Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 56, March 2014 | Page 30

Body Science Battle of the Band – BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER T he ITB is a thick band of fibrous tissue that runs from the outside of the hip down to the knee, attaching itself into the knee-cap, shinbone and biceps femoris tendon (the back thigh muscle). ITB pain is often felt by runners on the outside of the knee during training, but the injury can be a little deceptive, because the pain disappears once you stop running. According to Johannesburg-based physio Toni Hesp, a veteran of many Comrades and Ironman events, “as the knee bends and straightens while running, the band is believed to make contact with the bony protuberance on the outside of the thigh bone. This repeated movement of the band backward and forward creates inflammation, resulting in pain.” Runners can be a stubborn bunch, though, and too often we ignore the signs when ITB flares up, so minor inflammation can soon progress into sharper, more localised discomfort, says Toni, and eventually the area will become too inflamed with severe pain to maintain your training. “It can start earlier in the running session until it becomes debilitating and forces the runner to stop, and it’s generally exacerbated by downhill running. If the area becomes very inflamed, it can take a day or two for the pain to disappear completely, even while walking.” Also, if you continue your session in spite of the pain, it may result in a longer recovery period being needed. • • THE CAUSES ITB pain is more prevalent in novice runners who are tackling long distance running for the first time and predominately occurs during peak training periods. Frequent high-impact downhill running is definitely a factor, and often, there’s an associated increase in pace with the introduction of speed sessions to the training programme. A pre-existing ITB tightness can introduce itself over and over again – even in seasoned runners – and the condition can also be compounded by a weakness of knee e