- Share This Post
- Pin It
- 0
-
Sparkle (0)
See this girl? The agony? The defeat? The PAIN!? She paid at least $14 or so to feel this way. But you know what? Soon she will feel much, much better!
If you have yet to discover the wonders (and the pain!) of the foam roller, fork out $14 or so dollars to do so.
Here's a photo of the real thing up close and personal:
Doesn't look like much, now does it?
I have been running for 12 or so years now and until this past week had never used, or maybe even really seen, a foam roller. In fact, if I hadn't gotten injured during the Disney marathon last Sunday I probably would still not know what one was. (I also wouldn't have discovered the wonderful forum boards over at Runner's World: If you haven't, check them out when you get time.)
Then I got injured and was in a lot of pain and wasn't sure what to do to make the pain go away. A few of the people posting at RW suggested purchasing and testing out the foam roller. Several said they had a lot of pain due to ITBS until they tried a foam roller.
So, I found one (after much searching and finally calling some Physical Therapy offices in town-one did sell them). I did find a few on Amazon, and one came with an exercise video that I considered buying, but with shipping and handling the cost of it would have been close to double what I paid in town. If you have a local sportings store you might want to try that. Even Target has them now (though they were out of them the day that I checked) for about $22, and it comes with a video as well.
Now that you have it, what do you do with it? You roll, baby!
This is the best technique I have found for my tight iliotibial band:
Quite frankly, it hurts. A lot. Especially in the beginning.
In fact, it hurts not only when you are rolling out the tight muscle but the next few days as your body adjusts to the massaging. You may feel bruised when you try to roll it out again. Don't worry, as it does get better. You can take a day off in between if you want, which will give that area a rest. I did this in the beginning but I now do the foam roller twice a day: Once after I exercise/run/bike, and once at night.
So, is it working? Absolutely. After going only three miles of walk/jog last week (and mainly walking) I was able to run three miles today (with only walking about .25 of a mile!) I am not having pain in my knee anymore, though it does still feel tight. Interestingly enough when I roll it in a certain area on my thigh, I feel that tightness in my knee! So, I know that there is an area that is still quite tight that needs to be massaged out.
Many overuse injuries happen because of the tight band, and once you injure the IT band you should really rest, ice, and deal with the problem rather than run through it. If you don't take care of what is wrong, it won't get better.Unfortunately it is a pretty common complaint and can result in quite a lot of missed running time. If you are used to running high distances, it can be devastating to go to nearly none. Even if you only run 9 or 10 miles a week and you have to stop for a while to rest and ice, you're going to feel it not only physically but up in your brain as well (you know as a runner-running keeps you mentally strong!)
I would suggest picking up one of these and using it daily after running and/or while stretching your body. You can use it not only on the IT band (though I would definitely use it here-even if you are not having problems now-to keep that area loose) but I have used it on my calf muscles, my lower back and the fronts of my legs as well. I'd be proactive
