(weird) humour attempt with common running injuries
(Disclaimer: my attempt is to explain the injury from a different perspective. The reader is strongly advised to seek professional help from medical / health professional only)
photos courtesy: ( used only for illustration and education )
biomechanics.com
elitefts.com
pexel.com
depositphotos.com
openverse
ITB syndrome
Sounds impressive!
It is smartly expressed to create its own mystery!
First three letters are obviously a bouncer to an average Johny.
If the average Johny belongs to Delhi NCR then she/he may feel “ ये साला, ISBT जैसा क्यों sound करता है ? ( why does this sound like ISBT?
( ISBT: inter-state bus terminal)
Syndrome sounds like भिडू कोई बहोत बड़ा लोचा लगता है !😂 (looks like some big-time problem)
When your physio vaguely explains you about some rubber like band on your lateral side (the outer side) of(either) leg, and it’s a big shout of “Crying foul” over the normal job of quadriceps muscles you realise that this लोचा तो एक flat rubber band की नाराजगी की वजह से है .( oh this problem is due to this flat rubber band like of body part)
Then you Google and become PhD in ITB syndrome
Earlier times (before ChatGTP & Google dependency days ): some of the doctors / physios believed : not to educate the patient about her/his problem and its exact definition
Their approach: हम है ना ! (we are there, not to worry: even if you worry : its not our worry !)
Believe us , don’t ask questions , follow what we tell you to do !
Nowadays: they know: no point educating, let Google/chatGTP confuse everyone
So somehow you realise the key players in and around knee joint
The first lot : The चार भाई लोग और उनकी एक common डोर : ( four muscles and a common thread :
Rectus femoris, Vastus medialis, Vastus lateralis, Vastus intermedius .
They all may or may not start their journey together, but when they all have to cross over the knee , they all join hands to merge into a tendon which goes over a pully and attaches to the tibia via patellar tendon
( despite its name the patellar tendon is actually a ligament!
( you will soon realise that ये शरीर के अंदर सब एक दूसरे से सीधी सीधी बात नहीं करते सब via -via होती है
(the internal body parts do not directly talk to each other, there are always indirect connections and talks.
The rubber man : ITB band : Iliotibial band
Now this man is quite a character! It’s gets its partial name from ilium, one of the pelvis bones.
It stars from iliac crest( the top border ). It also has deep दोस्ती with tensor fasciae latae and gluteus maximus muscles.
एक बार इन सबसे अच्छी दोस्ती पक्की करके ये rubber ban man goes all the way from lateral side of leg till tibia.
( someone may want to name this rubber man as Illio-TFL-glute-tibio- rubber man )
All this efforts are required so that it can be called iliotibial band. ( भाई पिंड का नाम-वाम सब को समज़ आना चाहिए )
Now these four muscles(along with tendon over a pully ) and our old friend the flat rubber band ITB band: सब मिलके किसी भी एक्स्ट्रा स्मार्ट रनर की बैंड बजा सकते है ।
As a runner all these good guys want you to be a good runner. A runner who does required balance of: strength training, hydration, recovery and slow built up and yes the main thing running : things go आरामसे ! (all is well )
But if you over train, push yourself, get carried away then all these members go into imbalance mode. The rubber man is avascular: उसको वैसे भी खून पानी कम मिलता है it any way does not get same kind of blood supply when compared to the muscles. ( it is always shown in white colour in anatomical illustrations where as muscles are shown in red colour: the one with blood supply: supplied with oxygen, nutrients
So if loaded beyond its capacity it gets inflamed ( but will remain white in illustration with red marking representing inflammation ) and rebels.
The rubber man is now unhappy and you as runner must remain in grief.
The treatment & so called solutions : As our rubber man is avascular : i.e जिसको खून पानी पहले से च कम मिलता था , takes its own sweet time to heal.
You have to meet your physio/doctor and follow the advice.
You may be subjected to various options from the following
- Either stop running/ reduce your milage/ reduce your pace: or all of above in various combinations.
- Go for foam rolling and deep tissue massage.
- Carry on RICE protocol with experimentation of hot & cold protocols.
- Get into a good stretching protocol and posture training.
- Strengthen Gluteus groups, Abductor groups
- Magnetic shockwave therapy
- Treatments involving neuromuscular electrical stimulations.
shailesh/april 2023
shailesh 