Are you a male runner, with pain on the outside surface of your knee? You could have iliotibial pain syndrome. As with many things in science we are learning more and now understand more about this type of problem. It is often a problem with runners going down hill  or running on trails as the rear leg is helping the front leg to decelerate. The iliotibial band is actually a very large tendon than runs on the outside of your leg which helps to transmit and absorb forces whilst running.

               If it receives excess pressure it can irritate the fatty tissue directly underneath it leading to pain on the outside of the leg particularly when going down hill or straightening and flexing your knee.

               It often occurs with people who have had a recent spike in running. It can occur in females too but more often females get knee pain called patellofemoral pain which is a little different.

               The solution is to strengthen the surrounding muscles of your hip and knee and to have correct load management strategies. All the more reason to book in with one of our physiotherapists/exercise physiologists today.

Written by Jonathan Khoo

Physiotherapist at the Movement Mill