TFL

Well, it's time for me to get back in the swing of things. I went on an interview yesterday and i think i have found the place for me. I have spent countless hours trying to decide what my  dream job would look like. I knew i wanted a place that would value my vision, and respect the kind of work i like to do. I wanted a place where i can learn from other therapists, and also, maybe they could learn from me, and a place that values going out into the community and participating and promoting what we do. I have found that place. More on that as it becomes more official. :)

Lets get on with my anatomy post. This next muscle is a fun one. I have gotten the privilege to have A LOT of experience on this specific muscle because my husband has had issues with his in the past. It's a muscle that's name sounds super fancy and can cause super fancy problems if it's not working right.
This muscle is the Tensor Fascia Latae of the TFL.

The TFL is located on the outside of the hip and attaches on the outer edge of the illiac spine and goes down to blend into the IT band.

The TFL does many different functions, it's a hip flexor, rotates the leg inward, as well as abducts the leg or pulls the leg away from the midline of the body.

If the TFL is overworking, it can cause a lot of strain on the IT band and in turn cause pain and dysfunction in both the knee and the hip. I see this in a lot of runners. Some people want to foam roll their IT bands, that's great, but if you don't know why  you are foam rolling, it won't do much good in the long run.

The TFL can be underworking as well. If that happens, sometimes the groin muscles will have to overwork to stabilize the hip and that causes quite a bit of pain as well.

A good example of this is, my husband played competitive disc golf for many years. During his career he developed debilitating pain in his right hip that went all the way down the outside of his right leg and eventually started effecting his knee.   In disc golf he constantly used a run up and plant on the outside of his right leg. We found his TFL compensating for most of his adductor muscles as well as other core muscles. Once we started working with him, his pain lessened greatly, and today, he is pain free.

If your an athlete and you have problems with your IT band, you might want to check out your TFL!

Have a healthy day everyone!