Does Foam Rolling Help With IT Band Syndrome?

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Does Foam Rolling Help With IT Band Syndrome?

According to a recent study in The International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, probably not.

Many runners believe that foam rolling is an essential part of rehabilitation for IT Band Syndrome. In fact, I would go as far as to say many runners believe rolling your IT Band is the cornerstone of good ITB rehab.

The theory goes that the pain on the outside of the knee is caused by friction and/or compression of the IT Band as it passes the femur (thigh bone) with each stride. 

When the IT Band is tight it increases compression or friction at this point, which results in irritation of the IT Band and produces pain. 

That’s why IT Band pain tends to come on with higher weekly volumes of running, or towards the back-end of a long run. The more times the IT Band passes the femur with each stride, the more irritation.

So if tightness of the IT Band is causing the problem, anything that reduces that tightness will help. Right?

For years, Physical Therapists and other health professionals have prescribed foam rolling for IT Band pain to reduce the tension in the IT band.

The idea being that rolling the IT Band will break adhesions and increase flexibility. That will reduce the compression or friction at the knee.

So the question is, does it work?

That’s what researchers from Texas Tech University wanted to find out. They recruited 30 people and randomly assigned them to one of three groups. Foam Rolling, Stretching or Control.

They measured the flexibility of the IT Band with a simple range of movement test, but also measured the stiffness of the IT Band tissue itself with a fancy technique called Shear Wave Ultrasound Elastography.

The foam rolling group rolled for 5 minutes, the stretching group stretched for 5 minutes and the control group just sat there. They took measurements before and after and were shocked to find no differences between the groups!

Imagine that. You’re gritting your teeth to plough through 5 minutes on the foam roller and afterwards, you find out it has done absolutely nothing to your IT Band!

So what can we take away from this? Well, the most obvious conclusion is that foam rolling for IT Band Syndrome is a total waste of time. That’s fine by me.

I haven’t given foam rolling to a runner with IT Band pain in over a decade. In spite of that, I’ve still managed to help tons of runners get rid of the pain and back to full training. I even had a little trouble with IT Band pain myself this year. I’ve managed to fully resolve that problem and no, I didn’t do any foam rolling. Come to think of it, I don’t actually own a foam roller.

If you’d like to know what does work, check out my episode on Fixing My IT Band Syndrome. And if you’re struggling with IT Band pain and you want some help, just click the link below to book a free call.