IT Band Compression Wrap, Knee Support

I thought this was a gimmick, and that people used it and thought it helped maybe somewhat -- and so wrote reviews exaggerating it if anything. The reason is, I could not figure out how it COULD work??!? Did not make sense. It is just a little inexpensive band. I saw the anatomy of the ITB in drawings when I ws making absolutely SURE of what I had (not the patellar-tracking version of runners knee) -- I could not figure out what this could do for the ITB? I really did not think it would work. MAYBE it might help a LITTLE? So I got one after putting it off...I was absolutely wrong. I put the pad part carefully right on the ITB band about an inch over my knee where it would naturally stay with some pressure because of the natural leg and knee shape there... (not enough to shut the blood off people, just snug enough to press on the tendon end just before it goes over the bone) This little band absolutely 100% stopped ALL pain -- to the point I ran my absolute farthest, best run of my entire running career thus far until I bonked at 22 miles because I was not planning a run that long and went way too fast and did not hydrate or eat properly, LOL. I did not expect this thing to be the CURE, but it WAS!!! I never bonked before. It was not fun, but it was joyful anyway in retrospect because I ran 22 miles PAIN FREE! I don't mean a little better, I don't mean I barely felt it, I mean it was GONE. PAIN GONE!!!This little strap was a miracle for me. Don't mess around, GET IT!!! If it does not work for you, you are not wearing it right or you have something else... Experiment with tightness and position. (The instructions say 3" above the kneecap, but I put it like 1" above.) I'm telling you this IS the cure! Now I can run while the inflammation goes away and complete healing can occur. Before this the pain got so debilitating by 15 miles I HAD to walk -- even walking was painful and I limped. I limped for all day after a long run, could barely go up and down stairs, etc. It was BAD. I thought I would soon never be able to run again. *** NOW IT'S GONE!!! ***This is the best running purchase I ever made. I am training for my first 50k, and there was no way I was going to do that without this. NOW I CAN. Can you tell I'm happy? I AM!! Thanks for making such a fantastic product, thanks Amazon for selling it.

I decided to leave a review in the hope that my case would help other runners in my situation. I have been training for my first half- marathon for 13 weeks. Around the 8th week, I started to develop a pain on the lateral side of my knee, that would specially intensify as I walked downhill or down the stairs. I continued running, but as my mileage increased, the pain increased until the point where it was impossible to run. Three weeks before the race, I had a long run of 10 miles, and after the third mile, I had to stop. The pain was excruciating, and I was crushed. I thought there was no way I could run 13.1 miles. I rested for a week, but the pain was there when I went downhill or when I tried to walk a bit faster than normal. So I was at a loss and had no idea what to do. I started doing a bit of research and I concluded what my problem was: Iliotibial Band Syndrome. I was very skeptical of bands and anything that I read online that said to help, and I thought the best thing for me was to quit running for the last 2 weeks before the race and simply cross train instead. However, as time went by I was concerned that my knee was not healed. So a few days before the race, I decided to test my knee and went out for a easy jog. Disaster ! I had to quit and was not even able to run 1 mile. So I made the decision of not even showing up for the half-marathon. However, 2 days before the race, I was researching online for something that would make my knee feel better. I read many reviews and went to many running forums and websites until I stumbled upon IT band Wrap by Por-Tec. I started to read the reviews (which were incredible helpful, thank you all for taking the time to write them! ) and had a bit of hope that this might actually help me. Well, sure enough, in the morning before the race, my package arrived and I decided to run for 10 minutes and test it.At the beginning, I was unsure where to put it. The actual instructions in the package say to place it about three inches above knee cap, but the picture in the package shows it right above it. Well, I tried it both ways and I decided that three inches felt better. In my test run (one day before the race), I was able to run for 10 minutes pain free ! This was a plus, without the band, I would have been limping from my knee and in excruciating pain.race day: I decided to go to the race and give it a shot, what the heck ? I had been training for 13 weeks and the worst thing that could have happened was that I was in so much pain, that I would have to leave the race. I promised myself that at the first signal of pain, I would leave the race and be glad that I tried.I will not walk you through my thoughts on the race, lol, but I will tell you that with every stride I was waiting for the pain to kick in and make me stop. I was sure that it was coming and that I would have to abandon the race. So, miles went by and I was still running ! ha ! It worked. I did it ! 13.1 miles and the band stayed right in place and it kept me pain free all the way. After the 6th mile, I felt my knee a bit tight, but not pain.I hope this review helps,Safe running !

Nice fabric, but did not fit my knee (compress ITB) as well as others. returned