Natural Ways to Relieve IT Band Syndrome

You're reading Natural Ways to Relieve IT Band Syndrome, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Your endorphins are up. Your stride is smooth. You glide through the park with peaceful solitude, having the track to yourself for once. Then bang! Your foot hits the pavement and you buckle your knee in pain. When you try to straighten your leg, you feel a click so strong that you can almost hear it. You have just developed Iliotibial Band (IT Band) Syndrome, one of the two types of “runner’s knee,” the most common injury for runners and cyclists. If you ignore your symptoms, you could lose the range of motion in your knee and say goodbye to your active lifestyle. ITBS

Once you drag your bum knee home, you may be tempted to reach for your favorite cocktail of Ibuprofen and an ice pack-- or call your doctor for something stronger. But this is a short-term solution. Long-term use of Ibuprofen can lead to health problems like kidney damage, gastrointestinal disorders, heart problems, or a stroke and the use of prescription painkillers has led to a national opioid epidemic. So before you begin treating your IT Band Syndrome, you may wish to try natural treatments first. What is the iliotibial band and why does it hurt? The iliotibial band is the thick tendon-like fascial tissue fibers that extend along the sides of your leg from the pelvis to the knee to protect your outer thigh. The band is also essential for stability when you run or jump or participate in other high impact activities, like a thick, strong rubber band. When the IT band is put under too much stress, it can rub against nearby soft tissue and cause painful irritation or swell with inflammation. And it loses its ability to absorb shock and stabilize the knee. At each impact the foot makes comes a shooting pain. But it can be avoided with preventive care and natural treatment. Best Medicine is Prevention I know it might sound like a cliché, but the best medicine truly is preventative medicine. A healthy diet, lifestyle, and proper use of your body is your best weapon against injury and illness. You can protect your knee by wearing proper shoes designed for absorbing friction when you run or jump, do adequate warmup and stretching exercises, and learn how to use your body appropriately to absorb hard landings. Stretch it out It is important to adequately stretch before any exercise. Your muscles restrict and constrict with high-impact activities; thus you must stretch in order to keep your muscles limber and the IT Band strong. I always like to do a series of leg raises, squats, side-leg bend and pulls, and toe touches before I hit the pavement. Just be careful of overstretching or over tensing your leg, because this is also harmful to your knee. Use proper balance and support techniques In yoga teacher training, we were taught to firmly support our “roots” before we rise and extend our body and limbs. This gives us the foundation we need to support our body as we activate our muscles. When your mind is in balance, you can take anything that comes at you in life. Likewise, when your body is in balance, you can handle the internal frictions. That’s why Yoga, Pilates, chiropractic care, and countless Eastern medicine practices focus on alignment and balance. Soothing your pain with herbs A proper diet and herbs can also help you manage pain. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet including omega-3 foods like nuts and seeds, fresh fruits and vegetable, bromelain (from pineapple), and healthy fats. You can also add turmeric and ginger to your foods to keep the inflammation at bay. Likewise, you can easily make your own rubs by adding soothing and reparative essential oil drops to coconut oil or olive oil. Camphor, ginger, peppermint, eucalyptus, arnica, capsaicin, clove oil, and a variety of other herbs can offer relief. But if you’d rather buy a premade ointment, CBDMEDIC’s topical medication can be a great solution since their products contains %100 premium quality organic natural oils. Their ointments and creams can be used after exercising and would provide longer-lasting pain relief. If the pain is intolerable, you can take a variety of herbs internally. But it is important to speak with your primary care doctor and naturopath first. Some herbs are contraindicated for certain health conditions and medications. Likewise, you can ask your massage therapist to use special herbs for injury as he or she works to relax your overworked muscles and joints. All of this combined will leave your body feeling balanced and loose, thus you are bound to feel substantially less pain. Take Away Natural medicine teaches us to treat the whole body, not just the symptoms and that preventative medicine is the best cure. Proper diet, adequate stretching, and supportive shoes are your best bet for keeping away IT Band Syndrome. But when pain strikes, there are countless natural options to minimize your pain.

You've read Natural Ways to Relieve IT Band Syndrome, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.