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How do I get rid of shin splints????

post #1 of 20
7/9/09 at 10:03am
Thread Starter 
Never experienced this before. Started to get into jogging a couple of months back. Ran consistently after work for a period of about three weeks, then gradually my shins became sore - eventually to the point where walking became a bit of a chore.

I've stopped running for about two weeks now and still the pain subsists in a milder form. I'm afraid if I run that it'll just aggravate the splints and they'll come back full force.

I'm a pronator with good running shoes. I'm flat-footed.

Any advice?? How can I fully heal the splints??
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post #2 of 20
7/9/09 at 10:13am
Grab an old belt, lie on your back, loop the belt over one foot, raise that leg in the air, and pull down on the belt. Forget what this stretch is called, but it does the job for me.

Soreness in the shins does persist somewhat during the first few weeks/months of running, but it eventually abates.
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post #3 of 20
7/9/09 at 10:20am
I depends.

Shin splints on the very front of your shin can be fixed with stretching, ice, and exercising the tibialis anterior (the muscle on the front of your shin) by doing things like walking around on your heels, without letting your toes touch the ground. stretching the calf also helps.

shin spints on the inside of the shin are much harder to get rid of. However these are usually caused by excess supination so I dont think this is the case with you.

Be gentle/dont overdo your running, and do some prehab and they should go away.
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post #4 of 20
7/9/09 at 10:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by M. Bardamu View Post
Grab an old belt, lie on your back, loop the belt over one foot, raise that leg in the air, and pull down on the belt. Forget what this stretch is called, but it does the job for me.

Soreness in the shins does persist somewhat during the first few weeks/months of running, but it eventually abates.

I'll give that a shot, but it sounds like a stretch for the calf??

I was hoping the soreness would be temporary, but it seemed only to progress (and not abate) as I ran more and more.
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post #5 of 20
7/9/09 at 10:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by asdf View Post
I depends.

Shin splints on the very front of your shin can be fixed with stretching, ice, and exercising the tibialis anterior (the muscle on the front of your shin) by doing things like walking around on your heels, without letting your toes touch the ground. stretching the calf also helps.

shin spints on the inside of the shin are much harder to get rid of. However these are usually caused by excess supination so I dont think this is the case with you.

Be gentle/dont overdo your running, and do some prehab and they should go away.

Thanks a bunch. The soreness is primarily in the lower INSIDE of both shins, but seems to span a along the interior shin bone from top to bottom. Annoying!
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post #6 of 20
7/9/09 at 11:09am
you get shin splints when you try to do too much, too soon, with running. Take a step back. Try to increase your weekly mileage by only about 10%. Make sure you have a "step back" week every 4-6 weeks to give your body a little bit of a rest.
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post #7 of 20
7/9/09 at 12:59pm
Based on my own experiences: -Stop running entirely until the pain is gone -Ice your shins regularly -Buy a better running shoe -Run on trails or treadmills rather than concrete whenever possible -Increase mileage slowly
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post #8 of 20
7/9/09 at 3:53pm
I had to back off running, and start slowly strengthening the tibialis with a little device in the gym that you put weight on and do toe raises with. After working up to a fair bit of weight with lots of reps (I think I had to do sets of 30 reps, don't remember well at this point).

I also went to a store to get my footstrike analyzed. Funny part of that was the shoes they sold me were cheaper than the shoes that the sporting goods store wanted to sell me.

I have flat feet, so I need off the shelf orthotic insoles in pretty much all of my shoes. Otherwise I end up with problems with shin splints and knee pain. It does make it a bit trickier to get dress shoes, as they need to fit with insoles inside.
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post #9 of 20
7/9/09 at 5:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sherman90 View Post
I'll give that a shot, but it sounds like a stretch for the calf??

I was hoping the soreness would be temporary, but it seemed only to progress (and not abate) as I ran more and more.

It is, but it also relaxes/streches/loosens the muscle at the front of the shin.

Others on this thread seem to know better than I, but one thing I remember reading about shin splints is they can be very dangerous. If you ever lose feeling in your shin/ankle/foot after a run, go to the hospital ASAP.
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post #10 of 20
7/9/09 at 5:48pm
When I first started running I was told to only run 20 minutes at a time, 3-4 times a week for a full six weeks. Even though I wanted to run more, the expert was suggesting that this would be a great way to ease my body into building up strength. I do get knee pain on occasion (I've always had that), but I really don't ever get shin splints. So maybe when you feel ready to start running again, try that.

Also, icing immediately after a run is helpful. My sister used to get shin splints, and we'd freeze dixie cups full of water - you can then peel back part of the cup and have something that's the perfect size for icing your shins and a nice little holder so you don't totally freeze your hands.

One more suggestion - have you been properly fit for shoes? Some people buy them from all-purpose sporting goods stores, but I find that those who go to a running (or triathalete) store that will watch your gait in the shoes have fewer muscle and injury issues that those who don't. But that's hardly a scientific sampling - just anecdotal.

Good luck - I hope they start to feel better soon.
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post #11 of 20
7/9/09 at 5:55pm
The word Shin Splints has a million different meanings, ranging from minor to needing surgery. If your pain is moderate to severe, you need to stop any impact activity until you've seen a sports doctor.
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post #12 of 20
7/9/09 at 6:44pm
run backwards

it will hurt like hell at first, but will balance the muscles in front of and behind your shin
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post #13 of 20
7/9/09 at 11:52pm
ice and rest, right? that's it, and it's the bitter truth. you gotta stop running and take it easy until it's 100% healed. partially healed won't help-- the problem will just re-occur once you get active again. in the meantime, since you don't want to get out of shape while healing, you can consider alternatives such as swimming, using an eliptical machine, stair-climber machine... etc. low impact will help.
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post #14 of 20
7/10/09 at 12:07am
Is this a self diagnosis? Maybe it isn't shin splints. Maybe it's a stress fracture.

I always got shin splints when running on a regular basis. I would get the pain you describe, but I always ran through it. I did the stretching, the icing, etc, exactly as mentioned above. But the pain always came back.

Just yesterday I tried running for the first time in years. Half a mile. Half a freakin' mile, and my skins were killing me. And I wear super cushioned shoes. I can still feel pain. I'm fairly certain I did some sort of permanent damage to myself.

I don't know how much you weigh, but I'm 215 lbs. Some of us just aren't cut out to be runners.

Don't be stubborn. Give up running completely for 6 months. Reintroduce it gradually. If you still have pain, find a different exercise.
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post #15 of 20
7/10/09 at 12:13am
Have you tried foam rolling and massages? This article might be a relevant read as well.
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