My shins hurt

I get very achey shins too when I do anything with impact. I heard it was from your calves being stronger than your shins and until you strenghten that muscle, it may continue to happen. I haven't really found a solution, but it seems to happen less than when I started exercising.

It's Shin Splints that you're suffering from.
Sometimes it can be caused from a particular exercise that you're doing.
If you try an alternative exercise that will be kinder on your shins such as swimming or yoga it should help to ease some of the pain.
I tend to get it really bad if I do alot of cycling, fast paced walking or running. So I stick to short bursts of cardio such as aerobics or slow paced walking and do alot of weight training alongside this.

Yoga is really good for your muscles and flexibility so will probably help if you want to try it.

If you want to carry on using the treadmill or jogging, try and reduce it to every fortnight and gradually reintroduce it.

There are compression bandages you can get for your legs but I've never tried these.

Hope that helps.

It's a combination of weak shin muscles and pounding down on your heels. If you run try landing midfoot not on your heels. Having properly fitted running shoe will provide some cushioning. Do your stretching AFTER your workout, not before. Before a workout all you want to do is warm up your muscles, not stretch them. Jumping jacks, walking, jogging in place are good ways to do a warm up.

To strengthen those muscles you can stand with your toes on the edge of a step and lift yourself up and own. Another exercise is to sit with your feet flat on the floor and just lift your toes up as high as you can and back down again. That one is easy to do while sitting at a desk.

Sounds a little like Shin Splints. Now the advice I'll give you is the advice of a runner who suffered with shin splints for years and my advice is geared more towards running. Some commonality though...

Shin splints are usually a result of too much, too soon, bad footwear, a mechanical defect in your stride or a combination of the above.

First consideration is that you may have just progressed too quickly into the activity in which case back off the exercise in question to a more manageable place. Build gradually. Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was the human body. Yet some people believe they can be endurance athletes within hours of commencing an activity.

Bad Footwear. I'd rather run barefoot than run in dead or broken down shoes (and yes sometimes I do run barefoot as it is very helpful in developing muscles that aren't normally used when shod.) Most modern shoes are designed with a purpose in mind and have a limited durability. Court shoes allow for more lateral movement and support of the foot, running shoes are designed to move forward etc. Make sure you are using the correct type of shoe for the sport. Also it is important to note that everyone is slightly different... some need Stability shoes, some need neutral shoes and some need motion control shoes. It is important to get your gait analyzed to best determine the right type of shoe for you. You won't find this at a Walmart or Target store... Go to a reputable store where people are trained (Running Room, Fleet Feet, RoadRunner etc...alternately a Sports MD or Physiotherapist can do a more comprehensive gait analysis)

Also important to note that over time shoes break down and stop supporting your foot properly. The magic number for quality running shoes is about 500 miles. For cheaper shoes its significantly less. (You usually get what you pay for)

A professional gait analysis will also tell you if you have any mechanical flaws in the way you run. It could be excessive overpronation or suppination. It could also be a muscle imbalance or weakness that can be addressed via physio or a specific exercise. In my case... I was able to work thru my shin splints via a series of daily exercises.

Here are a few of exercises that may help;

1. Single leg calf raises (start with 10 each leg 4x daily)
2. Make "fists" with your toes and walk on your heels for 30 paces 4x daily.
3. Get a bucket of those little army men (or marbles) Spill them on the floor and practice picking them up with your toes.
4. Surgical tubing exercises to strengthen the ankle.
5. Stand barefoot on one foot and balance for as long as you can. Try to lengthen the duration each time.
6. Use your toes to write the alphabet in the air (no pencil required).

I hope these help you out. Good Luck!

Agreed. It's shin splints. Take it easy until they feel better, and stretch appropriately. Shins that are sore because you're new at exercising and didn't stretch properly aren't a good reason to completely eliminate an exercise. If it continues long term, then it's probably something besides shin splints.

Are you exercising at home? I find that if I am exercising at home (on carpet), my shins hurt, so I do not wear sneakers or I wear very flat sneakers. It works for me to be barefoot.

Pushing thru a little pain is acceptable. If the pain lasts more the 3-4 days...or is a sharp pain. I'd recommend seeing a physiotherapist or sports md (Note that there is a difference between a Doctor and a Sports Doctor...)

Pain is your bodies early detection system and should not be ignored. Pain means something is wrong. I ignored it last spring and ran two marathons and a 10 K in 28 days... I ended up with a serious stress fracture that sidelined my running last summer for 4 months. I am only now back to doing a 20 Km run every weekend.

Quick Word on NSAIDS (and then I'll shut up) - NSAIDS aka Runner's Beans.... If you think about it... what does it tell you when you need to mask the pain to do an activity? NSAIDS only conceal the pain, they don't solve the problem. They just make it easy to get more seriously injured. If you are in that much pain that you require a pain killer... maybe you should listen to your body and rest?

Quick Word on NSAIDS (and then I'll shut up) - NSAIDS aka Runner's Beans.... If you think about it... what does it tell you when you need to mask the pain to do an activity? NSAIDS only conceal the pain, they don't solve the problem. They just make it easy to get more seriously injured. If you are in that much pain that you require a pain killer... maybe you should listen to your body and rest?

NSAID's don't just mask pain - they're also used to control inflammation.

My point is that when people take them BEFORE they go do an activity, they are leading themselves down a dangerous path. They attempt to conceal the pain and inevitably do further damage.

While I agree that they can control inflammation, it is something that is best left for AFTER an activity and not before.

Rest is a far more effective and safe approach.

Sounds like you are just doing too much too soon. So, you need to rest and get rid of them. Then you need to walk 3 days a week. (use the bike too for say 2 days). Be sure that you have good running shoes fitted by a running store. Then learn to walk a mile for a few kilometers, and then walk it fast, and then run it. Be careful of steep inclines on the treadmill.

Take it slow. Running and biking are great indoor/outdoor sports you can do just about anywhere, anytime.

Sounds a little like Shin Splints. Now the advice I'll give you is the advice of a runner who suffered with shin splints for years and my advice is geared more towards running. Some commonality though...

Shin splints are usually a result of too much, too soon, bad footwear, a mechanical defect in your stride or a combination of the above.

First consideration is that you may have just progressed too quickly into the activity in which case back off the exercise in question to a more manageable place. Build gradually. Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was the human body. Yet some people believe they can be endurance athletes within hours of commencing an activity.

Bad Footwear. I'd rather run barefoot than run in dead or broken down shoes (and yes sometimes I do run barefoot as it is very helpful in developing muscles that aren't normally used when shod.) Most modern shoes are designed with a purpose in mind and have a limited durability. Court shoes allow for more lateral movement and support of the foot, running shoes are designed to move forward etc. Make sure you are using the correct type of shoe for the sport. Also it is important to note that everyone is slightly different... some need Stability shoes, some need neutral shoes and some need motion control shoes. It is important to get your gait analyzed to best determine the right type of shoe for you. You won't find this at a Walmart or Target store... Go to a reputable store where people are trained (Running Room, Fleet Feet, RoadRunner etc...alternately a Sports MD or Physiotherapist can do a more comprehensive gait analysis)

Also important to note that over time shoes break down and stop supporting your foot properly. The magic number for quality running shoes is about 500 miles. For cheaper shoes its significantly less. (You usually get what you pay for)

A professional gait analysis will also tell you if you have any mechanical flaws in the way you run. It could be excessive overpronation or suppination. It could also be a muscle imbalance or weakness that can be addressed via physio or a specific exercise. In my case... I was able to work thru my shin splints via a series of daily exercises.

Here are a few of exercises that may help;

1. Single leg calf raises (start with 10 each leg 4x daily)
2. Make "fists" with your toes and walk on your heels for 30 paces 4x daily.
3. Get a bucket of those little army men (or marbles) Spill them on the floor and practice picking them up with your toes.
4. Surgical tubing exercises to strengthen the ankle.
5. Stand barefoot on one foot and balance for as long as you can. Try to lengthen the duration each time.
6. Use your toes to write the alphabet in the air (no pencil required).

I hope these help you out. Good Luck!

All good stuff!

Quick Word on NSAIDS (and then I'll shut up) - NSAIDS aka Runner's Beans.... If you think about it... what does it tell you when you need to mask the pain to do an activity? NSAIDS only conceal the pain, they don't solve the problem. They just make it easy to get more seriously injured. If you are in that much pain that you require a pain killer... maybe you should listen to your body and rest?

NSAID's don't just mask pain - they're also used to control inflammation.

My point is that when people take them BEFORE they go do an activity, they are leading themselves down a dangerous path. They attempt to conceal the pain and inevitably do further damage.

While I agree that they can control inflammation, it is something that is best left for AFTER an activity and not before.

Rest is a far more effective and safe approach.

I hate to break it to you - but that's not exactly correct. In order to get true anti-inflammatory effects of an NSAID, you really need to take it consistently. For example, with normal OTC ibuprofen I believe it's every 4-6 hours. If you just pop some before activity, then you're really only getting the pain modulation effect. I do agree with about taking medications right before though - you really need time to allow the medication to get into your bloodstream to take effect. Otherwise you're just popping the potential for an ulcer since your body is more concerned with maintaining activity instead of digestion.

But thats what we are talking about here right? People who take them prior to or during an activity. I won't dispute the proper usage of NSAIDS. Celebrex, Ibuprofen, Aleve... all good products when used properly. The problem is that most people don't use them properly. Most people don't heed the safety warnings (i.e. Do not continue usage for longer than 10 days without consulting a Doctor).

I still maintain that people need to treat the cause and not mask it with a pill. No amount of ibuprofen will fix MTSS, if you don't fix the underlying cause.

PS -> I'm getting the feeling you are a medical professional in some capacity?

Exercises that can help: Put a tube sock (or short scarf) on floor, with toes touching the end of sock/scarf. Using toes, scrunch up sock/scarf. Repeat.