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shin splints...

2K views 31 replies 18 participants last post by  BLARNEY 
#1 ·
Oh how they suck. I've got one on my left shin. Had it since I did a 6.5 mile run a few weeks back. I thought it was getting better so I did a 4-miler and that made it a lot worse.

What can I do for it? It seems it's never getting any better. I've stopped running, don't do stairs, and it doesn't feel better. A runner friend told me to stretch my calf often, which will help. It kinda works, but I want this to go away so I can run!

Any suggestions?
 
#2 ·
Buy a Mac!
 
#4 ·
I own a Mac... and an iPod and an iPad and an iPhone. ;)

This sounds weird I know but I used to run track in high school and still run quite a bit today. I found relief by not tying my shoes laces so tight. I started leaving them loose and the pain went away.
Srsly? Hell, I'll try anything now. I want it to go away.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
This sounds weird I know but I used to run track in high school and still run quite a bit today. I found relief by not tying my shoes laces so tight. I started leaving them loose and the pain went away.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I leave them barely tied now and can run pain free for miles on any shoe. I've done it with nike's saucony's, and addidas'. Try it, hope it works for you too.
 
#7 ·
Facing your stairs, stand with your toes on the edge of a stair with heels in free air.

Gently stretch your calves by letting your heels drop below your toes.
Gently extend your shins by standing on your tippy-toes.

Repeat

This moves the tendons through their range of motion gently without impact.


Tom
 
#10 ·
I've been doing this a couple of times a day. I guess I'll try doing it more often.

Do you run on a track or treadmill? If its a treadmill, check the angle. Also, I heard walking/slow jog is a good way to stretch and ease shin splints.
Got it while running outside.

Simple stop running. :lmao: Sit down have a drink and surf the web on your imac watch a movie on your ipad listen to music on your ipod and call someone on your iphone. Preferably all at the same time.
:flip: I have to keep my adonis-like body... speedo season is fast approaching.

Amazingly enough, my Dad did the same exact thing. Always had/has his laces really loose.
Its so crazy it might work! :laughing I'll try that next time I run. Right now any impact sends jolts up and down my lower leg.
 
#11 ·
Honestly man it's probably something you'll just have to deal with until you get fully back in the swing with running...especially if you're just getting going again outside. Really hard surfaces like concrete or asphalt make it much worse.

Ice your shins every night while you have the pain, back down the distances or take a day off in between. The muscles are likely just tight/underdeveloped...take your time and it should go away. If it doesn't, you may have an issue with your running motion that necessitates a particular type of shoe.

I used to get them every time I started running again after an extended break.
 
#17 ·
...
What can I do for it? It seems it's never getting any better. I've stopped running, don't do stairs, and it doesn't feel better...

Any suggestions?
Shin splints are just another form of tendinitis.
My advise... having dealt with this in the past.

Relief can be found quickly from ibuprofen, short term.

Long term, Vitamin D.
Start with 3000iu daily, taper to 1000iu in 6 months.
Running is not the problem, it is part of the solution. Keep running and let your body heal to that action.
To aid the process, stretch... stretch a lot.
Stretch after wards, not before. Try stretch 4 times for 30 sec.s each.

They take about 6 months to heal.

-X
 
#19 ·
Thanks Ian. Sounds like good advice. I rarely get any pain in my shins, but I'm sure it was caused by not running for 2.5 weeks and then pushing too hard.

I'll grab some vitamin D and get back to running... slowly at first. I do stretch afterward, that's one thing the Army drilled into me that I've kept up.

:cheers
 
#20 · (Edited)
Shin splints are a common overuse injury. Which basically means you did more than your body is ready for or used to. Ice rest an ibuprofen are really the only things that will help. Once it's feeling better take a few more days off. Then start running again slowly! Start with 2-3 miles a few days a week. Then add a fourth day after a couple weeks of that. Then build slow. Never do more than 10% more than the week prior and never do a long run exceeding 30% of you're total weekly mileage. Take it easy on doing speedwork till you build the mileage you want and build a base so your body will be ready for it! :)
 
#26 ·
Shin splints are a common overuse injury.
He's right, your clutching too much in the Porsche! Powershift bro, powershift. :lmao:
 
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#21 ·
Oh...and some people seem to say compression helps. So get some calve sleeves or wrap them with ace bandages.
 
#25 ·
I was told this many years ago by a doctor, to use calf sleeves or compression socks. Was also told to back off on activity to let it heal.

More recently, I have a sleeve that I used because I kept popping tendons in my calves playing soccer that was actually for shin splints. Had two "ribs" that ran down the front on either side of the shin bone where shin splint pain usually occurs. I have no idea if it actually helps for shin splints tho.
 
#22 ·
Or both ice and heat in cycles. :)
 
#24 ·
When I was running and doing athletic training back in the dark ages, it was believed that shin splints were in part caused by one or more of the following (possibly in combination)

- running on hard surfaces with inadequate cushioning of the foot-fall
- running form in which the heal, rather than the toes contact the ground first.

It's been 40 years since I was involved in that stuff, but what has been said is correct, it's an injury of over-use and also of bad running form, or running on pavement or other surfaces without give.

Rest, better running form, and running on dirt/grass/cinders/some surface with some impact absorption (such as a rubber indoor track) should help

Also, shoes with more impact absorption in the soles, and not running on pavement/sidewalks, asphalt, etc.

Good luck with the healing. Shin splints suck.
 
#32 ·
- running form in which the heal, rather than the toes contact the ground first.

This ....

And a tendon that isn't limber enough to accommodate when your toes "flop" to the ground.

This is why the stretching works over time.


Glad to hear it's helping.


Tom
 
#27 ·
:laughing @ Mark.

So I just got back from a run, 1st one in 2 weeks. Did 3 miles and my shin is a little sore. There's no throbbing pain, just a general pressure. It didn't hurt much on the run, just the same pressure. Damn it felt good to get outside, though.

The other odd thing is the pain has moved. Instead of being high up on the shin its now lower, closer to the ankle. Not sure why that is.
 
#29 ·
More rest! You shouldn't have any pain running. More rest and start slower. It's going to suck but you don't have the base to run the types of mileage your running. If you did you wouldn't have this problem. :) Running isn't always about fitness. Sometimes it's about how much punishment you've adapted your body to take
 
#30 ·
My shin feel better today than it has in weeks. I think the run actually strengthened it. I'm feeling almost nothing anymore. I'll still take it easy, and will do 3 miles tomorrow, and then maybe 4 this weekend. Today I plan on hitting the gym and doing stairs... nice and easy though. ;)

I've also been doing those stretches on the stairs, and that is definitely helping.

I have a good base, mang! I'd been running 8-10 miles each Saturday and 5-7 miles at a time during the week. :p
 
#31 ·
My shin feel better today than it has in weeks. I think the run actually strengthened it. I'm feeling almost nothing anymore. I'll still take it easy, and will do 3 miles tomorrow, and then maybe 4 this weekend. Today I plan on hitting the gym and doing stairs... nice and easy though. ;)

I've also been doing those stretches on the stairs, and that is definitely helping.

I have a good base, mang! I'd been running 8-10 miles each Saturday and 5-7 miles at a time during the week. :p
that's what they all say until they get an overuse injury!!...........oh wait! :lmao::lmao::neener:
 
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