Rested from running for 4 days. With Salonpas spray, Ammtlez and ice bag, the ITB feel much better and I have no felt any pain when walking down the staircase. I also purchased the Amino Acid supplement from GNC (with their discount voucher from Men’s Health Run) and hope to speed up the recovery process. Took the supplement from Monday to Wednesday, stopped yesterday as I didn’t want to overdose and affecting the body-ability to extract amino-acid from normal food.
As the ITBFS seem to ease off, I decided to try the KT tape and throw in a shorter try run before the weekend long run. I got the kinesiology therapy tape KT Tape @ discounted price of RM63 from SportSprises79 in Bangsar. The official website suggested 2 tapering methods, ITBS-Knee & ITBS-Knee-X. The first method looks very difficult so I tried the ITBS-Knee-X method.
 |
| Pre-Cut 20 pieces per Roll |
 |
| I-Tape & Cut one I-Tape into 2 equal pieces |
 |
| With no stretch, put on the I-Tape on the lateral side of the knee |
 |
| With full stretch put on the first shorter tape |
 |
| Also with full stretch, put on the 2nd shorter tape (take note you shouldn't stretch on the anchor points at the end of each tape) |
After tapering, the knee felt better support from lateral side. I put on VFF and headed out for the short run. The X-tape came out by the first km, may be due to too much stretch and imperfection of my application. I continued with only the I-tape for the remained 3km. I still felt the mild support with only the I-tape. After the run, I didn’t remove the tape and want to try if it last the shower. It survived through the warm water, soap and shampoo.
Btw, this is a very costly + risky way to enjoy the run. The tape itself is about RM3.15 per I-tape (pre-cut into 20 pieces I-tape per RM63 roll). As the severity of the injury is uncertain, the protection from the tape is too in the mist. Unless I undergo a thorough check with specialist and used the tapering method recommended (if the doctor still allow me to run), the risk of over-train will remained. Now, I still felt the very mild tightness on lateral side of my knee. Good news, it doesn’t seem to worsen by this morning 4km. I am not too sure this is the effect of the tape or the RICE. May be a longer run with the tape on tomorrow, it will able to tell.
On next week Hari Raya & National Day break, I will take some more off from running.
Selamat Hari Raya and Happy Holiday.
Hi Neoh,
ReplyDeleteNot sure if KT taping helps. But I hv had ITB syndrome for some time. It is one of those things that may recur if you don't do enough stretching, warm up/cool down. Personally, I find some stretching exercises helpful. Roller foam may also help. Visit Runner's world and there are some good advice there regarding ITB.
Perhaps you should take it easy on your running for a while. ITB usually takes time to resolve. Weeks to months in some cases. Use minimalist shoes with caution as rapid transition into it (and doing long distance in it) may worsen it. Hope you recover soon!
Hi Francis,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice. Yes I think the tape do minimum helps on the ITBFS. Lucky it doesn't get into a pain (only tightness) and I should start to roll back to normal shoes with plenty of stretching prior each run. Cut down total mileage helps too. :D