It is believed that people who are constantly involved in sports are least likely to suffer from any disease, but this opinion is erroneous, since the ileo-tibial tract also hurts athletes. Absolutely all people can be at risk, regardless of age and what lifestyle a person prefers to lead. For example, among those who are ill, there may freely be someone who likes to go to work on foot or just take a long walk.
What is the essence of the disease
By the tibial tract is meant tissue that acts as a joint and is located on the inner side of the thigh. Thanks to this tissue, the leg can be fixed and not bend inward.
When a person has constant loads on his legs, for example, an athlete, then he begins to develop ileo-tibial tract syndrome.
Causes of the syndrome
Doctors agree that the syndrome may occur due to the friction of the iliac-tibial tract and the epicondyle of the femur while the person is moving. Naturally, such friction can occur in everyone, but besides this, there are also special prerequisites, for example, a person has crooked legs from birth or a special rotation of the lower leg occurs. The reasons include the incorrect distribution of loads, since if a person was not active for a week, and on Sunday he went to training and practiced actively for two hours, then the ileo-tibial tract will not be able to quickly adapt to such loads and, rather all, a sports enthusiast will have problems. Consider still the reasons that can lead to the disease:
- Novice athletes do not always do the right workout.
- The person has not too trained legs, so the muscles are weak.
- Do not sit for a long time in the lotus position.
Few people pay enough attention to such things, and when pain begins, it is often too late.
How is the disease manifested?
If the ileo-tibial tract begins to bother the person, pain is felt. Drawing pain can occur in two places:
- Outside of the knee, exactly where the joint is. Such pain can easily be felt during active exercises, for example, during a run, when a person rests a bit, the pain recedes, but returns again with movement.
- Outside of the hip joint. A person will be able to feel this pain not only after exertion, but sometimes even at rest.
The pain is aching in nature and can spread throughout the leg, so sometimes a person himself can not say where it hurts.
How to accurately determine the disease?
If a person is constantly tormented by pain, then there is nothing left but to go to the doctor. This decision will be right, because only a doctor can accurately determine the disease. As a rule, to determine the disease, it is enough for the doctor to conduct an examination and collect an anamnesis, this is enough to determine that this is an ileo-tibial tract syndrome. Treatment can be prescribed on the same day when the patient turned to a specialist.
There is nothing complicated in the diagnosis, just a doctor conducts special tests that require minimal effort from the patient.
Disease treatment
As soon as the doctor can make an accurate diagnosis, treatment should be started immediately so as not to bring the disease to more serious complications that can lead to loss of mobility of the knee joint. Initially, all treatment can be divided into several stages.
- Care should be taken to significantly reduce loads. Naturally, for an athlete who is used to constant training, it will be difficult, but leg exercises where the knees are involved should be gentle. If the place where the ileo-tibial tract is located is very worrying for a person, then you can use local preparations of a cooling effect, for example, it will be enough to apply ice for a short time. You can also use pharmacy products for freezing, today there are a huge number of them, so the choice will be easy. In addition to the fact that the pain will go away, swelling will not occur.
- After the relief comes, in no case should you return to your regular workouts, on the contrary, you should make sure that the joints are slightly relieved, and all exercises should be calm.
- Doctors recommend stretching gradually, without creating unnecessary tension for the muscles.
- If the doctor determines that the iliac-tibial tract is suffering, the treatment may include some warming ointments, which can slightly reduce unpleasant symptoms.
It is worth noting that you can also be treated with folk remedies, they will be quite appropriate, but before you use something, you should consult a doctor, as well as an instructor, who will help to develop a number of special exercises relevant for such a disease.
Therapeutic exercises that can help
There is a special set of exercises that will help keep the ileo-tibial tract unscathed during heavy loads.
- If a person is going to seriously engage in sports, then you should begin to do this with exercises that will help develop flexibility. In this case, the bends to the sides are excellent, while the legs should be crossed.
- Any exercises that are aimed at strengthening the muscles of the back and buttocks, as well as for stretching the muscles on the inside of the thigh, are suitable.
- If after training you feel very tired muscles, you should do a relaxing massage.
- If even the simplest exercises have led to the inflammatory process, it is worth stopping and giving the body a rest, it is advisable to stop any activity until the muscles return to normal.
As a rule, the pain after exercise goes away quite quickly, but if it is already holding on for the second week, then you should consult a doctor who can prescribe the right treatment, direct you to a relaxing massage for your leg muscles and make up a complex of gentle exercises designed taking into account the individual characteristics of the body.
This disease can not be considered rare, it occurs quite often, but with all this there is a huge number of other diseases that may have similar symptoms, so it is important not to miss the moment and prevent the development of complications. Iliao-tibial syndrome can be eliminated easily within a month, but it is hardly possible to cope with more serious diseases, such as arthritis and meniscus damage, so you should definitely contact a specialist who will determine exactly what happens to the human body.