The strap did help, at least mentally, for me. It's called an IT strap and most running specialty stores should carry them. It's just a single strap that goes around your leg above your knee and it compresses the IT band so it doesn't rub so much. While it allowed me to run again (I ran the marathon with the strap, knee felt kind of weak, but no pain), it does nothing to really get rid of the problem.
The pain was the same for me that you're describing. It was the bending that hurt like hell. Putting weight on it wasn't the problem. That's because it's the point where the band is rubbing on that bone that it is inflamed, so that happens when the knee is bent (like when the back leg leaves the ground to come forward again). And yes, walking was just as excruciating, possibly more, than running. I think the bend in the knee is more pronounced with the walking gait than running, so it makes sense it would hurt more. Up and down stairs is also painful because it requires more bending.
Hate to tell you this, but you need to stop running until the pain goes away. I aggravated mine for so long that by the time I finally stopped running it was about 1.5 wks before I could even walk pain free. Ice and use ibuprofen or naproxen (an anti-inflammatory) daily until you feel no pain walking. If you're still pretty early in the injury, then you should get through that stage pretty quickly. Then you can start the stretching and strength. In the stretching and strength stage, short runs should be okay as long as it's not painful. My knee didn't feel 100% after that 1.5 wks of rest, kind of weak, but it wasn't painful so I went ahead and did some short runs (then a marathon, which doesn't really qualify as a short run! LOL!).
Here's a website that had exercises that really seemed to help me.
http://www.runningti...int.asp?id=6099
Like I said in my post above, I seemed to turn the corner when I got the deep tissue massage focusing on the IT band and then used the foam roller like in the link above. You can get the roller from any PT supply place. I bought mine online for about $6-7, then paid the same amt for shipping so it ended up being about $15. Ticked me off at the time but it was well worth it. I highly recommend the foam roller and several people I've talked to that have had IT problems said the same thing.
I really think the leg lifts against the wall have been a big help, too. The pain is in the knee, but from everything I've read, the area that really needs to be strengthened is the hip flexor because that's where the band starts. So if you get it in shape (strength and flexibility) up top, it will be able to slide over the knee bone more freely. When I first started the leg lifts, I could barely do 20 each side (and do both sides for preventive reasons if nothing else). But I was able to add 5 each week just like it says. The strength builds up quickly and I'm really hoping this will prevent a recurrence.
It's entirely possible the injury is caused by biomechanics. I have so far avoided going anywhere to have my running form evaluated. If I start having trouble again as I build up mileage I may do it just to see if it's any help. But try the stuff above first and see if that helps.
Good luck, I don't envy you. Keep me posted and let me know if you have any other questions. I got lots of advice from the women over on the Fit Moms board. There are some hard core athletes over there who have suffered every kind of injury you could imagine! LOL!
colnken, on Apr 10 2006, 06:07 PM, said:
If I stop to walk, it is almost worse, so I just run, but slow down or speed up until I get home (and oddly enough, feels best when I'm in an all-out sprint, which makes me think it's my crappy form?!). Lisa
Oh yeah, forgot this part. A PT on the Fit Moms board said that running faster than normal and/or uphill has been shown to cause less pain when you have an IT injury. Must be the way the leg is angled and how much bending the knee does in those situations. I did some incline running on the treadmill after she told me that and it was less painful.
Help
Now I've got my foot feeling better, the pain just seems to have moved up my body. 
Just kidding. 
)
