Home › Blog › What is the ITB? Why is Your ITB Always Tight?

What is the ITB? It’s a structure at the side of the hip that connects the side of your hip to your knee. It’s also one of those abbreviations medical doctors, chiropractors, and physical therapists use when someone has chronic pain at the side of the hip or from the side of the hip down to the knee. Oftentimes stretches are prescribed, the most common of which involves a foam roller. The patient “rolls out” the ITB to provide some self massage and stretch. While this can help the pain temporarily, in some patients it doesn’t get rid of the problem. What’s happening in these patients, the ones I see at the gym constantly rolling out their tight ITBs week after week? The video above goes into one set of reasons why the ITB is always tight and some things to think about which are often missed causes of the issue. Enjoy!

Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile