Foam Rolling and Knee Clicking

Written on December 3, 2007 at 10:30 am, by Eric Cressey

Q: A PT recommended me to do foam rolling on the IT band for the clicking sound on my knee. I’ve been rolling for quite some time but the clicking hasn’t gone yet. I read your article on the subject at T-Nation and figured you’d be a good person to ask.

Anyway, I have a question. A trainer on an online forum advised against rolling on painful areas. Instead, we should just put pressure on that area for 30 secs. Rolling would just make the tissues tighter. Is this true?

A: As always, the answer is: it depends. Pain tolerance is an individual thing. If you just have some minor discomfort – not a shooting pain or something that would lead you to believe that there are other issues at hand, it’s fine to work through it. If, however, the pain is so intense that you find yourself guarding, then you’re likely working against yourself.

The problem is that foam rolling alone won’t fix the issues entirely; it just works on tissue quality (treating the symptoms). You likely need to look at ankle and hip mobility, glute activation, and soft tissue quality at several other joints. Footwear can be an issue, and the same can be said of activities of daily living and the rest of your training program.

Mike Robertson’s Bulletproof Knees Manual would be an excellent resource for you to pick up for more information.