Originally Posted by
KC8QVO
Your IT bands are tendons, not muscles = they dont stretch and contract during movements. However, stretching them - which is what does occur when rolling - will loosen up the stabilizing forces for holding your leg bones together and knee cap in alignment. From a runners' perspective - I can see that.
Correct, you can't stretch the IT band. Though what you can do is 'crush' it from a tightly-bound oval, which is rigid when it flexes over the top of the tibia, to a looser-bound flat flexible shape. This seems to work in preventing or delaying irritation and inflammation (at least for me). Overall length has nothing to do with it.