How long for shin splints to go away

DX2JX2

Gotta love the reminders that you're not as young as you used to be...

I pushed myself way too hard the past 6 weeks (5K PR attempt on the heels of the last high volume week of HM training, followed by a HM PR attempt less than two weeks later), and gave myself a nice case of shin splints.

I waited about 4 days after the HM to try running again but just ended up aggravating them such that the pain felt as bad as day one. I tried being a bit more patient with my running schedule over the next two weeks and while the pain was much better/tolerable, it was still noticeably there.

I finally decided last weekend that I would basically be a couch potato until my legs were totally pain free and it's been killing me (especially with the gorgeous fall weather about to settle in). About 6 days of zero activity later and I can still feel a slight twinge when I walk. Running is clearly still off the table for now but I'm comforted by the fact that the rest is obviously doing me good.

The only thing I'm really worried about is reintroducing running too soon and having to do this whole process over.

For those of you who have dealt with shin splints, about how long did they take to completely go away and how did you reintroduce a running schedule? Is there anything I can do to help the process along, or is there any equipment I can use to give myself some security against a reoccurrence when I do start running again?

capaul42

Compression sleeves/socks or KT tape. I don't typically take time off because of shin splints unless it's really bad.

heybales

After my running form changed and I've confirmed any time of renewed running schedule kept the better form - I've never gotten them since probably 25 yrs ago.
Gotten on the verge where muscle was sore barely, but not to what I'd call shin splint level I recall.
And that is even when doing what I knew was some pretty foolish levels of increase.

I have to confirm my foot is no where near the level of slapping the ground with forefoot, meaning I'm landing on heel too much and using shin muscles in eccentric loading to slow down the forefoot going down, which is a very hard workout.

Same effect running down a hill or many stairs going down - except those are big muscles with plenty of sharing the load - shin muscles not so much.

motivatedmartha

I know this sounds weird but I really believe that my shin pain was caused by underactive glutes! I don't run but do walk a lot and it was becoming so painful that I didn't want to do anything. By accident I found that I wasn't really engaging my glutes when exercising (including during pilates and other resistance/strength exercising - including squats) A couple of monhts of concentrating on them (bridges and donkey kicks were good) and my shins are now pretty much pain free. Just a thought.

mbaker566

weeks typically. how much depends on you and the severity.
rest, where good shoes with proper support, you can try compression sleeves/socks, i doubted kt tape till i tried it for peroneal tendonitis, ice, roll/massage, stretch, anti-inflammatory, rest some more

krisleve7707

as another poster said, invest in good shoes! And I also find that the tighter my sneakers are, I'm more apt to get shin splints (not sure if this is an actual reason ppl get them)

GiddyupTim

Um....I suspect you are hearing from people with unusually severe cases here.
Almost every runner develops shin splints at some time, usually when they are first starting to run and they are ramping up the miles. That is, in the first six months to one year of running.
It heals and it does not usually come back.
Many runners cut back their miles, but run through it, and it heals.
As to how long it takes, I dunno. From a couple of weeks to a couple of months? I haven't had it for years. But, when I did, and I was much younger, mine went away in probably three-four weeks, while I continued to run, though much shorter distances.
Check your shoes, so that you are sure you have a pair that eases all the pounding somewhat.
Be careful with the anti-inflammatories. Sure, if you have pain after overdoing it, treat that pain and take care of it. But anti-inflammatories can interfere a bit with healing so don't use if not absolutely necessary. You may heal faster and better without them.
Do you have an exercise bike to use while you heal? There is no pounding on the bike. That might be a partial solution.