Iliotibial (IT) Band and Lower back pain relief
I moved to the USA in 2009 and starting 2012/2013, I started feeling pain in my Iliotibial (IT) bands. At first I ignored it assuming it is a temporary thing and as the pain was ignorable in the beginning. Later this started happening often and I started taking it seriously. Since I work in the IT industry and sitting at desk for 8 hrs (sometimes after work too) is what I do. To counter that I started going to punch boxing in 2013, where I used to do a lot of burpees, punching, core exercises once a week. One day at the training the pain in my IT band was severe and I had to quit punch boxing. I consulted a doctor and I was prescribed Physical Therapy. I have lived in India for 24 years and never had to go a physical therapist (of course I was young then) so I wasn’t really impressed by physical therapy so I started walking (a lot), playing cricket, few exercises at home to keep myself active on weekends. It still did not help me.
The pain kept getting worse day by day and it started hurting my lower back and hips too. I also observed that my heel showed a lot of red zones on the Dr Scholl’s Kiosk machine. Then I consulted a general physician, he suggested changing shoes every alternate day so that shoes come back to their normal state. This made no sense to me but I still purchased two shoes and used them on alternative days. No luck!!!
Next I went to a Chiropractor, he charged me $75 per visit and would do some bone cracking adjustments, some back massage (with a machine) and some hand massage. I would feel good for a month or so and then again it would be back.
Now the pain started going to my upper back. This is when I really started searching for root cause, I turned to Yoga. I started doing some Yoga exercises 20–30 min per day. I felt some relief but the pain wasn’t gone. I used to still feel the pain in IT band but then I used to stretch myself for few minutes and it would fade away. I also started placing my laptop at my eye level to avoid bending my neck. It helped but not 100%.
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Then the Eureka thing happened — I realized that I was only considering the 8 hrs when I sit in front of the laptop but never considered my sleeping posture/mattress. The mattress I bought was Extra Firm but the extra firm wasn’t as firm as a cotton mattress we get in India.
I started sleeping on a thin sheet of comforter on the floor with a pillow that was very soft. Every morning I woke up, I do these exercises — it helps adjust the spine.
The root cause is not just sitting in front of your laptop for 8 hrs, but the posture/material on which you sleep for 8 hrs, matters. Avoid mattress for few days/weeks and see how it goes. This worked out for me. I started this in Oct 2020 and today is Dec 27 2020, I have not had IT band or lower back pain. I am writing this blog so that others can benefit too because I know how the pain is. Hope this helps you too.
Good Luck!!!
