The ITB is a complex structure with attachments to bone and blending in with muscles particularly around you backside.

To effectively stretch your ITB you need to be stretching the surrounding structures also.

You should bare in mind that the ITB has a tensile strength higher than steel which when you think your average climbing Carrabina has a breaking strain of 14+KN you are talking some serious strength so stretching the ITB in isolation is futile if you ask me. ITBS and the ITB is one of my areas of special interest within Physio so like to think I know a little but by all means not everything its also something I have problems with from time to time mainly because I don't follow my own advise.

My way of stretching the ITB would be looking at addressing hip, knee and calf muscles along with isolated myofascial release which is essentially what you are doing with the ITB rollers or tennis balls.

I don't believe that the straps that some companies sell to "solve" ITBS would work due to the compressive forces it puts on the band thereby in effect shortening it and making it rub more either at the knee or around the hip.

I'll devide the stretches into different sections and other advise etc.

First stage in an acute flair up of ITB pain you need to be looking at settling down any accute inflammatory changes this would include your normal Ice and anti inflammatorys either in tablet or gels I wasn't a fan of gels till I tried them recently.

Onto the stretches

Stretching of the Glutes is in my oppinion one of the most important areas.
As well as piriformis

My favorite piriformis stretch







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