Shins sore to the touch

athenasurrenders

My shins are sore to the touch. It feels almost like they are bruised but there are no marks or visible swelling. There is no pain at all when running/exercising, no problem bearing weight, and no aching or throbbing. It is only when I touch them that they hurt. It started about three days ago.

Could this be the dreaded splints? I always thought they would be painful when exercising.

I've ignored it so far since it's not causing me any issues but is there anything I should be doing about it? I don't want to get to the point of an actual injury.

Thanks.

Sox90716

It sounds like shin splints. I would use hot/cold compresses for a while. There are some good compression socks you can get for them too. Hold many miles do you have on your shoes? May be time for a new pair. Good luck! Go to your doctor if the pain gets worse.

iWaffle

My shins are sore to the touch. It feels almost like they are bruised but there are no marks or visible swelling. There is no pain at all when running/exercising, no problem bearing weight, and no aching or throbbing. It is only when I touch them that they hurt.

Welcome to my world. I have th e same exact issue. The term "shin splints" is a generic term that generally refers to pain in one of the foreleg muscles that run along your shins. It is possible that you can get bone fractures but in my case (and probably yours) it's most likely one of the muscles complaining about how you're using it. As mentioned above having older shoes like I currently have can cause this but newer runners adding miles or speed a bit too soon can also cause this issue. Takes time for your legs to get used to what your mind wants it to do.

What helps me? First of all ice your shins for 15-20 minutes after you run. You can buy fancy socks that have slots for inserting cold packs but I just fill a sandwich bag half full of crushed ice, prop my feet up and let the ice rest on my shins while I relax after my run. This helps a great deal. You'll notice a huge difference in your recovery time if you're like me. The other thing that seems to help is muscle exercises. Hold your foot off the floor and draw out the alphabet with your toes. Do this 2-3 times per foot a couple times a day. It's supposed to help strengthen the muscle.

Try to make sure you're not heel striking when you run. This will irritate the shin muscle. If you can't get new shoes or compression socks to help out ease up on your speed or take a day off to let them rest. Icing and the exercises helps keep it down to a minimal amount of pain for me but taking a day off nearly always gets rid of the sensitivity.

athenasurrenders

Thank you so much for the advice. My shoes are pretty new so I don't think it's those, but I will get some compression socks and ice my shins and see if that helps.

Thanks for the tip about the exercises, I will get on that.