60 year old woman did NOT complete the 60 miles....

[rafe]

Staying injury-free is a big part of hiking -- knowing and respecting one's bodily limits, listening carefully to signals from our muscles, bones, joints, heart, lungs, etc.

A lot of injuries happen late in the day when we're tired, getting careless, light fading, etc. Or when we're trying to be badass, or trying to keep up with faster hikers. It can be a slow, ongoing condition that precedes the injury over hours or days, or it can be a single bad step.

I don't know anything about IT-band injuries. I do know that when my feet hurt, I deal with it sooner rather than later. Walking through a lot of pain is generally not a good idea.

[KCNC]

I have intermittent ITB issues, mostly in one hip. At one point it was nearly debilitating. Now I manage it effectively with stretching, occasional rubs/liniments, rolling, and a massage therapist that knows her business. The better my conditioning the less severe the flare-ups - I now get a slight twinge every few days whereas 6-8 months ago I had serious discomfort 1-2 days a week.

Find the combination of all these suggestions that work for you. The ITB is a small muscle at your hip connected to a LONG tendon. "Classic" ITB syndrome causes pain on the side of the knee - mine tends to be more focused at the hip with an occasional tweak at the knee. The only constant we all "enjoy" is that it hurts and we all get varying degrees of relief from an assortment of techniques.

Congratulations on getting out there, learning, experiencing, and enjoying (as best you could given the circumstances.)

With this experience you'll be well on your way to chewing up larger sections in no time.

[LadyBugg]

I just finished up 40 miles of a planned 52 mile section. I had trouble with my IT band as well. It was so painful. Downhill was the worst, but eventually up hill began hurting. I did use the cho-pat as recommended here on the forum as well as from a section hiker I met last year. While it may work for some, it doesn’t work for everyone.
I’ve read a lot about the issue and it can become irritated when you start hiking more mileage than you’re used to.
Proper stretching does help, but only temporarily - especially when you’re 8 miles in on a 14 mile day.
Rest is really what is needed. The stretching and foam rolling are a bonus. If you do foam roll, roll the entire leg (hamstrings, upper thigh, calves) and not just the side of the thigh.
I’m thinking next time I’m taking a small foam roller with me to help loosen the muscles while backpacking. I’m also thinking it’s time for me to seek professional advice if I want to continue (it was that bad).
Congrats on your accomplishment of a section hike!


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[LadyBugg]

Oh and the feeling is normal after finishing a hike. I didn’t beat myself up this time for not completing a mileage goal, because I realized that I did what I needed to do that was best for myself.
There was another backpacking excursion that I took with friends where I had to opt out on day 2 of the hike due to my toes hammering the inside of my boots on the downhills. I didn’t know about properly tying them to prevent that at the time. I don’t even where boots these days. I did however feel a bit depressed when I got home. However, when I looked back on it - if I had pressed on, I most likely would have nerve damage.
They say hike your own hike. I like to think that taking care of yourself is an important part of that mantra.

I would also like to add that I exercise every day and a lot of what I do incorporates the leg muscles (all of them) in one way or another due to the program and how it is a total body workout. Even with those strengthening exercises - I still had issues with my IT band.



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[Leo L.]

When I read 16 I was highly impressed. 26...........

Malto! I've put the correction in there just for you <G>

The purpose of this 100km-task was, to have some training for a 120km (72miles) / 24hr Flat Lake challenge, a mate talked me into.
Started training out of the blue with a 60km walk, but man, this was hard, had to fight very hard to go 45km, then stopped.
Did a 60km two weeks later, then a 75km again two weeks later, and the 100km I've mentioned above.
Went sick during a final 120km training attempt, and had to skip the challenge.
Each of those training hikes were extremely hard for me, after the first few hours which were fun I had to fight all sorts of pain, fatigue and exhaustion up to a level I'd never belived I could fight.
My friend who had talked me into this 24hrs Flat Lake challenge finished it in about 19hrs (he's a Marathon routinier and actually ran half of the distance, and walked the other half)

Its exactly like somebody stated above: Just staying healthy, to not get injured during a longer hiking event is a task by itself, and a seriouse one.
Patting shoulders and thumbs up to kbstock, to try and attempt such a hike, and never let yourself feel defeated. Just having tried is a big feat in itself, and if you got hooked into this and will try again, this is even better!

[Berserker]

This may be slightly off topic, but I'm just curious if you were at Bearfence Hut on 10/14. I was there and met a lady who was having some difficulties, and I was wondering if that was you.

[colorado_rob]

We're both the same age.... kinda a bummer getting older, eh? Beats the alternative...

Anyway, just in the last few years I've had tendon problems all over my legs, including my Achilles, my ITB and some other knee tendon, can't remember its name, but as with your IT thing, the downhills were the worst. We bailed short on a nice long AT section this spring because of this.

Finally after my wife bugged me constantly, I relented and started PT on a semi-regular basis, and voila! Finally everything went away. Of course the PT therapy involved lots and lots of very specific stretching and exercises.

So bottom line, if you haven't done so on a regular basis, try Physical Therapy.

[tdoczi]

So here's my question to you all..... other experiences with IT Band Syndrome? Best treatments? Rehab? The stuff on the internet is all over the place....What have been your experiences with all this?

Thanks,
k

a properly placed strap (they make ones specifically for IT band issues, but ive used just a belt or some other generic thing several times) works wonders for me.

i had reoccuring pain for months once. would seem fine for a few days, then i'd move or bend my leg a certain way and all hell would break loose.

strapping it almost immediately cured it and after maybe a week of wearing it everyday i took the strap off and have never had a reoccurrence of that severity.

[Crossup]

Disclaimer: I know nothing about ITB and have no idea if this applies but since Rob opened the PT door I thought it might help someone to know my experience.

At 50yo I dislocated my foot about as severely as one can. I just happened to luck out having literally the foremost surgeon in the world(yeah, sure how many times have we heard this?)in my local area and he had a new procedure which would give me approximately 10 years of pain free use followed by increasing arthritis, eventually to the point where I'd need it fused- which was the only other option. So screws, pins and lots of PT and good as new unless I really hammered it with like lots of running. I figured that was a great outcome and predictably after 10 years it seemed to bother me more. Now at 17 years, it occasionally hurts a fair amount but the thought of fusing and losing some range of motion just wasn't a good option and I'm not one to sissy out from a little pain so I went ahead with my plan to do a week on the AT.

To do that I started local walks with my loaded pack and to my great surprise while it wasnt a pain free situation I started to feel like the extra weight was improving my foot. Then I did my hike a few weeks ago with 40lbs and for two days nearly 50lbs...result? Painfree hike and better overall function than since the injury.

After talking with several doctors and PT providers I found that its apparently common to stop PT when strength and range of motion etc are normal BUT what we really need is to build up both to a point well beyond normal so that the natural tendency to loose some of that strength and range when you stop PT, ends up with you being normal or better as opposed to stopping earlier and then "sliding" back to sub standard. Also its never too late to do more PT...which apparently in my case only needed to be walking a rock garden trail like the AT in PA with a heavy pack.
So my point is PT can be a life changer and does not necessitate visiting a therapist or doctor in all cases. YMMV

We're both the same age.... kinda a bummer getting older, eh? Beats the alternative...

So bottom line, if you haven't done so on a regular basis, try Physical Therapy.

[Crossup]

Should have said "in my case mean my prep walking before the AT hike" and also that the hike itself obviously did a lot to improve things further. Needless to say with a clear, major benefit, I'm now a hiker. I should probably also mention as a avid fairly hardcore mountain biker, I work my feet pretty hard and long including lots of "hike a bike" pushing but that never gave the result I've had from the hike. So the right therapy is of course a must to get results

[kbstock]

Oh and the feeling is normal after finishing a hike. I didn’t beat myself up this time for not completing a mileage goal, because I realized that I did what I needed to do that was best for myself.
There was another backpacking excursion that I took with friends where I had to opt out on day 2 of the hike due to my toes hammering the inside of my boots on the downhills. I didn’t know about properly tying them to prevent that at the time. I don’t even where boots these days. I did however feel a bit depressed when I got home. However, when I looked back on it - if I had pressed on, I most likely would have nerve damage.
They say hike your own hike. I like to think that taking care of yourself is an important part of that mantra.

I would also like to add that I exercise every day and a lot of what I do incorporates the leg muscles (all of them) in one way or another due to the program and how it is a total body workout. Even with those strengthening exercises - I still had issues with my IT band.



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Hey LadyBugg....Thanks for the encouragement...I have worked out fervishly since March prepping for this hike...all the strength training involved in a "total body work out", including targeting the hip abductors and hip adductors muscles. I was just stunned that it was my IT band that brought the whole thing to a halt. I'm over (almost) the disappointment of not finishing....it'lll be Spring before I can get out there again....but what to do between now and then? More of the same? I'm thinking I'll start out with a few shorter hikes, see how I do.
The rest of my body felt great...backs, legs, shoulders, feet...even mentally I was good. This that daggone IT band....grrrrr...

[kbstock]

This may be slightly off topic, but I'm just curious if you were at Bearfence Hut on 10/14. I was there and met a lady who was having some difficulties, and I was wondering if that was you.

Wasnt me...I was off the trail on October 12. But good lord, do I remember hobbling down Bearfence...couldnt see the rocks for all the leaves blown down from TS Nate....it was a grind!

[Bronk]

I've accomplished some pretty amazing things while failing at my original goal. You didn't make it 60 miles but you never would have gone 42 miles if you hadn't tried for the 60.