Shin Splints treatment?

healthysmiles

I'm pretty sure I've for shin splints , a horrible pain in my shin when excercising and even when resting. It hurts when you press , like it's bruised. I'm flat footed and roll in a lot and I read that this could be a cause of shin splints. So , what do I do to treat them! Just ice and rest ? Help , I need to workout !!

CassieLEO

Get fitted for some good running shoes at a running shoe store. Lots of stretching, and draw the alphabet with your toes up in front of you and pointed. It helps strengthen your calves and the front of your legs. Lots of rest, motrin and ice packs. I just got rid of mine, and I totally feel for you because is incredibly painful!!! I walked around my house like a little old man for a couple weeks because it hurt to walk, to sit, to cross my legs, to do ANYTHING!

R_Pup1976

I'd suggest slowly transitioning to a minamalist (barefoot) running shoe. Just make sure you do a little research on how to make the transition first.

kaitedid

bump

melindalamb

Flutter kicks at the pool

Collinsky

You have to rest and ice them until they're better - if you keep doing activities that cause them to hurt, you'll just make them worse. You may be able to find some low impact cardio or other exercise that doesn't hurt, and do that while you're healing?

Once they're better, you can start doing things to strengthen them -- and once you've gotten shin splints, it's more likely that you will be prone to them in the future, so that's a good idea. There are dozens of variations of shin exercises, mostly toe-lift exercises. Someone suggested "drawing" the alphabet with your toes, which is a great one. You can also do seated or standing toe lifts, where you just repeatedly lift and lower your toes, and gradually build up how many you can do. You can also sit on the edge of a table with a bag of books dangling off your foot, and lift and lower your toes. Also, make sure to stretch your calf muscles. Shin splints have been linked to a combination of tight calves in the back and weaker muscles in the front.

Finding shoes with great arch support will most likely help significantly. Alternatively, learning to do your activities barefoot will probably also help. Doing all my cardio barefoot has made a huge difference in how I land on my feet (in the middle, and not using a heel-strike stride, or landing on my toes) and it's worked wonders at keeping shin splints at bay.

Good luck!

debduv

I had a gal give me this advice regarding shin splints. She was in the service and quickly had to find a way around shin splints when she was in basic training and running alot. Stand with your feet slightly apart. Turn your right foot/toes toward your left foot/toes and tap your toes on the right foot but leave your heel on the ground. Do those for awhile....shake them out. Then do it with the other left foot/toe pointing to the right foot/toe and tap leaving the heel on the ground. Repeat as many times as you feel needed. Since I've started doing this, I never have shin splints.

Hope that helps along with all the other great advice you received.

Good Luck.

hstallings13

I use to get them when I played tennis, the trainer had me ice for 10 mins before and after practice and then tape them up from ankle to knee. It helped with the pain, wasn't real cute in my shorts or skirt, but keeping them iced and taped helped ALOT!!!

cgcortezrn

Until you strengthen your calves and ankles wear hard soled shoes as often as you can to allow the shin splints to heal. Stay off of uneven surfaces for a while as well. this way your feet and arches don't get overworked like when you walk in sand. The hard soles support your feet and help your legs rest. Ice packs and Aleve help as well. hang in there, Hope your legs get better. Shin Splints can hurt like the ****ens.!!!!!

taem

When I started walking, I developed terrible shin splints. I went to a proper running shoe store and I had a runner/salesperson help me find a pair of good running shoes. They will ask you questions, and I highly suggest you call them first and ask if they will analyse/help you as a good shop will want to see you walk/jog so they can determine what type of foot support you need. If you are overweight like me and have wide feet, it is good to go in with perhaps a thicker than usual sock as I found that walking with me led to swollen feet as the shoes were "just right" at the store but when your feet pounds the pavement, you might want the extra space. However, after proper foot wear, you have no more excuses, work through the pain, it does get easier.

hstallings13

taping or wrapping them fairly tightly, not tight enough to cut of circulation of course, but pretty tight helps ease the pain I promise