Shin Splints - Need your help please

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  • dulcemiel
    dulcemiel Posts: 48 Member
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    All great advice above, only thing i would add is (warm up don't stretch before running, stretch afterwards) when you are relaxing do the ABC's with your feet ( imagine drawing the letters with your toes, all the different range of motion with help) . Ice do bring down inflamation and whenever possible get a massage to balance you and increase your circulation to the help heal. Hope it helps.
  • sapalee
    sapalee Posts: 409 Member
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    I had horrible shin splints as long as I ran in running shoes. I got fitted for them, bought the custom inserts, and didn't skimp out on the shoes. Still, awful shin splints. I could only run a couple of minutes at a time before they were just debilitating and I had to slow to a walk.

    Since I'd tried all of the fancy shoe technology, I thought the only thing I had left to try was barefoot-style running. I bought a pair of Vibrams, and sure enough, after slowly breaking my calves in to the new form, my shin pain was gone. Not reduced, but entirely gone. I don't even notice my shins when I run now. I'm a total convert. (I've since learned the reason for the reduced impact is multifaceted: when using minimalist footwear or running barefoot, the arch of your foot isn't constricted and can freely act as a spring. Landing on your forefoot enables your calve muscles to absorb some of the shock, and even more importantly, if you run with a high enough cadence, the tendons in your legs will also act as springs... absorbing shock, but releasing it again with the next step... helping you run more efficiently with the same energy expenditure. Here's a great snippet from a scholarly publication that breaks it down better than I can: http://www.unshod.org/pfbc/pfrossi.htm )

    I will say, I think part of the difference is landing with a forefoot strike instead of a heelstrike. Traditional running shoes encourage a heel strike, but with minimalist shoes, you don't have the padding and it hurts to land on your heel, so you naturally adopt a fore or midfoot strike pattern. If your shoes don't have super massive clunky heals, you might try landing more on the forefoot with your existing footwear. It won't give you natural use of your arch back, but it's a step in the right direction if you are currently heel-striking.

    This for sure, activates the large muscles in your calf so there is less strain on the small ones attached to your shin.

    And rolling your calves before and after with some type of roller, I use a big PVC pipe section.

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