Shin Splints

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Hotpink001
Hotpink001 Posts: 7
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello out there...any stretches to help with my shin splints? Does that tape work? And am I doing damage to my muscles by just pushing through the pain? I read they are tiny tears that occur in the muscles. I also read that they only happen to tall heavy people I'm not tall or heavy. I want to just glide and run or jog but the pain sucks. Does anyone have tips on how to get this corrected.

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  • TAsunder
    TAsunder Posts: 423 Member
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    When you run, are you landing primarily on your heels? Where are your feet relative to your body when they land? Both of those can contribute to shin splints. Ideally your feet feel like they are landing almost directly underneath you. When I started landing mid-foot or fore-foot, it helped with shin splints as well.
  • Lessthanpenguins
    Lessthanpenguins Posts: 30 Member
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    I used to have severe shin splits so I understand your plight. I eventually bought the bullet and went out and got some higher quality running shoes by Saucony and those helped a lot. There are also a couple of stretches you can do that will help with the muscle. Usually between the combination of the shoes and the stretches, that I can run with minimum to zero pain. Hope this helps you some.
  • haaaleyx
    haaaleyx Posts: 83 Member
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    I'm not tall or heavy either, but I get shin splints very easily due to my flat feet & suffered all through high school basketball with them. If you don't have flat feet, getting some athletic shoe inserts as well as decent quality shoes can help. If you do have flat feet, seeing a foot doctor to get custom inserts will help you out more. But I avoid running, I stay on bikes, ellipticals, stair steppers, ect. Because even with my custom orthodics I still get pain in my shins. Good luck!
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    My impression is that almost all runners get shin splints at one time or another, usually when they have somewhat recently started running and they are ramping up their miles.
    They then cut back the running and the miles for a little bit, and the injury improves, and the legs adapt and you do not get them anymore.
    In my own experience, it has not taken that long for my shin splints to get better. As I recall, only about a month, maybe, perhaps even less.
    Get good shoes

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