Shin splints :<

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  • scuba8781
    scuba8781 Posts: 5 Member
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    I have to agree with the comments about proper form. When you strike heel-toe, that impact goes through your entire leg. When you run, try to strike fore-foot or mid-foot. This will allow the soft pads of your feet to absorb that shock instead of the rest of your leg.

    You should be able to do this in your regular shoes, but if not, I highly recommend minimalist shoes like the Vibram Five-Fingers. They force you to use proper form. One note though, allow plenty of time for your calves to adapt to the new motion or you may trade shin splints for Achilles problems.

    I've been using Vibrams for about 3 years off and on. As a (soon to not be) fat guy, I have no more knee pain, hip pain and shin splints when I run (and no Achilles problems because after learning my lesson, I took it slow at first). My focus has since changed to mainly bodyweight strength training instead of mainly cardio, but my recommendation still stands.

    Cheers and good luck.
  • kaylamcdougall12
    kaylamcdougall12 Posts: 24
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    Anyone ever had this and if so how did you deal with it?

    Shin splints is a much misused term used by people to describe a range of different symptoms pointing to one of several different underlying causes, one of which may be shin splnts. Strictly the condition refers to microfractures in the shin bone with tearing of the muscle away from the bone. It was described by someone else recently on here as like having a knife driven into your shin and then wiggled around, and from experience that's a fair description.

    If that is your problem then you need to rest it until it's repaired, possibly a couple of weeks, and then deal with whatever is causing it.

    Frequently that cause is overuse, or inappropriate form in your training. You don't say what you're training is, but as it's a common running injury I'd assume that's what you mean.

    In that case the potential causes could be:

    Shoes either inappropriate, ill fitting or worn out
    Running form is leading you to overload the lower leg and improving form will reduce the injury likelihood
    Muscular imbalance between the front and rear of the lower leg - Various physio exercises help to balance the muscles like toe lifts against a resistance band, lifting a sandbag with the toe or cycling with the toes clipped onto the pedals and consciously lifting the pedal
    Shin stretches as part of the cool down routine.
    I've had this in my right shin for about 3 weeks, so far I have been ignoring it and just exercising anyway and taking pain killers. Sunday and yesterday it seemed to be getting better but today it's been really sore. I've ordered some KT tape which seems pretty good but I'm guessing will only be a temporary solution. It's really frustrating as I want to exercise but don't want to make it worse! Any advice? ;f

    IF the pain is otherwise muscular or similar these points above will help but recovery time should be reduced.

    ^^This. I'm a physiotherapist- and this is pretty much the best explanation I could have given you.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
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    Shin splints is exactly why I can't run or jog. I feel like my shins are going to explode. I have tried getting fitted for fancy running shoes, stretching before a run, compression sleeves, pain killers, Icing afterwards. NOTHING works for me. Pretty much people have just been telling me "run through the pain" but it hurts really badly. It sucks cause I know I can keep running but my legs hurt too bad.


    If you "run through the pain" with shin splints, you're going to end up with stress fractures. That's a good way to turn discomfort into injury. The only thing that will TRULY help you once you already have shin splints, is rest. You have to give them time to recover.
    How exactly? I run through every time and they go away as I get stronger
  • ashenriver
    ashenriver Posts: 498 Member
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    Shin splints is exactly why I can't run or jog. I feel like my shins are going to explode. I have tried getting fitted for fancy running shoes, stretching before a run, compression sleeves, pain killers, Icing afterwards. NOTHING works for me. Pretty much people have just been telling me "run through the pain" but it hurts really badly. It sucks cause I know I can keep running but my legs hurt too bad.


    If you "run through the pain" with shin splints, you're going to end up with stress fractures. That's a good way to turn discomfort into injury. The only thing that will TRULY help you once you already have shin splints, is rest. You have to give them time to recover.
    How exactly? I run through every time and they go away as I get stronger

    Then you may not have had shin splints, I have tried to run through mine and the stabbing pain every time I took a step even walking after that was enough to tell me NO.
  • Pridgenization
    Pridgenization Posts: 65 Member
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    Take an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen or naproxin. Don't take acetaminophen.
    Rest it for a few days.
    Alternate heat and ice for ten minutes at a time.
    When it starts feeling better, take care to stretch them when you are warmed up. Do toe points and then flex your foot.
    When you are done with exercise, take care to stretch them while you cool down.
    Get the right shoes and/or insoles.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
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    Shin splints is exactly why I can't run or jog. I feel like my shins are going to explode. I have tried getting fitted for fancy running shoes, stretching before a run, compression sleeves, pain killers, Icing afterwards. NOTHING works for me. Pretty much people have just been telling me "run through the pain" but it hurts really badly. It sucks cause I know I can keep running but my legs hurt too bad.


    If you "run through the pain" with shin splints, you're going to end up with stress fractures. That's a good way to turn discomfort into injury. The only thing that will TRULY help you once you already have shin splints, is rest. You have to give them time to recover.
    How exactly? I run through every time and they go away as I get stronger

    Then you may not have had shin splints, I have tried to run through mine and the stabbing pain every time I took a step even walking after that was enough to tell me NO.

    I did and I just take it slow and in time get go away.
  • amylg05
    amylg05 Posts: 89 Member
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    Thanks for all the awesome advice guys :>

    I was running until I started with the shin splints (which actually I think started from using the treadmill). I stopped running as it was too painful but carried on doing high intensity interval training and also cardio and toning workouts. Most things I do in these are fine but things like high knees, jogging on the spot and jumping jacks cause pain.

    But yeah ill try the calf lift things and warm ups and get some new shoes (now I have a good excuse to at least :D).
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    I stopped running as it was too painful but carried on doing high intensity interval training and also cardio and toning workouts. Most things I do in these are fine but things like high knees, jogging on the spot and jumping jacks cause pain.

    Rest for a couple of weeks, if it's bad enough to stop you running then it's probably really shinsplints. Treadmills are generally seen as more forgiving, but the jury is out and personally I htink they encourage a stride that exacerbates it. Once you've identified the underlying cause then start running again.

    A fairly common cause is doing too much, too soon, either in terms of time or distance. A good rule of thumb is no more than 10% increase in time/ distance per week with regularreduction weeks to take some of the pressure off. Once you've recovered, if you're interested in running, then I'd suggest looking at a structured programme.

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