Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › General › Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! › Re: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years!

02/17/2014 at 11:34 pm #74167
AvatarRyan Cloutier
Member
Hey jtrue

I currently use the blue jump stretch band (I bought the package that came with blue, green and purple). The blue works well for x-band walks. I think the green might be to thick to do x-band walks. Also, I use the blue jump stretch band at home to do banded distractions by placing it under one of the legs by my washing machine. The laundry machine is really stable and doesn’t move.

The electro-accupuncture seems to be the must effective modality in terms of relieving muscle tension, and adhesions. Find a therapist if possible to try it out. I leave it on for 10-15 minutes while its stimulating needles inserted into tight areas. Causes the whole muscle to contract and relax rhytmically and the tone immediately is reduced. It doesnt seem to be addressing the underlying issue however as I have been using it for some time now with ongoing knee pain. 
Heres how I would rank different modalities I have tried from best to worse: 
Electro-accupuncture > voodoo band flossing > ART  > suction cupping > massage therapy > lacrosse ball > rumble roller > barbell/EZ-bar > PVC pipe > acupuncture > stretching
Ofcourse each has its limitations. For example electro-accupuncture would need to be addressed by a health practitioner to target most of your muscles (or a superfriend). If you buy your own electro-accupuncture machine you will be limited in the muscles you use it on. (You cant really target any muscles effectively besides the quadriceps). You can also get the gastrocnemius from the front but its not as effective as if you were to get it from the back. The TFL is possible but its hard as your TFL will be in a flexed position when trying to put the needles in, theirs risk of getting nerves in that area as well as its highly innervated, its hard putting in the needles into a motor point while trying to relax the TFL, you get the lower TFL/upper quad area but higher TFL areas are better left to a health care practitioner. 
Barbell / EZ bar smash I ranked lower just because its hard to target muscles with that plus doesn’t dig and create shear like a lacrosse ball. Lacross ball can be pretty much used everywhere, it really is amazing. Works well digging it into my quads with that creating some shear, and psoas and TFL
Voodoo flossing is excelling for the thigh, very quick, and cheap.
ART is expensive, and probably not worth the price. You can get must of the benefits from ART just by using a lacross ball and rumble roller. Maybe regular check ups are useful to see whats spots you have missed.
Suction cupping is really good, especially since we are always compressing our tissues. Its a good way to create some tension and pull the tissue apart rather than compress them. 
Massage therapy, not really worth the price.