Very painful Shin Splints

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bhealthyagain
bhealthyagain Posts: 41 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I know this topic has probably been beaten to death but .....I've had shin splints for a few years now, but lately they have been much worse. I walked to the grocery store on my lunch break today and made it half way (6 mins) and my shins were throbbing. I almost had to stop for a minute. Before they would only hurt like that if i jogged. I find it getting in the way of my treadmill workouts... any suggestions on how to make them better? hurt less?

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  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    For years?
    Talk to doctor. Soon.
    Pain is a warning, and you should have talked to a professional sooner but too late now.

    Also, when you run/jog, do you hit the ground with the front of your foot, the ball of your foot, or midfoot?

    You want to be striking on the mid/front of the foot, otherwise you're slowly doing damage to your knees/hips. Likewise, striking the front of the foot significantly cuts down on shin splints.
  • bhealthyagain
    bhealthyagain Posts: 41 Member
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    I have brought it up to my Dr many times, they just say that once they are there, there's no getting rid of them. Just tells me to ice them. That doesn't help my during an exercise though. And i hit with the ball of my foot so that's good to know. Thank you
  • BSero1982
    BSero1982 Posts: 45
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    I know this might sound pretty dang silly but I had some pretty bad shin splints and I started to run and job on soft surfaces like grass and it helped tremendously. I am assuming softer landing but still worked. I wish you luck
  • maddymama
    maddymama Posts: 1,183 Member
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    I am wondering if you could have a stress fracture. I don't know much about it, but if your shin splints hurt when you are walking, that makes me wonder. What type of shoes are you wearing? I'm also wondering if you should see a different doctor.

    For me, and this is just for me, I used to have bad shin splints when I would run. When I added in more strength training exercises (squats and lunges, mainly) and built my base up slowly (C25K rather than just up and running a 5K out of the blue) my shin splints disappeared.
  • ellenkilpatrick
    ellenkilpatrick Posts: 67 Member
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    The stride helps..like msarro posted... I suffered pretty badly several months ago and yes they do go away!!! I would run my 4 miles come home and ice 20 min using ace wraps for compression over the ice packs... anti inflammatory like aleve or motrin then 20 min ice compression later that evening. I run 4 to 5 nights a week and i never stopped.. they healed after 2 mts of consistent ice and meds. Oh, check your running shoes...they may be your culprit! Get an expert to size and fit you in the proper shoe based on your gait. I can tell when I need new shoes based on my leg pains after running. If your toe box is too wide and your toes have alot of movement in the shoe this can cause stress on your shins. I personally stick with Saucony or Asics as they have narrow heel and narrow toe box.
  • toughmudderMN
    toughmudderMN Posts: 129 Member
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    I have had issues with shin splints too. I discovered 2 solutions:

    1). Run on gravel or softer surfaces. Concrete is the hardest surface to walk/run on followed by blacktop, gravel, then dirt.

    2). Try to relearn how to run. I have to actively think about making sure my foot is striking the ground the right way and that I am not flexing my shin muscle when I run.

    Two more tricks:

    -ice your shins when they hurt.
    - Do the ABC's - A track coach taught me this. Position yourself so that your ankle is free i.e. hanging over edge of foot rest/ bed. Then pretend that you are drawing each letter of the alphabet with your big toe by only moving your ankle . Try to make the letters big enough so that you are using the full range of motion of your ankle.
  • toporifico
    toporifico Posts: 12 Member
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    I've actually struggled with shin splints for years as well, though thankfully not to the extent that you are. I've heard that its everything from a muscle imbalance (tibialis to calf) to incorrect shoes, but its never fully gone away or gotten better. I'm trying a running program to see if I can hopefully work through it. I'm planning to get some kinesio tape this weekend and start using that to see if it helps at all. I've heard good things about it. Check it out and see if maybe it can help you too.

    http://www.kttape.com/instructions/shin-splints/#pnlReadMoreAfter
  • bhealthyagain
    bhealthyagain Posts: 41 Member
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    These are all very helpful!!! Thank you so much! It's good to hear that they can and will go away!! And i will for sure look into new\better fitting shoes. I mostly run on a treadmill, and i will definitely start trying more squats and lunges to see if that helps!
  • SJLS2013
    SJLS2013 Posts: 149 Member
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    For me, shin splints was caused by a low calcium level. I'm lactose intolerant, so I struggled to get enough and now I take supplements and haven't had any further issues. It's not always the shoes, but do make sure there fitting well too
  • ellenkilpatrick
    ellenkilpatrick Posts: 67 Member
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    Also get a foam roller...a hard one and do the exercises they are killers at first but your whole body will thank you!!
  • silianne
    silianne Posts: 6
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    It’s quite alarming that you’re still suffering from shin splints for many years now. Your spring suspension system muscles are probably very weak. This could not only cause shin splints but lead to widespread chronic pain, fatigue, and other injuries. This article will help explain more about shin splints
    http://teamdoctorsblog.com/2012/12/shint-splints-self-help-tips-treatment-and-prevention-from-team-doctors/

    There are Video Tutorials on how you can relieve the pain in the article. I’ve had shin splints before and it helped me a lot especially the deep tissue treatment that Dr. James Stoxen demonstrates. I recommend you to try that also.
    And how about barefoot running? It is explained in the article that the body can be compared to a human spring. We all know how a spring works. If you’re body is trained as a spring mechanism then you will be able to spring off the ground and resist impact.

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