Meardon,
S., Campbell, S. and Derrick, T. Sports Biomechanics, 2012; 11: 464 – 472.
Iliotibial
Band Syndrome (ITBS) is characterised by pain located in the area of lateral
femoral condyle, occurring after substantial distance during running/cycling activity.
ITBS is thought to occur as an inflammatory and/or degenerative response due to
excessive ITB rubbing against lateral femoral condyle during repetitive knee
flexion and extension while running/cycling. Others suggest that it is fat pad,
located between ITB and lateral femoral condyle, excessive compression which
creates pain symptoms. Much attention has been recently brought to
biomechanical factors and ITBS. Some authors suggested that a narrower step
width during running is likely to increase hip adduction and influence knee
internal rotation resulting in greater ITB strains and strain rates. This study
investigated this hypothesis.
15
experienced runners participated in the study. Strain and strain rate were
estimated from a musculoskeletal model of the lower extremity.
Authors
found that ITB strain increased as the step width became narrower with the
narrow step width condition having the greatest level of strain compared to
preferred running style and wide step widths. ITB strain rate increased as step
width decreased. Hip adduction and knee internal rotation were greater in the
narrow condition than the preferred and wide conditions.
Take home
message is that the wider step widths during running may reduce ITB strain and,
to a lesser extent, strain rate, which potentially may reduce risk of
sustaining ITBS. Running style retraining, in order to reduce load placed on
ITB, could be particularly beneficial in runners who present with a very narrow
step width or crossover running style.
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