Shin Splints

Bump- I get shin splints also, advice would be great

I suffer too and I've done a lot of research on this. There are compression sleeves you can wear on your lower legs that some say help. You can also try to strengthen your shin muscles as some research says this is in part due to an imbalance between your calf and shin muscles. The primary strength workout I saw is to do a shin raise (basically a calf raise but lift the ball of your foot off the ground instead of your heel). I also saw something saying it can happen if your calf muscles are tight.

I had such trouble when training for my half marathon I went to the doc and had MRIs to see if I had a stress fracture. I didn't, but he did give me arch supports since collapsing arches can be an issue (haven't used them becuase they make my arches hurt :huh: ) and he sent me to a physical therapist. The PT said lots of pains in your legs when you run are caused by muscle weakness and imbalances. He said my hip muscles are not very strong and also that one is stronger than the other which creates imbalance, possibly causing the shin splints, which was worse on one side. So consider working on stregnthening your leg muscles, especially glutes, hips and shins which many people ignore in favor of quads, hammis and calves.

Mine usually get better after the first mile or two, so I think for me it is totally possible that it is muscle tightness in my calves that is a big culprit (thus when they warm up the pain stops). I just started taking ibuprofen before I ran which helped (though a lot of literature says not to do this bc you can mask serious pain that indicates you should stop running. Since I had been checked out by a doc and an MRI showed it wasn't a stress fracture, I felt safe using the ibuprofen to avoid the inflammation and pain.)

It's been a couple of years now and I'm getting back in shape and this time I'm doing other cardio and strength training to try to strengthen my leg muscles to avoid shin splints when I start back running. Everything I've read says that doing too much too soon is bad - i.e. increasing your mileage and speed in the same week. So if you're newish to running try run/walk at first until you can do it w/o shin pain. When I start back up with the running, I'm going to follow a program similar to the C25K to take it nice and slow to hopefully avoid shin splints!

fill a small styrofoam cup with water and freeze. when frozen, tear the styrofoam off until some of the ice is sticking out, then rub up and down the shins. works like a charm!

I suffered from them for allot of years
until I was getting for a run, off at school, and a friend showed me a trick
(a new stretch)
Sit with your knees bent slightly with your heal on the ground but your toes not touching the ground
place your other heal on your top of your foot, and press down gently. this stretches the front of your calf
scene then i rarely ever have a problem
Hope this helps

this sounds interesting, but i'm struggling to understand it could you show a picture/diagram please?

when you say your toes off the ground are the balls of your toes touching the ground? and are you pushing up against your other heal?

I had this problem with walking and after some research learned it was from my stride. I was over-reaching and slapping my foot on the ground. Once I corrected my posture and stride, I haven't had the problem since. I'm not saying this is what's happening to you, but just an idea.

Last year training for a duathlon I got them bad. Never got them checked out. Still did race limping near end. Took time off running and just biked. This year start up running again and they are coming back. I researched and found out the very cheap pair of running shoes my wife told me we could afford is just junk. Also the old wisdom from my parents that when the soles are worn it is time for new shoes doesn't apply here. All reading I have done says the middle support area of running shoe will wear out around 300 miles long before the bottom treads show signs of excess wear. Get to a shoe store with good help that can check your stride and arch and size for the right shoe for you based on that middle support.

Also some other suggestions I have seen include getting larger shoes and placing inserts into them. Getting a second pair of shoes half way through and rotate so you can judge when older pair has lost support compared to newer pair. Make sure if you get a minimalist shoe (one with hardly any support and really thin) it is for race day only.

I used to get these for a few reasons, first I needed more water, also, I needed to stretch before the run. Now that one seems to be controversial as many think stretching is useless. For myself, it helped with this. Also, if you hit the ground running, and don't allow yourself time to work up to the distance, this can be the culprit. How far do you run? I had a terrible time with my right shin, I backed off my running and went walking instead. After a day or so of this I would add running in 1/4 mile increments each week. Yes it took time, but sometimes our bodies need a slow progress. Also, pay attention to your foot fall. Do you hear your feet clomping or slapping the ground? You should hear nothing and feel no impact. Practice running slowly so you can practice your foot falls. This was a big one for me. It took me a year to get good at running. It just takes patience.

It's usually one of two things. Your current weight/body fat %. Having the correct running shoe for your feet. IMO it is essential to go to a specialist shop and get them to look at you gait/instep etc to get the right shoe. They are more expensive, but it is worth it.

Also, I was told (in the specialist shop) that shin splints never totally go away unless you take time off from running. But, I have no evidence to support this.

I have always had shin splints when running (not that I can really run), so I don't now

just to add to this a bit, last night i was checking out my leg muscles I've gained since getting into walking, and i noticed just how much my shin muscles have increased in size, to the point my shin bone used to be prominent but now there is a nice chunk of muscle sitting on the outter side of it, i always push through shin splints as the walk i do is purposeful and i need to complete it as quickly as possible

is there a vote for pushing through it and know it's gonna be strengthening the muscles and if you continue you'll end up not getting shin splints because they're trained to cope with the punishment?

The only problem with pushing through is the next stage is stress fractures, you most definitely don't want those! Those can put you out of commission for some time. Google a bit and you can read up... that can give you more info that I can regarding stress fractures. I did some Googling and decided I definitely don't want to go that far. I prefer to learn more stretching methods, check out different shoes, continue dropping weight and ice, ice, ice.

I can't speak for how painful yours are but I can't even imagine running or walking through shin splint pain. I'm imagining there are different levels of pain. Mine go from the shin to the calf and feels like someone is cutting through my bone. SO no, I won't be walking through them, except to the car after a workout to drive home and ice them and stretch, stretch and stretch some more.

:laugh:

I wrote an article about shin splints. Beleive it or not they are usually cause by a low fitness level and poor calf flexibility. I use to get them so bad I couldn't walk the day after a run. Started to stretch my calfs almost daily and as my fitness level improved they got better. This of course is the case as long as they aren't stress fractures (only way to tell is if you get an X-ray)

Thanks for your input, would love to read your article if it's available.:flowerforyou:

I wrote an article about shin splints. Beleive it or not they are usually cause by a low fitness level and poor calf flexibility. I use to get them so bad I couldn't walk the day after a run. Started to stretch my calfs almost daily and as my fitness level improved they got better. This of course is the case as long as they aren't stress fractures (only way to tell is if you get an X-ray)

Thanks for your input, would love to read your article if it's available.:flowerforyou:

Pm me ill dig it up and send it to you I wrote it about 2 years ago

bump

My daughter's shin splints were crippling. She's extreme with her weight training and fitness so building up surrounding muscle was not the issue. For months we tried EVERY remedy we could- lots of people gave lots of advice. What finally worked was a visit to her doctor who ordered an x-ray (to rule out stress fractures) and prescribed physical therapy (she goes twice a week) and an appointment with a Pediatrist who gave her inserts for her shoes to try for a month. If we feel necessary, he will provide orthotics. She's improved slowly but dramantically (finally!) and is now passing her competitors.

Thanks for posting.. I just had xrays done to rule out stress fractures since the pain had gotten considerably worse. No stress fractures but still having some pain, I think I jarred my knee a bit early in the week and that may be part of it.

Appreciate you sharing your daughters experience and so glad she's doing much better. I had been thinking I might go the Physical Therapy route as the little exercises, tips etc. others have shared thus far aren't long lasting for me.