ITB Release surgery

[AdrianDJ]

Im also on Discovery and havnt seen a bill all covered!

[Arkadion]

Hey Canerat

 

Yeah the op wasn't a huge thing, I just hate the stiffness afterwards, it's like having bad ITB again except your body recovers from it a helluva lot faster ! How long did the stiffness last with you ?

 

It's day 4 now and I'm walking with a little limp, it's turning corners that hurt the most or using stairs, driving is really easy though

 

I think women worried about scarring shouldn't. I think they used that skin glue on me, no sign of stitches and the cut isn't big at all !

[AdrianDJ]

Hey Canerat

 

Yeah the op wasn't a huge thing, I just hate the stiffness afterwards, it's like having bad ITB again except your body recovers from it a helluva lot faster ! How long did the stiffness last with you ?

 

It's day 4 now and I'm walking with a little limp, it's turning corners that hurt the most or using stairs, driving is really easy though

 

I think women worried about scarring shouldn't. I think they used that skin glue on me, no sign of stitches and the cut isn't big at all !

The stiffness lasted about 10 days (obviously getting better each day tho) yeah turning and stairs wernt too great! and also i sometimes forgot and stepped off the mark a bit quick which hurt!

 

By the way - thought id start with some leg strengthening in the gym last week - although leg extensions wernt such a great idea as the next day i had some pain exactly where the op was done (not the normal muscle pain) but luckily didnt last too long. So going to wait a bit longer and rather just ride for now

[Arkadion]

Hehe !

 

I'll make sure to take it easy ... I have a couple of moments where there is no pain at all whilst bending past the 45 degree mark which is encouraging !

[AdrianDJ]

70k ride yesterday! awesome! some great technical single track, some jeep track, awesome veiws, awesome valleys! feels good to be back! but not good to be back in the office :/

[Arkadion]

Good to hear !

 

It's been 10 days so far, I have no more pain at night and nothing when I walk, it stills hurts when I squat and rise up again but I'm hoping that will clear within a week ! Really hoping I'll be back on the saddle soon

[Arkadion]

Wow , the difference between yesterday and today is amazing!

 

Just 11 days after the op and I can squat and raise feeling almost no pain ! I could take a risk and jump on the bike but I'm going to give it until next week Monday/Tues before I attempt that, I'm going away this weekend anyway.

 

What I have noticed about the op is that the healing process from ITB is MUUUUCH quicker, what took me 4 weeks to get achieve without the op is done in a week with it. I think this will help keep it away too !

 

Feeling positive ;-)

[SwissVan]

Thanks for the feedback Arkadion.

 

I would like to add to my tale of so called ITB pain as there is a lesson to be learned

 

Eventually went for a MRI which confirmed that the source of my ITB like pain, is in fact a result of a tear in the lateral meniscus which allows the fluid that normally lubricates the knee to leak out, resulting in a cyst around the fibula head.

 

Moral of the story is:

Don’t rely on self diagnosis and always get a professional diagnosis.

[gummybear]

Cool toppic.

 

Suffered with the same problem after this years Ironman. Funny never had the problem before or during the race only in the weeks after the race.

Was pretty bad could not cycle or run, if I did I could not bend my leg or stand up or sit down (right leg only)

Had a cortisone injection right on the spot, and have not had any problem since. I am training for another I/Man no very long distances yet but building up - I just hope it does not come back.

 

Good luck to everybody else suffering with this as this is a very painful problem to have if not sorted

[Arkadion]

Ouch SwissVan

 

Hope you're not out for long, how long do you need to take off or do they need to operate ??

[Face Plant]

Thanks for the feedback Arkadion.

 

I would like to add to my tale of so called ITB pain as there is a lesson to be learned

 

Eventually went for a MRI which confirmed that the source of my ITB like pain, is in fact a result of a tear in the lateral meniscus which allows the fluid that normally lubricates the knee to leak out, resulting in a cyst around the fibula head.

 

Moral of the story is:

Don’t rely on self diagnosis and always get a professional diagnosis.

YOu are spot on regarding the lateral meniscus tear being a differential diagnosis to ITB i had exactly the same situation however my doctor thought it may be a meniscus tear but it turned out to be ITBS

[Face Plant]

i have had meniscus tears fixed in both my knees and i was running again in 3 weeks the procedure is pretty simple, the first one i went home the same day, the second one i spent the night in hospital cause of a drain they put in the knee. the procedure is done via laparoscopic surgery so not a very invasive procedure!

 

my experience in differentiating between ITB and Lateral Meniscus tears is with ITB the pain starts at a certain distance everytime (with me it was about 2 kms) and gets progressively worse and is worse running steep downhills or uphills ~ climbing stairs is total agony, with Meniscus problems the pain starts straight away when you start running and goes away when you stop, anti inflammatories dont relieve the pain with meniscus tears however a good pain tablet works and with ITBS the opposite applies anti inflammatories work really well to relieve ITBS Cataflam and i got well acquainted when i suffered with ITBS

[AdrianDJ]

Thanks for the feedback Arkadion.

 

I would like to add to my tale of so called ITB pain as there is a lesson to be learned

 

Eventually went for a MRI which confirmed that the source of my ITB like pain, is in fact a result of a tear in the lateral meniscus which allows the fluid that normally lubricates the knee to leak out, resulting in a cyst around the fibula head.

 

Moral of the story is:

Don’t rely on self diagnosis and always get a professional diagnosis.

100% agree! - the minute you feel something wrong - get a professional diagnosis! dont let your mates tell u to Harden up and push through either! (tends to happen to me more often than not:/ its the rubber arm syndrome)

 

hope u recover fast SwissVan!

[Punt]

From my own ITB experience, good rest is the first treatment. After that, get a foam roller. It sorted me out in a week, no jokes.

 

Granted I caught it early, but nobody should ever need surgery for it. You just need to identify the cause (which was probably poor form to begin with), cancel it out, and get the rehab in.

[Arkadion]

Yeah,

 

I think it all boils down to different treatments for different patients. I tried to rest it, got back on (probably too soon) and stuffed it up again, I went to physio constantly and could never say I felt a difference, I tried anti inflammatories tablets and patches, then I tried stretching, nada. Heard about the foam roller, tried it and didn't feel any pain the whole way down my leg (You're supposed to feel pain and then work that area more).

 

So eventually I opted for the op because everyone else said it's an almost surefire way to sort it out without any known consequences.

 

I think I just need a few more days to heal from the op before I can try again and vouch for/against the op, but so far my leg has healed drastically faster from ITB than it did before.

 

I reckon it was because of incorrect bike setup on a new bike (Rode it for 2 months before ITB)and we were pushing the km up (70 km rides).

 

I guess you don't appreciate a good bike setup until it's too late and you have to go through the hell of ITB !

[SwissVan]

i have had meniscus tears fixed in both my knees and i was running again in 3 weeks the procedure is pretty simple, the first one i went home the same day, the second one i spent the night in hospital cause of a drain they put in the knee. the procedure is done via laparoscopic surgery so not a very invasive procedure!

 

my experience in differentiating between ITB and Lateral Meniscus tears is with ITB the pain starts at a certain distance everytime (with me it was about 2 kms) and gets progressively worse and is worse running steep downhills or uphills ~ climbing stairs is total agony, with Meniscus problems the pain starts straight away when you start running and goes away when you stop, anti inflammatories dont relieve the pain with meniscus tears however a good pain tablet works and with ITBS the opposite applies anti inflammatories work really well to relieve ITBS Cataflam and i got well acquainted when i suffered with ITBS

 

Funny enough mine never worried me when running or cycling but only from walking on flat or downhills.

Standing around also tended to wake it up a bit.

 

I have had ITB years ago in the same leg and it is remarkable how similar the pain from walking was compared to the ITB from running.

 

I have also had a minor meniscus repair on my left knee many years ago done by "Ponky" at Rosebank clinic, this was a simple procedure and did not ground me for very long.

 

However for my right knee the Docter here said that he needs to stitch the tear in the meniscus and I will need to walk with a crutch for 6 weeks to keep the weight off the knee while the meniscus hopefully grows together.

 

Planning on going for the op at the end of summer 2011, that is if the condition remains where it is and does not get worse and inhibit training or normal life (besides walking...).