Although superficial soft tissue injuries and musculoskeletal trauma are the most common injuries, head injuries are responsible for most fatalities and long-term disabilities. Overuse injuries may contribute to a variety of musculoskeletal complaints, compression neuropathies, perineal and genital complaints. 

Iliotibial band syndrome is a condition where people develop sharp lateral knee pain on the outside of their knee. There is a group of muscles in the outside of your hip that connect to a big long band that goes down the outside of your knee. That band rubs over little bony prominence as you go through that pedaling stroke. If that's tight or in the wrong position, with enough repetition that can get quite painful.

Think about riding for an hour at 90 rpm, that's roughly 5,400 pedal strokes and that band is going back and forth over and over. If there is some fault in the position of the bike and some fault in the person's body, flexibility or muscle imbalances can trigger the problem. If you have questions about illiotibial band syndrome, contact a local physiotherapist.

When treating a cyclist with IT band friction syndrome, some of the common approaches would be looking at level of pelvic control, hip strength, and obviously flexibility around the hip and IT band. Foot alignment and control, and just addressing any muscle imbalances in terms of strength and flexibility is important. You also can't forget to go to the bike and make sure that's set up correctly.
If you have questions about IT band syndrome, contact a local physiotherapist or sports medicine physician.

Presenter: Mr. Tyler Dumont, Physiotherapist, Surrey, BC

Now Health Network Local Practitioners: Physiotherapist

Cyclists are in a flex posture for a long time. They're trying to generate power from that flex position. It's just the prolonged nature of that position that will cause pain, and in addition to that there are many bike faults that will contribute to it as well. The first is to get the right bike positioning. There are many things you can change in the actual position that will help in redistributing the weight on the bike from your handlebars to your saddle to the pedals. You've got those three points of contact you want to distribute that weight equally.

                      

You also want the position to allow you to maintain a nice neutral back position so you're not over flexed or overextended through the back. That will help keep you in a comfortable, pain free position.

There is a middle ground you want to get the rider into. Also a cyclist might present with a leg length discrepancy. If that's not accommodated for you may see the pelvis rocking to one side repeatedly and with enough repetition that will definitely contribute to pelvic or low back pain.

If you have any questions about low back pain from cycling or bike setup, see a certified bike fitter or a physiotherapist who does bike fitting.

Presenter: Mr. Tyler Dumont, Physiotherapist, Surrey, BC

Local Practitioners: Physiotherapist