> Hi all, I'm having IT band release surgery in 2 weeks and have a couple of
> questions for those of you who have had it.

Dear Alex,
I wish you all the best for ths surgery. I have had surgery in 2005 an can tell
you about it.
>
> 1) What is the recovery period like? How soon after could you walk a
> reasonable distance, do leisurely biking, or drive a car? I'm concerned
> about getting to/around a college campus for classes and such post-op.

I felt the recovery went very slowly.
I had surgery on 3 December 2005. Until February (!) the area around the scar
was swollen. In March it was o.k. again and I started swimming (slowly). I had
no itbs anymore. I started running in May or so. However, after one year of
running - I increased my mileage slowly to 15 kilometres - I got severy itbs and
an inflammation of the head of tibia and of the shinbone muscles. Now, after 1
year of very good PT I am fine again, but have to be careful when running (I run
with itbs straps and only up to 30-40 minutes twice a week).
>
> 2) My surgeon mentioned filing down the bone the itb rubs against in
> addition to cutting a notch out of the itb. I've never heard of this but
> it
> seems like a good idea. Anyone else heard of this?

I don't know it this is what was done to me. I am from Germany, you know, and do
not know all expressions in English. My doc said he will "burn" the bone
(periosteum) out. He sais, wiht this technique, it really smells smoky. Maybe
you can ask your doc if this is what he wants to do? As I said, I was free from
pain for a year or so. Just don't go too far with running after the surgery!


> 3) Any advice/insights you have to offer about the procedure, recovery,
> rehabilitation, consequences, etc?

As I said, a surgery does not mean that itbs cannot come back. It would be good
to find out the reason for your itbs. Do you pronate (your feet are somehow not
normal), for example? I would also strongly recommend to use itbs straps while
running, and a foam roller to stretch and keep your it-bands soft.

All the best
Nora

>
> Thanks!
> Alex
>
> PS - For all you anti-surgery folk, I've had debilitating itbs for almost
> 2
> years (ie, I can do NOTHING with my legs except very limited walking and
> biking), have not responded to other treatments, and am dealing with a
> very
> good and experienced surgeon, so I'm pretty confident about going through
> with this.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

--
Der GMX SmartSurfer hilft bis zu 70% Ihrer Onlinekosten zu sparen!
Ideal für Modem und ISDN: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/smartsurfer