Are you recovering from an IT Band injury? In this blog post, CRYSC Head Athletic Trainer Julie Graves has put together a step-by-step guide for an effective and healthy rehabilitation process. From heating, foam-rolling, stretching, mobility exercises, and dry needling, the guide below will assist you through every part of the healing process. By emphasizing pain-free progressions and a gradual return to play, this is your roadmap to a resilient and sustainable recovery.
UCHealth + CU Sports Medicine and Orthopedics has a variety of different locations to help your child get back to the soccer field at 100%. If this is something you think your child may be dealing with, please reach out to our Head Athletic Trainer, Julie Graves at [email protected], for assistance. Below is the at-home rehab program for IT Band Syndrome.
First Steps
- Rest for the first few days to allow any inflammation to go down. Ibuprofen as needed. Ice for the first 7 days 1-2x/day for 20 minutes.
- Stretching can begin once pain-free with walking, range of motion, and daily activities.
After 7 days of icing and/or pain-free walking and daily activities, begin the following:
Heating
Heat the hip flexor/outside of the hip i.e., electric heating pad or hot Epsom salt bath for 15 minutes. *Ice only needs to be done once the return-to-play process is started.
Foam Rolling
- Foam rolling is KEY to muscle recovery and rejuvenation. I would recommend foam rolling the whole lower body (quads, hamstrings, IT Band, and calves) twice a day to prevent injury. A LAX ball, baseball, or softball is better for the calves as it is a smaller surface area.
- *It is very important when foam rolling to go very slowly and controlled. This should not be a quick, rushed motion. There are trigger points/knots/pain points in every muscle in our body and so when you go over one of these knots/pain points, stop on them for at least 30 seconds to allow it to release. Then slowly roll down the muscle until the next one is found. This can be fairly uncomfortable/painful but it is GOOD pain!
- *Foam rolling should be performed even when the athlete is not injured. This is a crucial part of muscle recovery and rejuvenation, as well as injury prevention. Twice a day is the recommended amount. You cannot foam roll or stretch too much. Foam roller on Amazon
Stretching: 3×30″
- Standing quadricep stretch
- Hip Flexor stretch
- Start in a kneeling position with one knee forward and the other on the floor. Lean forward, pressing the forward knee towards the floor while keeping the back leg straight.
Exercises:
Follow the instructions in this video for progressive hip flexor exercises
- Here and here are bands you can purchase from the video
- Clam shell exercise
- Progression with bands
Dry Needling
This is the cherry on top of all the work above. The technique uses a “dry” needle, one without medication or injection, inserted through the skin into muscle areas. Other terms commonly used to describe dry needling include trigger point dry needling and intramuscular manual therapy. Dry needling is not acupuncture, a practice based on traditional Chinese medicine and performed by acupuncturists. Dry needling is a part of modern Western medicine principles and supported by research. Dry needling is done by physical therapists and chiropractors.
Return to Play
Each progression needs to be pain-free before going to the next step. This could mean staying at one step for multiple days/practices.
- Can begin stationary bike and/or jogging when pain-free with daily activities.
- Soccer passing, soccer-specific drills
- Progression: Non-contact practice
- Progression: Conditioning, i.e., sprints
- Progression: Full contact practice
Notes:
*Always remember to get a good dynamic warm-up in before any practice.
Find out more about the CRYSC Sports Medicine Program by visiting our website. If you would like more information on natural solutions and the athlete, please don’t hesitate to reach out to CRYSC’s Head Athletic Trainer, Julie Graves, at [email protected].
