lets talk shin splints...

[Redneck Archer]

Any help from others who have struggled with a severe case would be much appreciated.

I have struggled with shin splints since I was 13-14.

I have done everything I know of to try and get past them. I have been active since I could walk. soccer when I was 3-4 and up through highschool. played football for a while in the fall and would play basketball, and soccer in the spring.

I received my varsity letter in soccer. we took second in state.e threw 3600 hay bails twice a year for horses.



NOW to the SHIN SPLINTS. they started my softmore year of highschool soccer. HORRIBLE pain. I would ice them down after each practice. My shins hurt so bad everynight I could not even walk. I would use a TON of ICY HOT every game on my socks under my shin gaurds.

I then went into the military. I toughed it out through basic. Tech school I was able to ice my shins down after PT everyday.

Then I met my wife. 60-80 lbs later (she likes to cook ) I try to run (love to run) but after one jog of just a few miles I have to limp back to the house, and baby my shins. and they are sore for a week.

SO, I quit trying to run, and we started biking. WELL. that does not seem to give me the "workout" I need. we can go for 15-20 miles but its just not quite the work out I need.

I have started eating much better since my son was born (trying to keep the family eating very healthy). and have lost some wait, but need some good cardio.



I have seen doctors. they say oh you will grow out of them. I have tried all different shoes and inserts. I have tried adjusting the way I run. I have tried running on soft tracks instead of pavement (that does help, but I am still hurting after). I know the added weight I have put on doesnt help.

Any one have any ideas?

I know I toughed it out through highschool, and the military, but I guess I am just getting soft in my "older" age...

"I aint as good as I once was"

Any help is appreciated.

[woody wood]

I don't get the problem near that bad but I occasionally have issues. I went to one the hi-tech shoe stores on the recommendation of friend and learned a bunch. The standard shoes at most stores are generic. This store analyzes how I ran and fit a shoe to my arch and the way my feet landed. A tip that the guy also gave me was to not tie my shoes as tight. Tight enough so they aren't going to come off but loose enough to allow the tendons that run from top of the foot and up the leg to move freely. I am not an everyday day runner by any stretch of my imagination but I have not had any shin split issues since.

[Redneck Archer]

I don't get the problem near that bad but I occasionally have issues. I went to one the hi-tech shoe stores on the recommendation of friend and learned a bunch. The standard shoes at most stores are generic. This store analyzes how I ran and fit a shoe to my arch and the way my feet landed. A tip that the guy also gave me was to not tie my shoes as tight. Tight enough so they aren't going to come off but loose enough to allow the tendons that run from top of the foot and up the leg to move freely. I am not an everyday day runner by any stretch of my imagination but I have not had any shin split issues since.

thats intresting... what did it cost you to have some "custom" built?

[woody wood]

The ones I got are Brooks. This pair cost $120 with the analysis fee.

[Redneck Archer]

thats not bad at all...

[LeanMachine]

You are going to have to back off of them, possibly completely. I used to run a lot and they were always a problem for me. They first became a big problem when i tried to do sprint work on the day after i pushed hard on a race. I could barely walk back to the truck. The slightest thing agitated them after that. If something bumped against my shins it sent a wave of pain. I work in radiology and i talked to our radiologist about it. He said you can ice them and take ibuprofen but you need to stop what is causing them until they heal completely. Biking and swimming is recommended. I like neither as much running. I was hard headed so i just sucked up the pain. Life events started taking away my time and putting my interest other places so i quit running for about a year. They are now gone. I can run pain free. They are an over use injury. You have to learn to listen to your body. Rest is not an option but a requirement.

btw i tried the shoe route too. I never went custom but i analyzed my own arch from online info and bought shoes accordingly. Tried insoles too. Never saw a huge improvement. If you break your leg you don't buy special shoes to heal it. You quit using it until it heals.

[woody wood]

Oh and I forgot. He talked my into a full size larger. Kinda summing it up, with a slightly longer shoe, you don't end up cramping your feet up, your toes don't ball up in your shoes and you are less likely to get a blister.

IDK if any of this was true or not. He may have seen the word sucker written on my forehead as I walked in.

[Redneck Archer]

You are going to have to back off of them, possibly completely. I used to run a lot and they were always a problem for me. They first became a big problem when i tried to do sprint work on the day after i pushed hard on a race. I could barely walk back to the truck. The slightest thing agitated them after that. If something bumped against my shins it sent a wave of pain. I work in radiology and i talked to our radiologist about it. He said you can ice them and take ibuprofen but you need to stop what is causing them until they heal completely. Biking and swimming is recommended. I like neither as much running. I was hard headed so i just sucked up the pain. Life events started taking away my time and putting my interest other places so i quit running for about a year. They are now gone. I can run pain free. They are an over use injury. You have to learn to listen to your body. Rest is not an option but a requirement.

btw i tried the shoe route too. I never went custom but i analyzed my own arch from online info and bought shoes accordingly. Tried insoles too. Never saw a huge improvement. If you break your leg you don't buy special shoes to heal it. You quit using it until it heals.

I have taken plenty of breaks in between. like when I got out of the military I did NOTHING at all (workout wise) for a year and a half. tried to run again and still get em. I guess i will just have to sub something for running... now that hunting season is over gotta get back to it...

I guess more biking it will be.

[LeanMachine]

Leg resistance training will also help. You will be strengthening the tendons that you are damaging.

[Legdog]

If you pound on them, they will never go away.

I train with a guy with chronic shin splints much like you describe. He's done custom orthotics, ice massage therapies, shin wraps and dosi-flexion (toe lifts) exercises.

The pain improves with each treatment modality but nothing completely works as long as there is some level of pounding involved in the training sessions.

It's kind of like expecting a scab to heal even though you pick at it.

I honestly believe that non-impact exercise or complete rest is your only real answer.

Good luck.

[stonecold]

have you tried an elliptical for your cardio, knee injury prevents me from running for long on any hard surface, the elliptical is my saving grace...

[Sleepy]

You have Osgood-Schlatter Disease AKA shin splints. When I was in highschool, the only known treatment was "RICE" (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). Now there is a product called OSCON which replaces micronutrients, and several other things which heals the disease. Supposedly its a new breakthrough treatment and a lot of good reviews about it, you should check it out.

[woody wood]

You have Osgood-Schlatter Disease AKA shin splints. When I was in highschool, the only known treatment was "RICE" (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). Now there is a product called OSCON which replaces micronutrients, and several other things which heals the disease. Supposedly its a new breakthrough treatment and a lot of good reviews about it, you should check it out.

Osgood–Schlatter disease or syndrome (also known as tibial tubercle apophyseal traction injury) is a rupture of the growth plate at the tibial tuberosity. I had this as a teen and have the proof in the form of a large bump under each knee. Totally seperate from shin splints.

Both of these are from Wikipedia. Lots of good reading on there

The condition occurs in active boys and girls aged 9–16[2] coinciding with periods of growth spurts. It occurs more frequently in boys than in girls, with reports of a male-to-female ratio ranging from 3:1 to as high as 7:1. It has been suggested the difference is related to a greater participation by boys in sports and risk activities than by girls.

The condition is usually self-limiting and is caused by stress on the patellar tendon that attaches the quadriceps muscle at the front of the thigh to the tibial tuberosity. Following an adolescent growth spurt, repeated stress from contraction of the quadriceps is transmitted through the patellar tendon to the immature tibial tuberosity. This can cause multiple subacute avulsion fractures along with inflammation of the tendon, leading to excess bone growth in the tuberosity and producing a visible lump which can be extremely painful when hit.

Shin splints is a general medical term denoting medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), a slow healing and painful condition in the shins, usually caused by exercise such as running, jumping, swimming, cycling, dancing or other sports.[1][2] Ten to fifteen percent of running injuries are shin splints.[3]

[warrington]

I see this quite a bit. My belief is that shin splints are due to one reason, a tight heel cord. The only thing that you can do yourself is stretching your heel cord. I would recommend 4 times a day, stand on a step with your heels off the edge, knees locked where you feel your upper calf stretch, hold this for 1 minute then relax 1 minute and do this as much as possible. Other things that will help are, heel lifts. Put these in your shoes and it will take the strain off the heel cord. We make custom inserts for your shoes and at times we will add a 1/2 inch heel lift on them. This some times becomes a discomfort due to where your shoe rubs. The final thing that we have done for people with sever ones, is a surgical procedure called a gastrocnemius lengthening. This has shown to solve the problem. There is one case that happens and it is due to an increase in the compartment pressure of the anterior medial compartment. After a lengthy exercise that make this problem flare up, you could be seen at the ER and they could use a Wicks Catheter which will measure the compartment pressure.