Shin Splints

rachgolds

I've been struggling with shin splints for a few months now, and nothing seems to be helping. I've tried icing, strengthening exercise, and compression sleeves; I've been fitted for shoes at a running store; and now I'm even seeing a physical therapist. I'm training for a marathon and I'm slowly increasing my mileage according to a plan, plus I'm taking all of the suggested rest days, so I don't think I'm overdoing it. Does anyone have any suggestions that I haven't thought of yet?

CarsonRuns

Have you tried running on a softer surface, like grass or dirt trails?

rachgolds

I have not. I suppose I could give that a shot. Then I'd have to get trail shoes, right?

CarsonRuns

I have not. I suppose I could give that a shot. Then I'd have to get trail shoes, right?

Nah. Road shoes will be fine unless you get on really rocky, muddy trails.

jenluvsushi

Have you tried running barefoot or with minimalist shoes? I had horrible shin splints until I switched. I'm still not a great runner (horrible form and I hate it) but I did see the difference right away.

rachgolds

Cool, thanks! Now al I gotta do is find some trails!

Roadie2000

Have you tried running barefoot or with minimalist shoes? I had horrible shin splints until I switched. I'm still not a great runner (horrible form and I hate it) but I did see the difference right away.

Try this. Are you primarily a heel striker? My minimalist shoes taught me how to be more of a midfoot striker and I haven't had shin pain since.

rachgolds

Have you tried running barefoot or with minimalist shoes? I had horrible shin splints until I switched. I'm still not a great runner (horrible form and I hate it) but I did see the difference right away.

I actually switched to the Brooks pure cadence and my shin splints got worse, so I switched back to the glycerin 9s and they just aren't getting better now.

nickhuffman74

Are you a new runner? How good is your form, do you train/cross train, is this caused by uphill/downhill/flat, do they start at certain distances? A lot can cause shin splints.

NoxDineen

I got TERRIBLE shin splints the first few times I ran, and like the super-nerd I am I spent hours researching them to see what I could change.

Next time I ran I noticed that I was *really* tensing my foot & leg as it was in the air moving forward. When I was mindful to keep the airborne ankle relaxed, which released the contraction on my front shin muscle, I found an improvement within days. Now it's automatically part of my stride and I haven't thought about shin splints in a year or so.

See if you can get somebody knowledgeable to assess your stride, or just read up on proper running stride and go for a short run where you super focus on how your body is moving and where room for improvement lies.

gymmonkey67

I'm thinking about going with inserts my sister runs a lot more than me and about a year ago she went to A store called Ideal Feet and she swears by the inserts, I'm not sure yet even though you can get re fitted for life, a few hundred buck sounds like a lot. Has anyone else heard of these and do they work? I trust my sister that she loves them but still money is money:)