I am so mad!!

Do some weight training -- shoulders, arms, biceps, tripceps, & back.

Start with small weights - 5lb or so - and work into it. Try to do 12 - 15 reps each. The last 3 are meant to be harder............

I FEEL your pain!!!!!!!!!!! I went to the doctor to get help and all I got was pain killers. So, what I have learned in three short weeks:

-Stretch well before a work out
-Make sure you have really good shoes
-Try to work out on a mat of some sort. Anything that has a little give for when you are jumping, etc.
-Put a weight on the top of your foot and lift the foot up for about 20 reps each side. This helps to build of the front of your leg.
-After a workout take an ice cube and ice the front of your leg until the ice cube melts away...it really helps
-Oh ya...pain meds help too
-They do get a little better gradually, but I still have to work through the pain too

Hope some of that helps.

Speaking of drugs. There is a new topical NSAID PATCH that is minimally systemic to the body it is called Flector Patch. I used to market this product to my physicians.
I am not trying to sell anybody on this product but I use on myself and I have pain in a site specific locations.
As a matter of fact, I used it on my shins recently and it helped tremendously. I also use it on my knees.
Talk to your doctor and see if this will help. As firewalking mentioned it will get better with excercise.
But remember RICE.
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
This is also helpful.

I have suffered shin-splints for > 20 years. Everyone says "they will go away" & "build-up your muscles & they will go away", "stretch more" or my personal favorite "just exercise through it".

Well - When they got so bad a few years ago that I actually went to the Dr. - on top of pain releivers - he said reduce the intensity.

Here is what I have found out - if you try to "run through them", you end up with stress-fractures. This is what happened to Lance Armstrong when he ran in the NY Marathon a few years ago. It is what happened to me too.

To reduce the "intensity", you can reduce the speed, the incline, the duration or the frequency. I have tried all four (on top of buying more shoes than Imelda Marcos). The only one that worked for me is frequency. If I try to run every-other day - within 2 weeks I can barely walk. Just this past January I proved it to myself again after convincing myself that I was cured from the chronic pain.

If I keep it at no more than once every three days - I can manage the pain (yes - Tylenol is my friend). I have been able to comfortably run 4 - 5 miles for the last year - though it has been nearly impossible to do the thing I want to do like run a half or full marathon. It is just really hard to build-up the mileage running only every 3rd day. Even with riding 25-50 miles per week, it is impossible to build-up that level of endurance.

Oh yeah - I just bought these last month: http://www.zensah.com/men.html
I have no idea how they are working, but they were recommended in the USA Triathlon magazine for January...

NEW SHOES!!! STRETCHING!