I have been dealing with lateral knee pain off and on for the past couple of months. Sometimes I never have pain and then randomly it will hurt for a day or two then go away and then come back a couple weeks later. I do all the stretching, I probably could do more strength exercises on my hips and glutes, and I have really good running shoes. Anyone have any advice on how to get rid of the pain for good?

I typically give shotgun advice of strengthening the deep hip muscles (glute med/min, piriformis, the gemeli,) as well as stretching those muscles. In most people they're weak, in many folks they're tight, and quite often they're both weak and tight. Then, foam rolling the IT band and the glutes/TFL should also help loosen up any tight muscles, if that's the cause.

That's probably not the most scientific approach, but it typically helps.

I had it very bad a couple years ago, and got a massage a week focused on lower body. Did that for 6 weeks while training at the same time. That, and a lot of extra stretching and roller work got it fixed for me. Hate the roller too, but it is effective at getting that IT band to loosen up, which takes pressure off the knee, which was my problem also.

OKay so lots of stretching, foam rolling, and lower body workouts. I can do that! Thanks everybody!

Also anecdotal evidence, but I had IT band issues when I first started running a lot. Then I switched to shoes that had a lower heel drop and it helped a lot. Now I only wear shoes with about 6mm or less of heel drop.

So i have found that a hard small plastic roller is the best. I have my wife roll my legs with it. The hardest foam roller works well, but not as hard as the plastic. I also have a hard ball about the size of a softball that i roll on with my butt and legs.

So then i find when i dont run for a while, like more than a week combined with not stretching or rolling makes it bad. It takes a few short runs to get me back to being okay.

One thing im learning is muscles get tight and causes lots of pain. If you do a lot of running, swimming, or cycling, its all about warm up and stretching, then rolling. Always stretch after working out.

I have a good stretching routine i picked up by searching the web for it band stretches

If you're a runner, monitor the surface you're on. If you always run on the road with your L leg towards the curb (against traffic) that can easily lead to ITB syndrome.

Best practice at this point usually involves what an above person mentioned, glute and lateral hip strengthening as well as potentially some stretching for the TFL - it's considered to be partially due to muscular imbalance and to the poor running mechanics that can result from weak hips.

Relative rest also a good general recommendation in the case of ITB.

I've been dealing with IT band issues for 2.5 months so I know how much it sucks. I've spend countless hours researching online myself, and a few hundred $$ on sports chiro & physical therapy. Below are things that helped me other than daily stretching/rolling.

- I tried minimal rest at first, 3-4 days at most, and was still running just not my normal 3-4 days/week. Three weeks after my initial injury I had to stop one run 3 miles in because pain was so bad, then I rested a full two weeks. You know your body best so you may need to take time off, or just take it easy while you rehab.

- You definitely need to work on strength exercise for hips/glutes. I found this one online and did it every other day for a few weeks initially. Now, I do it once a week along with my stretching.
Illustrations of ITB Rehab Routine
Video of ITB Rehab Routine

- Slow your pace. Once I started running again after taking 2 full weeks off, I was running 1:30-2 minutes slower than pre-injury. I am just now getting closer to my "normal" pace this week which is about 2.5 months since initial injury.

- If you sit at a desk all day, definitely focus on stretching/rolling your TFL. See video below, specifically starting around 4:00. You can use a racquet ball or similar which is what I do. This provides immediate relief to my knee every time I do it.
TFL Mobility Drill

- I recently started doing "yoga for runners" based on responses from a different thread. I do this once a week now
Yoga for Runners

Good luck with recovery and I hope this info helps!