ITBS...the bain of my training thus far

Well, I'm going into week three of not being able to do much of anything active due to the pain in my left hip. I've tried to at least do my runs up until last week when I started finding that the pain began worsening even less than a block from home if I attempted any running. I can manage to walk through the pain but running is a totally different story. I know that I don't have a fracture of any kind in my hip because I can hop on the affected leg without any major pain, some mild discomfort but nothing I can't make it through. I'm getting a bit frustrated, flustered, annoyed and concerned that when I see physical therapy tomorrow that they may tell me that I can't run for an extended period of time.

I'm fairly positive that this is all related to a tight iliotibial band or ITB AKA iliotibial band syndrom (ITBS). I'm feeling the snapping sensation over my greater trochanter (the big bony bump just at your lower hip) with certain positioning and my pain is located in both the greater trochanter and the lateral iliac crest (top edge of your pelvic bone at your hip) where the ITB connects. Don't you love reading the technical writing of a nurse/runner? lol! Anyway, the pain is significant enough that I can't lay on my left side for more than about 2 minutes which sucks because that's the side I sleep on most. It also seems to be spread between the two points of pain usually with one position being more painful at times than the other. Then, to top it all off, my ITB issues in my right knee are acting up again. Every once in  a while a certain position will trigger the snapping of the ITB over the lateral epicondyle (outside of the knee) and/or a sharp, stabbing pain will have me pretty much yelling out in pain for a minute of so before it goes away.

So, here I patiently await my appointment tomorrow doing what I can as far as stretches and such to help alleviate the pain as much as possible. Hopefully the news won't put a halt to my training, especially since I have a 12K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. So, keep your fingers crossed for me. Hopefully I'll be back to training within the week!

My areas of pain are in green and on the left leg rather than right.