Shin Splints?

My only solution was to change my shoes. Stretching and rolling didn't work for me. Ice and heat them till they feel better.

Just another voice to say shoes - do yourself a giant favor and get fitted. Good shoe stores will analyze your gait and be able to recommend the right shoes for you. It's WORTH the money. As tempting as it is, don't choose your shoes by style or what someone else recommends - they could be all wrong for you. Once you get fitted, you'll know if you need more stability or less, etc.

Shin splints typically take 2-4wks to work thru, strengthening the muscles. Use ice and arnica cream to help the swelling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oar9h63wz7k


I do once a day when my shin splints get bad.

Also, I know there is a lot of talk about icing not really helping recovery, but ice did at least take away the pain enough for me to go run or play sports. So I iced after doing the lacrosse ball work.

Stop stretching before you run. The only warm up I do is a few minutes walk.

I have some real running shoes (brooks pure cadance) and that helps a lot. My next pair will be 0mm drop minimalist. The more I land on my toes and mid foot, and the less on the heel of my foot the better.

I still get them, but I just run though them and they go away my mile 3. :smokin:

Stop stretching before you run. The only warm up I do is a few minutes walk.

I have some real running shoes (brooks pure cadance) and that helps a lot. My next pair will be 0mm drop minimalist. The more I land on my toes and mid foot, and the less on the heel of my foot the better.

I still get them, but I just run though them and they go away my mile 3. :smokin:

Agree on the stretching. You don't stretch cold muscles. A brisk walk, a few jumping jacks, anything to warm the muscles up before you run and you do stretching after.

Just a clarification on the stretching... Static stretches are bad to do before exercise but dynamic stretches are ok. Here are some examples from the Runners World website.

http://www.runnersworld.com/stretching/dynamic-routine

Only do static stretches when your muscles are warm and don't bounce.

Fleet Feet is a great place to find shoes and they will fit you for them and all that. Here's a hint though, a friend of mine went in, got everything done, the analyzing, fitting, etc... then they let her take a pic of the shoes she liked and she went on Amazon.com and bought them for much cheaper. Since they don't make commission off of you they don't really care if they get the sale or not. I'm sure the manager might not be too happy with it but... oh well... gotta look out for youself lol. These stores can also help fit you with inserts in your shoes if you need those as well.

Also, but some rubber resistance bands like the ones used for at home pilates, sit down with a leg stretched out in front of you with the band wrapped around the ball of your foot and the ends of the band in each hand. point and flex your foot. This exercise will help to strengthen those muscles.

You can also take a water bottle with water in it and freeze it and use to roll over your shins after your walk/run.

Also, some people are telling you to stretch after your walk/run but research has shown that runners are prone to more injuries if they stretch before OR AFTER a run so I would stay clear of that and just do the exercises and cold/hot packs.

do this

http://gizmodo.com/5902699/banish-shin-splints-forever-with-one-magical-exercise

it works and is only 3 mins a day

martyx

Ditto what others have said: shoes all the way. Ken is on the right page - don't go to Nike Outlet, Sports Authority, whatever... find a running specialty store. Tell them what your problems are. They'll let you try a million pairs on, make sure it fits right, and let you run around a bit in them. TRY not to judge a shoe by it's color... I sure wish mine weren't neon yellow/orange, but they perform so well it's worth the not-so-pretty shoe. You'll walk away with the right shoe.

I battled shin splints, got fitted for shoes, and STILL had shin splints. I quit running because no amount of stretching or recovery time seemed to help. I recently got back into it, and a friend recommended I try some zero-drop shoes to help my shin splints. I threw this idea at the folks at the running specialty store, and after trying on several pairs of minimalist/zero drop shoes, I walked away with a pair of Newton MV2's. They've completely eliminated my shin splints, and I can run harder/longer than ever before. I paid about $120 for them, if I remember right. Worth every penny.

Shin splints pain is caused by the interosseus border and the muscles involved are the tibialis anterior (where you feel the pain) and tibialis posterior (the muscle that is tensed). Ice the front of your leg and heat the back of it. Massage is necessary. The muscle behind the lateral anterior muscle (tibialis anterior) is called the tibialis posterior. That is the muscle that is medial to the shin. You can also massage it. See a sports massage therapist about it.

Are you flat footed?