shin splints!

Shin Splints are caused by a variety of reasons. Bad form, poor or worn out footwear, running on hard or uneven surfaces or excessive usage.

How old are your shoes? Anything with over 300 miles should be pitched. Running involves wear out and stop supporting your foot properly.

Are they the right shoes? Everyone walks, or runs differently. Don't go with cheap shoes either. You inflict a great deal of impact, bargain basement shoes don't hold up. Go to a professional running shop (Running Room, Fleet Feet etc) and have them assess your Gait. The will tell you which shoes are appropriate for you and why (do you pronate, do you suppinate or are you neutral, do you need Motion Control, Stability, or Neutral shoes) You may pay a little extra for shoes, but thats better than a lot of extra pain and the eventual quitting of running.

Moving right along, How much are you running? and how fast did you get there? Shin Splints are often called an overusage injury. Usually comes from people doing to much too soon. You should never increase your mileage by no more than 10% per week. If you do 10 miles this week, you should only do 11 next week, 12.1 the week after.

For treatment, Take a dixie cup, fill it with water and freeze it. Four times a day, take it and massage your shins where it hurts for 15 minutes at a time. Also dig your thumbs in and massage the area. If it hurts alot... congrats, you are doing it right. Deep tissue massage is very helpful in helping to heal the shin splint. You could also look into a foam roller or "the stick" for massaging the area.

Prevention -> Cut back your running until the shin splints are gone and try to run on softer level surfaces. I would suggest using an elliptical for the next week or finding some other cardio while they heal up.

When you are ready to start running again, do some warm ups for about 5 minutes to make sure your muscles are properly warmed up (jumping jacks, walking etc), then do some dynamic stretching. When you are ready to run, be prepared to listen to your body. Don't ignore it. Ignoring it could lead to worse shin splints, stress fractures or compression syndrome.

When you finish your workout, it is very important to do static stretching. This helps the muscles heal and retain their elasticity after a workout. It keeps them from tightening up.

Finally, it doesn't hurt after the workout, after the stretching to do a simple course of R.I.C.E. Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.

I would also recommend that you get moving as soon after your workout as possible...(after the R.I.C.E) Go for a walk, stretch the legs and keep moving. It helps to get blood flowing thru the strained areas and speeds up healing.

Good Luck!

Were you running? If so, you may have a bad form.

Shin splints just means that you haven't worked those muscles as much before and you started to build up some lactic acid. I believe like most things it just takes time to build up those muscles.

www.runnersworld.com/cda/toolscontent/0,7156,s6-241-290-291-529-0,00.html?toolName=What%20Hurts?

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7120,s6-241-286-289-12604-0,00.html

I've been suffering with some pretty bad shin splints myself. I'm training for a few races this summer, so cutting back in training isn't really an option. I've done so a bit the past few days, but that's mostly because my race is Thursday.

Besides the aftercare stuff (ice, rest, forcing my boyfriend to rub my shins, etc) and the expensive stuff (getting better running shoes), I found that the thing that has been the best for me is not being afraid to stop if it hurts.

This was the best advice I've received. If your legs hurt too much while you're running, and you're not in a race, don't just run through it. Allow yourself to stop and do some walking or static stretches until you're ready to go again. If you're training, the stopping is really no harm, no foul. It's all about taking care of yourself.

I do a few stretches that help. I take a lunge position, but then I straighten my front leg. I also take an exercise band, hook it around the ball of my foot and pull while pointing through it. Toe-pointing stretches have worked great for me.

I'm not a fitness expert by any means, by the way. This is just what I do that's worked for me!

Thanks