness and tightness could have arisen from a previous injury, chronic muscle tightness, or a sudden increase in activity. It causes the hip and/or knee to overcompensate for muscle weakness in the body leading to the tightening of the IT Band.
Stretch And Strengthen Surrounding Muscles
The way to heal the IT Band and as a result, relieve pain, is too strengthen and stretch the surrounding hip muscles. This may include the buttocks, the hip, leg muscles, muscles that surround the knee, and the abdomen. Additionally, stretching these muscles as well as additional muscles likes one’s calves leads to the recovery of the IT Band.
Stretching one’s muscles may relieve IT Band pain but it will just come back if these muscles remain in a weak state. To truly relieve one’ve’f of IT Band syndrome, one must have strong muscles to support healthy hip movement.
Some exercises include:
- The side leg raise - lying on your side, lift your top lip about 1 foot off the ground while simultaneously flexing your hip muscles. You should feel your hip muscles working.
- Side Shuffle - Stand with your legs about hip width apart and place an exercise band around your ankles. Then take 10 steps to the left and 10 steps to the right.
- Wall-Sits and Standing Squats - Sit on the wall in chair like position and hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Repeat for 2-3 times. For standing squats, bend down to a squat position and raise up like you were doing a squat with weights. Perform without weights.
Make sure not to try any of these exercises without the guidance of a physical therapist. Our physical therapists at Cross Bay Physical Therapy will create an individualized plan for your based on your lifestyle. We will follow and watch you every step of the way to not only make sure that you are getting healthier but also make sure you don’t injure yourself during an exercise.
Call (718) 835-0084 and schedule your initial visit.