IT Band Syndrome Diagnosis and Treatment

[Josse]

quote by lulu What about ART (Active Release Technique)?

I think this would be helpful as well,  I do myofascial release which is similar and I love this tecnique.  The best thing is to use preventitive measures before you get injured like regular massage, icing after long or hard workouts, regular stretching/yoga, crosstrain on the off season and back off on high milage, listen to your body, chiropractics, have rest days, and what ever else you have found to work for yourself.  
I think runners are a special breed of people and we tend to push ourselves to the limit and unfortunatly sometimes injury is the result.

[Michael]

Forgot to say that running on softer surfaces like grass or dirt seems to help me and avoiding asphalt and especially concrete seems to help

[Sirenesque]

If you have access to a pool, Pete Pfitzinger has a great 9 week deep water running program.  There has been some great research done on the effectiveness of pool running, it is worth looking into.  Good Luck!

[Paul Petersen]

If you have access to a pool, Pete Pfitzinger has a great 9 week deep water running program.  There has been some great research done on the effectiveness of pool running, it is worth looking into.  Good Luck!

Case in point, my college coach Brian Diemer had a stress fracture before the '92 Olympics, did pool running like a crazy man, got out of the pool about 6-weeks before the Trials to get his "land legs" back, and managed to win Trials and then to take 7th in the steeple with like an 8:16 or something like that. We used pool running heavily in our program at Calvin, and even saw a few All Americans come out of "the deep". The thing about it is that since it is non-impact, you can work out hard EVERY DAY. It is mentally grueling, not to mention physically grueling, but people would come out with new fortitude.

[Josse]

I tried pool running and found it extreamly boring and very hard to get my heart rate up.  I would much rather swim laps.

[Sirenesque]

Heart rates during pool running tend to be about 10-15 beats lower than dry land running.  The increased pressure from the water on the legs provides better venous blood return to the heart resulting in lower heart rates.  Perceived exertion in the water tends to be much harder.  I found I had to beat myself nearly to death to attain target heart rates even when adjusted for the water.  I agree though, it can be quite boring!