Pain in upper thighs when jogging

[TraceSPN]

Need advice from the exercise gurus, please.

I am experiencing pain on the outside of my thighs, between the top of the thigh to about a handspan above the knee.  It’s on both sides, exactly the same place.  It started when I started to jog during parts of my daily walks, instead of just brisk walking.  I’ve tried taking anti inflammatories but it hasn’t helped.  I can only run short distances before the pain stops me.  It’s not nearly as bad when I just walk.  I wear good runners. 

Should I rub in something like Decorub or similar before I exercise?   Should I back off the intensity or distance?  I’m doing 10km in two sessions every day.  

Thanks in advance.

[Heybales · Accepted solution]

That's the iliotibial band it sounds like.

And though that usually makes it hurt closer to the knee, it can start higher too or general tightness as you describe.

Stop running now before you do hurt your knee. Running through the pain, or running when you are getting pain from it - not good idea at all.

You could use some stretches. While you do some research, keep this info from studies in mind.

https://exrx.net/ExInfo/Stretching

Your running during the walking very good idea, but may have jumped in too much too fast.

Perhaps keep it at just 20% of your workout for now - 1 min run:4 min walk. Repeat for time available.

But first get to point of no more pain - just walk - when it would have been time to jog - stretch a few times.

These are some great PT's with advice.

https://youtu.be/MO2ZNz03YEI

And of course another great PT. Some disagreement. So be careful of where the problem really is.

https://youtu.be/1iODncOLJnk

[TraceSPN]

 Thank you! 

[DanOstin]

thanks for sharing