Fascial Manipulation Effects On Treatment of Iliotibial Band Syndrome

Theoretical background: Iliotibial tract syndrome is a frequent overuse syndrome in runners. It is causing pain on the lateral side of the knee during or after running. Often the runners stop the training because of intense pain. There are a lot of different approaches to the iliotibial band treatment. The effect of fascial manipulation on the iliotibial band treatment was observed in this study. Fascial manipulation is a manual therapy that tends to normalise the fascia and achieve different therapeutic effects due to normal fascial function. Method: In present research a longitudinal study of six long- and middle-distance runners (3 men and 3 women, 22 to 47 years) suffering from iliotibial band syndrome was conducted. The assessments were done four times. Four measurements were conducted in 3 weeks. First assessment was done prior to fascial manipulation and the other three were done after 3 treatments. Observation lasted 3 weeks. Pain was assessed with VAS scale, single leg stance was assessed with four different tests, static and dynamic baropodometry was used to assess static and dynamic load of legs. Results: The results showed the reduction of pain during running, static baropodometry showed no influence on static weight distribution, but dynamic baropodometry showed improvement of dynamic weight distribution, single leg stance stability improved, pain during running reduced and the running distance improved. Conclusion: Fascial manipulation improved the condition of runners suffering from iliotibial band syndrome.