Forums » Health & Wellness » Injury Prevention

1. franswa
   Member

   I'm new to running, well cardio exercise in general! I just started in January fast walking then built up to running in March. On Memorial Day I ran the Bolder Boulder 10K in 82 minutes. I still have to walk a lot when I'm running. Anyway, for the past 3 weeks I've been having severe pain in my lower left leg between my knee and ankle. Finally went to the doctor yesterday to confirm shin splints (never had them before). He didn't speak to me of stretching exercises, so I thought I'd ask you all what some good ones are.

   Any other methods of resolving shin splints besides rest?

   Posted 4 years ago #

2. woodstok23
   Member

   I have gotten shine splints before, what works for me is wearing some compression leg sleeves during or after my run to keep blood circulating and the legs warm, they also help relieve soreness. Anyways might take a look at them, Academy Sports carries them, they are very inexpensive, less than $15 a piece. Good luck...

   Posted 4 years ago #

3. tje210
   Member

   shinsplints = rest + ice. stretching doesn't help, straight up. shinsplints are micro-fractures of your tibia. you don't lift weights with a broken arm; you don't run with shinsplints. consume extra calcium, ice your shins 20 minutes on/off a couple hours a day and DONT RUN until the symptoms have subsided for a week.

   do not be tempted to train. ever see the video of the soccer player that breaks his tibia while he's running down the field? that could be you if you step wrong with shinsplints.

   Posted 4 years ago #

4. Lindsey
   Member

   As said above, when my shins get sore I always ice them for a bit and take it easy if the pain doesn't go away after icing or by the next day (per my doc) and this always helps. As I have gotten further into my running I have had to deal with this less and less.

   Haven't seen the video of the soccer player, but I have a pretty good imagination...OUCH....

   Posted 4 years ago #

5. andreabona
   Member

   definitely need to stop running. if it's in early stages it could be just a day or two that makes the difference.
   decades ago when i first started training i had a bad case (hurt to walk) and it took almost 3 months of no running to get rid of them.
   rest and ice a few times a day will be your answer. you should take an anti-inflammatory to get it settled down but know that it will mask the pain so don't do anything stupid.
   good luck!

   Posted 4 years ago #

6. chapman5410
   Member

   Im in the military and do alot of running and alot of people get shin splints. The ice and rest are good things to get better but to prevent even getting shin splint after or during your run/walk do a couple of sprint running backward. This sound crazy but it does work and will help prevent this from happening again.

   Posted 4 years ago #

7. wendylou1231
   Member

   Sorry to hear of your shin splints. I've never had them but i hear they're painful. On the subject of preventing them again in the future- try to run on a softer surface than cement. I try to run just off of the sidewalk on the grass (if it's level enough) to allow the ground to absorb shock instead of shooting it back up into my legs. Good luck!

   Posted 4 years ago #

8. outlander123
   Member

   I disagree somewhat about the cause of shin splints. I do not believe them to be microfractures of the tibia-which is a very big bone, but rather it is caused by the muscles and tendons along the shin(tibia) that are being used extensively and differently than prior to beginning running. As a result, there is swelling of the muscles, and tendon(sartorious,gracilis,semitendonosis, and subsequently interossious membrane. This is a closed area that has no room for expansion. So when one starts running the first few days ,there is swelling from this area and there is no place for the swelling to go -hence pain. There is swelling because of the repetitive, and long up and down motion of the feet when running.
   Ice, rest, Ibuprofen should all work

   Posted 4 years ago #

9. judyblue
   Member

   I use to get shin splints. The suggestions around stopping running until gone are right on. Once the pain is gone however, you can start doing some exercises to help before you start running again and then once you are back to running. Here are a few. Buy one of those pilates bands, sit on floor with legs out in front of you, put band on ball of foot and hold tight with both hands, flex and point your toe about 20 times. Another one, stand upright and place top of toes on ground behind you, push ankle to the ground and hold for 30 seconds. Another one, stand upright and place top of toes on chair behind you, push ankle downwards and hold for 30 seconds. Another one, sit with knees flat on ground, sit back on ankles and keep heels and knees together, place hands next to knees and slowly lean backwards, slowly raise your knees off the ground. These should help but wait until your current condition or/pain in gone.

   Posted 4 years ago #

10. tje210
    Member

    upon further research, i've found that many types of maladies are grouped into the shinsplint category. i was about to heat up the discussion w/ outlander, but there's no need.

    to me, pain in the bone is solved with rest and ice. pain in the soft tissue, called the anterior tibial compartment, is solved with massage, ice and anti-inflammatories (i don't use or recommend those, though). i've found that rest is not necessary. just longer/slower warmups, to be gentler on your ATCs while they expand. i've found massaging my ATCs after a 4-mile warmup is vastly helpful.

    Posted 4 years ago #

11. danpine
    Member

    Here's a short video that offers a great way to prevent shin splints with a simple exercise. Go check it out right away. http://danpine.com/77/prevent-shin-splints-with-this-strange-exercise/

    Posted 3 years ago #

12. danpine
    Member

    Video not available on the above link, but you can still see it here:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBkoV-fSBR8

    Posted 1 year ago #

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