Forum Replies Created

Viewing 15 posts - 76 through 90 (of 120 total)
1 2 3 … 5 6 7 8
  • Author
    Posts
  • 03/04/2014 at 2:08 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74240
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member
    I went to see a very good physiotherapist in my area he noticed a few things:

    1) Weak Hamstrings – even weaker than my glute maximus, which he said they should be, however the glute maximus is weak as well (posterior chain is weak–>leading to anterior pelvic tilt–>putting the hips in constant flexion–>leading to weaker glutes, stronger and tighter hip flexors and quads–>leading to IT band tightness–>leading to a lateral and upward pull on the patella during flexion–>leading patellofemoral pain. 
    Fix–>Strengthen hamstrings – he suggests strengthening the hamstrings with supine bridge curl, stiff leg deadlift, narrow stance squat (kicking the but back without having the knees track over the toes, kind of like a good morning)

    2) Right glute medius doesn’t fire at all – He looked at my clamshell very closely and noticed that I cant isolate my glute medius and they werent firing at all during the exercise. He said I am doing a number of things to compensate for it such as activating other muscles (my low back, hip flexors) and rotating my pelvis. This is contributing to a dysfunctional right side kinetic chain. My previous glute medius isolation efforts have not been effective because I was compensating with other muscles and a faulty motor pattern. 
    Fix –>Isolate and activate the glute medius – he suggests isolating the glute medius doing clamshells but with a very conscious effort on form and minimizing compensations (not shifting pelvis at all). He said I should only be feeling it in the glutes. He said this exercise is going to be the most annoying and hardest for me because I am focusing and re-learning a motor pattern which can get frustrating as I might not be able to isolate the glute medius easily at first. He said after I am able to isolate the glute medius and strengthen it, we will integrate the new motor pattern and strength to functional exercises. During my functional exercises he things they aren’t being activated. To help with glute medius activation during the clamshell he suggests to put a pillow between my legs focusing on a neutral pelvis with no rotation at all and to have my lower glutes (left glutes) against the wall, while the higher glutes (the right glutes) are slightly forward away from the wall. He said to have my hands behind my higher glutes (hand should not be touching the glute) to ensure that they dont move closer to my hand (indicating that my pelvis isn’t rotating to compensate)

    3) Limited Range of Motion for Hip External Rotation 
    The right side (side with knee pain) is worse than the left. It seems to be caused my tight/restricted joint capsule, deep internal hip muscles, and TFL pulling/rotating my hip/femur internal and making it hard to externally rotate the femur/hip. May also be contributing to reciprocal inhibition of glute medius: The tight internal rotators are preventing full range of motion for external rotation, thus preventing activation of glute medius on the right side. 
    Fix –> Smash and stretch hip flexors/internal rotators: This is were some mobilitywod work will help. Will have to look into videos to decide what are the best mobs for tight hip internal rotators (to improve hip external rotation). Banded distraction/capsule stretching, and smashing the hip region (TFL, psoas), hip opener stretches.

    One possible explanation of the cycle that is happening with me is this:

    Hamstring weakness
    1) Weak hamstrings* + sitting to much+ tight hip flexors + tight quads + quad dominant + weak glutes and core–> leading to anterior pelvic tilt
    2) Anterior pelvic tilt –> glutes are inactivated because I am always in slight hip flexion due to the anterior pelvic tilt
    3) Glute inactivation –> leads to a compensatory increase in hip flexor activation and tightness and also IT band tightness** 
    4) IT band tightness –> leading to a lateral pull on the knee (especially during knee flexion), also hip flexor tightness may be leading to internal rotation of femur relative to the patella during knee flexion (all tho not in an obvious knee collapse)

    Glute medius weakness:
    1) Glute medius is not firing –> leading to compensatory increase in hip flexor and IT band tightness
    2) IT band tightness –> leading to patella tilt

    I will do what my physiotherapist suggests along with what I have already been doing and update my progress.
    03/04/2014 at 1:43 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74239
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member

    Thanks Ken Katz I will look into that

    02/23/2014 at 12:06 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74199
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member
    Next step: 
    1) See a legit well recognized physiotherapist who will confirm what I speculate are my issues during his assessment. Hopefully he will make alterations to my regime to improve my routine. Also, get advice from him in regards to the leg length discrepancy and pelvic tilt contribution to my injury. 
    2) Also, looking to go see someone to get electro-accupuncture done on my hip flexors so I can get into more hip extension and better activate my glutes. This will give me the window of opportunity to strengthen my glutes in ranges I wouldn’t normally be able to go in.
    3) Get my full length foot lift and 3-d gait analysis in 1 months time
    4) Keep seeing Osteopath
    5) See a physiatrist/PM&R doctor specializing in sports medicine for his assessment, input and hopefully EMG analysis on: VMO to VL activation patterns, quads to hamstrings activation patterns, and glute to hamstring activation patt erns. This will give me a better idea of what is exactly going on. Perhaps also help me decide if I would benefit from botox into either the hip flexors or vastus lateralis.
    6) If I dont see large improvements within 2-3 months. I will consider flying from my location (Toronto/London Ontario to Los angeles) to see world renowned leader in Patellofemoral Pain and Glute/hip activation Chris Powers and his staff at the movement performance institute. The facility is highly sophisticated. Heres a link: http://movementpi.com/about-mpi/
    7) If all else fails will consider botox for hip flexors or vastus lateralis.
    02/23/2014 at 11:31 am in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74197
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member

    Jtrue 

    Perhaps the squats are causing tightness because you are loading your patella. Are you squating with your hips or your quads? Try squatting as if your sitting back with emphasize on glute/hamstring activation. Make sure youre knees dont come past your toes. Open up your hips during the squat as shown in some of the mobility wod videos. Then roll out your quads/IT band after the squats. Also maybe get some glute activation warm up before doing the squats, like clamshells or x-band walks or side lying leg raises against wall. This will help activate the glutes during the squats. 
    Also if you can squat with a band around your knees this will emphasize the glute medius. The band will try pulling the knees in while you use your glute medius to push your knees out to prevent that from happening during the squat. Its essentially cueing those stabalizing muscles to prevent any knee collapse or valgus. 
    Also, are you going parallel or below parallel. Have you seen a good physiotherapist or other health practitioner specializing in mobility and biomechanics that can fully assess your issue and if the squats are in a good form?
    02/23/2014 at 11:25 am in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74196
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member

    My issues seem very similar to yours:

    1) Overactive/dominant/tight quads – slightly pulling the patella up and laterally, also contributing to anterior pelvic tilt. 
    2) Overactive/dominant/tight hip flexors – inhibiting the glutes, contributing to tightness in IT band and lateral pull on patella. They were being overactive by prolonged sitting among other things. Also contributing to internal rotation of my femur during knee flexion without an obvious valgus. 
    3) Weak/inhibited Glutes – at least relative to my other muscle groups, they were being inhibited by prolonged sitting. Also, hard to activate/strengthen them if hip flexors were overactive. Can’t get full hip extension for full glute activation unless hip flexors loosen up. Also contributing to anterior pelvic tilt and internal rotation of femur during knee flexion. Also hamstrings would preferentially activate during glute activation exercises as I noticed my hamstrings would fatigue during hip thrusts/glute bridges. 
    4) Tight IT band – I have no idea why it gets triggered to become tight so easily. My overactive hip flexors and weaker glutes are most definitely contributing to this problem. Perhaps my leg length discrepancy is also playing some role causing my right pelvis to shift forward and somehow leading to excess IT band tightness and knee pain… this is purely speculative,,
    5) Anatomical Leg length discrepancy – might be playing some role in my slow recovery from this injury. My right leg is shorter by 1.1 cm which is causing my right pelvis to shift forward. How is this causing or contributing to my tight IT band and patella femoral pain I have no idea.
    6) Loading the knee/patella during squat movements – overactive quads and hip flexors, with weaker glutes and hamstrings, and anterior pelvic tilt is contributing to preferential activation of quads during squats or closed chained knee flexion.
    7) Anterior Pelvic Tilt – Quad,hip flexors dominance, and weaker glutes and core contributing to anterior pelvic tilt. Which might be promoting internal rotation of femur and stressing the patellofemoral joint during squatting patterns.
    Things that seem to be helping:
    1) Physio exercises to strengthen glutes (maximus, and medius) also some hamstring activation. Trying to minimize quad activation but at the same time trying to do functional exercises such as squats, single leg squats, split squats/lunges. While also doing exercises such as hip thrusts/glute bridges, side lying leg lifts against wall, x-band walks, front and side lying planks
    2) Doing the mobs 2x a day targetting hip flexor, quads, IT band, (and sometimes calves, adductors, piriformis). Mostly rolling with the lacrosse ball and rumble roller. With stretches at the end.
    3) Voodoo band squats with band around the bottom of knees (2x a day usually)
    4) Rolling out the hip flexors prior to glute activation exercises. This has given me more sore glutes than previously. Also noticing less activation with hamstrings probably because I can get into a further range of motion and full hip extension. 
    5) Avoiding sitting. This has probably contributed to me being able to get full hip extension during glute activation workouts. 
    6) Doing capsule stretching/band distraction roughly once a day after my mobs. Targeting the hip capsule.
    7) Suction cupping and electro-accupuncture has been able to reduce muscle tension a lot. Don’t do these as often as the mobs however but seem to be really effective when I do them. No permanent changes however. 
    Note:
    1) Ankle range of motions is good with good dorsiflexion
    2) VMO doesnt seem weak as their is easy contraction/activation when I contract my quads. Also its of decent size. Perhaps their is slight earlier firing of the vastus lateralis and delayed firing of the VMO tho. Will try to get EMG to know for sure
    3) Foot Arch is of decent size. 
    4) No obvious valgus during knee flexion
    5) Mobility seems good
    6) toes point out 5-10 degrees usually which is good
    7) gait analysis seems good. 3-D gait analysis will show it in more detail once I get it.
    It seems like I have it all figured out and I know my issues. But the problem is I have been doing everything to correct the problem for awhile now with only mild improvements. The biggest improvements have come since January were I made some changes to my routine since following mobilitywod which has been of great help. Especially thanks to Kaitlin and others who have contributed their advice. My IT band has seemed pretty loose for awhile until recently I triggered it to become really tense and painfull again doing some physical activity during daily life involving an open chain knee flexion (just as tense as it used to be). This might be indicating that nothing really has changed except for me masking my symptoms with all the mobs and self-myofascial release. I hope this is not the case.
    Next step: See a legit well recognized physiotherapist who will confirm what I speculate are my issues during his assessment. Hopefully he will make alterations to my regime to improve my routine. Also, get advice from him in regards to the leg length discrepancy and pelvic tilt contribution to my injury. Also, looking to go see someone to get electro-accupuncture done on my hip flexors so I can get into more hip extension and better activate my glutes. This will give me the window of opportunity to strengthen my glutes in ranges I wouldn’t normally be able to go in.
    02/20/2014 at 4:59 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74185
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member
    Update:

    1) 3-D gait analysis and pedorthist: I went to solescience for an assessment with Colin Dombroski (a field leader in leg length discrepancies in Canada). He said he recommends a full foot lift of 0.5cm for my 1.1cm discrepancy. He says even small discrepancies might cause problems. In the research hes doing hes seeing that small discrepancies can throw off gait, and kinematics. He was also saying that in the orthopedic literature they say 2cm is the cut of for treatment because they are biased. Must hip surgeries cause a leg length discrepancy below 2 cm, so the clinicians want to keep the performing surgeries so they say 2cm is the cut off. He said having a discrepencie is like I am constantly stepping in a divot loading the joint more. Overall tho he analysed my gait visually and said it looks pretty good even with someone with a discrepancy or injury. I showed him my previous heel wedge and he says it wasn’t helping help me because it was to small. He says although the back is cut to 0.5cm your supposed to measure from the middle of the wedge and it looks to be about 0.3mm only. Plus the wedge lifts only the back of my heel causing my pelvis to shift forward. Full leg lifts is definitely what he recommends. The 3-D gait analysis is scheduled for 1 month. He will test my gait prior to the leg lift, then he will also make me a few full length foot lifts that I can take. He will then do another 3-D gait analysis a few months after (I think he said 1-2 moths) to see the changes. Hes mostly focusing on the pelvis and knee kinematics. 

    FMS (Functional Movement Screen) Results: So although someone did the FMS testing back in October. I asked for the results via email a few days ago and I got them back:

    Here are Tommy’s assessment results – it’s nothing groundbreaking but it’s good to have all the info you can:

    Dave, here is the assessment Report

    Moves extremely well in patterned motions. Far better than expected, almost flawless

    Standard Squat- Pass
    Heels Up Squat- Pass, but still with knee soreness
    Overhead Squat- Pass

    All done with full range and excellent posture

    Ankle Flexion- Excellent. Even and large range.

    Single Leg Strength- Full easy pistol on both sides with good posture

    Glute activation- a little unstable, but activation in extension/abduction is obvious

    Hamstring Mobility- Very good, although lots of quad cramping with quad activation

    Anterior Hip- The only place I found obvious issue. Both anterior hips (deep) were tight, and in knee flexion there was obvious internal rotation to compensate. Right side is worse than left.

    Did a Klatt’s test but it didn’t show anything obvious.

    My conclusion

    Very strong, very mobile- not your obvious issues you associate with knee pain

    However, I am assuming that in deep squatting and knee flexion the tight anterior hip is forcing internal rotation. Not with an obvious collapse at the knee but deep inside right in the hip capsule. If this is indeed the case his knee caps will be shifting and not gliding correctly- leading to knee pain. It also fits with his symptoms

    Right knee pain constantly, left knee pain when squatting

    Right is worse than left, but both increase in soreness with flexion

    Go over this with him and let me know what your thoughts are after session 1.

    I would say with some good smashing and band capsule stretching this should clear up over time.

    — 
    Tommy Caldwell

    Performance Coach and Consultant
    Founder and Head Coach- Hybrid Training System
    Founder and CEO- Hybrid Fitness Centres
    Founder- HTS Hockey
    02/19/2014 at 9:14 pm in reply to: Best time to mobilize #74179
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member
    I noticed that doing self-myofascial work (lacrosse ball, rumble roller, etc..) doesn’t create permanent or lasting changes in my muscle tightness and adhesions.

    So how do you create permanent changes in mobility, range of motion,  muscle tightness, and adhesions?

    Will stretching and/or self-myofascial work  on its own to create permanent changes? Or does it need to be supplemented with movement patterns and end range of motions?
    Whats the purpose of self-myofascial work and stretching in terms of making permanent change? Is it to only help create a window of opportunity (a period of time) were some muscles are temporarily relaxed allowing you to move through more range of motion when doing specific exercises and movement patterns thus activating inhibited muscles and also learning to move through more range of motion eventually making you more mobile and less tight. Is that whats meant by mobilize a position? Is it to provide enough time to train movements that would not normally be accessible, learn new skills, develop new capacities, and reduce the perceived threat associated with certain movements? This could have permanent benefit. But of course if you just sit on the couch, the benefits would probably be temporary.
    If my reasoning is true. Shouldn’t we only mobilize before the workout? Whats the purpose of mobilizing after a workout or during different times of the day such as morning or night?
    02/19/2014 at 8:41 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74178
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member

    I have been researching the effectiveness of self-myofascial release/rolling lately and came up with this really interesting read. I encourage you to read it:

    02/18/2014 at 11:01 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74175
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member

    Are you familiar with Bret Contreras, Mike Robertson, Eric Cressey, Mike Boyle, Mike Reinold,  Chad Waterbury, and Gray Cook?

    02/18/2014 at 10:58 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74174
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member

    My quads are dominant over hamstring. I spent years training as a competitive soccer goalie jumping A LOT during training sessions from various weird positions. I would continue to train even after fatigue, this is when my form would probably start to break down, I wouldve probably been loading the knees a lot. Physiotherapist back then noticed I was quad dominant over my hamstrings and recommended me strengthening my hamstrings. Also I was able to do 400lb knee extensions in grade 9 but only 100lb hamstring curls!  I will try to confirm if I still have an imbalance their and to what degree with an EMG or some sort of muscle testing with a biodex perhaps. 

    So I am quad dominant overall but also I am pretty sure I am hamstring dominant over my glute max and TFL dominant over my glute max/medius. I will try to confirm all of this via EMG or muscle testing for precise measurements and with a new physiotherapist I will see for less precised measurements.
    I noticed I had to get the voodoo band more tight than the recommended 70% for it to be effective. Also, I noticed more benefits if I did it 4 times a day. I would migrate up the leg starting closest to the knee and making my way up. By the 4th set at the end of the day I was doing high hip. I did this for about a week before I could be sure their was a benefit (although I felt slight improvements after 2-3 days I wasn’t sure it was placebo). I now do them only twice a day. 
    My leg anatomy seems fine. No health practitioner has commented on anything for them. I dont toe in or out. My knees are aligned (their not in valgus). My arch isn’t flat (the physiotherapist said it isnt the greatest arch however and its a little low, but nothing concerning). 
    Thats weird that your a bit bow-legged because that should put you at more risk for medial knee pain rather than lateral knee pain. Usually knock knees is a risk factor for patellofemoral pain. 
    Toeing out 5-10 degrees is fine.
    02/18/2014 at 3:20 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74171
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member

    My plan:


    Keep up with my routine right now while I get the following things below done:

    1) 3-D gait analysis and pedorthist – Get another opinion on whether or not my leg length discrepancy requires a heel wedge – going to make an appointment with Solescience (Colin Dombroski) and get a 3-d video gait analysis.
    2) EMG and PM&R sports med physician – Get an appointment with a PM&R (physiatrist) physician specializing in sports medicine – ask him whether or not my leg length discrepancy requires heel wedge. Ask for EMG to be done to firing ratio of the VMO with the VL and to check the timing of muscle firing to see if the VL is firing before the VMO (delayed onset). Also, if possible check the firing of other muscles such as gluteus max, glute medius, hamstrings. Also, I will ask his opinion on botox injection for PFPS. This information will help me decide whether or not I should get botox and heel wedge. Will also ask for help in my case in general and his opinion on my proximal tibiofibular ganglion cyst, doing ectroaccupuncture and if he knows anyone else that might be able to help. 
    3) MRI – Get another MRI for my proximal tibiofibular joint to fully elucidate whether or not their is a ganlgion cyst their or if their is any differential diagnosis and if this is related to my knee pain.
    4) Osteopath – Keep seeing my current experienced osteopath once every 2 weeks
    5) Physiotherapist – I found a highly regarded physiotherapy in my area named Rob Werstine whose past president of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA) which meant he was part of a board of 8 members representing all physiotherapist across Canada, and he past chair of National Orthopedic Division. He also an adjunct professor teaching physiotherapy. –> I am thinking of making an appointment with him as well to get his input on my case. Would like to get the 3-D gait analysis and EMG done first and go to him with that information. 

    02/18/2014 at 2:44 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74170
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member

    Do you do your self-myofascial work/mobs after the strengthening routine. I noticed that if I dont my muscles will tense up after my strengthening routine, but if I do my muscles feel a lot looser right after especially the following day. 

    I have a similar issue in that when I have a large gap between my strengthening routine, my muscles will start to tense up again and IT band pain starts returning. Mobs only temporary help. But right after my strengthening especially the next day my knee feels a lot better and my tight quads and IT band feel a lot looser.
    I currently don’t lift heavy, I am working more on activation using my own body weight. I used to life heavy doing single leg deadlifts and split squats followed by some body weight exercises, but now i strictly do body weight for better form, and focusing on activation. I think part of the problem was that my hip flexors were so tight from constant sitting that when I went to do my glute activation exercises I would be activating my hamstrings insteads because the hip flexors were restricting my hips into going in full extension. So what I think this is were minimizing sitting, and rolling and stretching the hip flexors prior to my glute activation routine comes into play. My glutes feel a lot more sore doing it this way. My hamstrings used to cramp up before when I was trying to do glute bridges/hip thrusts on yoga ball and single leg glute bridges/hip thrusts. Then haven’t cramped up in the last 2 weeks. This tells me I am starting to activate the glutes over the hamstrings during some of these exercises. 
    I am really starting to lean towards getting botox injections into the vastus lateralis to promote more VMO activation and decrease the lateral pull of the VL. Maybe even get some botox into the TFL, to get more glute activation, and help strengthen the glutes over the overactive TFL. I would also imagine this would help with anterior pelvic tilt. 
    02/17/2014 at 11:36 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74168
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member

    I read a study for PFPS where the home physio strengthening exercises were prescribed to be done twice a day. I am wondering if their is any benefit in doing strengthening exercises twice a day (1 set of each exercise) or doing it 3x a week (3 sets of each exercise). 

    02/17/2014 at 11:34 pm in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #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. 
    02/17/2014 at 11:07 am in reply to: Chronic IT band/quad TIGHTNESS and knee pain (chondromalacia patella?) for 6 years! #74161
    AvatarRyan Cloutier
    Member

    jtrue

    Its a really frustrating injury. My knee pain has become manageable (but still persistent) but it has changed my mood. Its made me mildly depressed, I have forgotten all the joys of life. I cant be active without some sort of pain and stiffness with the patella grinding harshly. I feel like a stiff old man always consciously thinking of my moves and positions and not to trigger knee pain or tightness in IT band. 
    I might think about buying myself a graston kit ASTYM kit. Or seeing a health professional who does graston.
    Have you tried osteopathic manipulations. Maybe an osteopath or chiropractor will find a contributing factors to your situations during the evaluation. Look into making an appointment with a PM$R physician specializing in sports medicine. They are really well trained in the neuromuscular system and can do EMG or gait analysis. 
    Try rolling out your hip  flexors and stretching them prior to your physio routine if your not doing so already. You will be able to activate the glutes better that way. The tight muscles are restricting full range of motion of your glutes. This might be causing the hamstrings to take predominance over any hip thrust/glute bridges and bird dogs or other glute exercises.. 
    Also try capsule stretching with the bands from rogue fitness. They are also good for lateral side steps for glute medius activation. 
    Do you have a leg length discrepancy? Maybe thats contributing.
    Keep us updated on what seems to work. Looking forward to your posts.
  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 15 posts - 76 through 90 (of 120 total)
1 2 3 … 5 6 7 8