any miracle cures for shin splints?

[usmcski]

I got them running in BLET school. any suggestions?

[ProWriter]

No miracles, but I covered this in a 1998 article. If you have a choice, try running on grass, too. Once you have them, it's too late for this, but if you train the little muscles invloved regularly, they become somewhat less delicate or prone to getting them. You can train them like any other muscle, basically. Once you have them, don't train them directly, though. The exact same principles hold true for the preventing and treating the small forearm muscles implicated in "tennis elbow" (lateral epicondylitis) and "golf elbow" (medial epicondylitis). DMSO applied to the skin helps a lot but don't wear any colored or dyed sweats or socks over them, because it will soak the ink through your skin into your tissues...and it will make your breath and sweat smell like garlic. If you're interested, I have a link to an on-line place that carries roll-on bottles for about five bucks.

SHIN SPLINTS: DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

Aerobic enthusiasts, runners, and others regularly involved in athletics or fitness training are all susceptible to some of the same ailments that fall in the category of overuse injuries.

[krj]

USMCSKI - I'll second everything that ProWriter has written.

A couple of additions:

Place your running shoes up on a table and take a look at the wear pattern of the heels of your shoes. If there is more wear on the inside of your heels (which I am guessing there is) then you probably overpronate. You can buy motion control running shoes that help to stabilize your foot and minimize overpronation (which is a contributing factor for shin splints).

Also re: running shoes. It is generally recommended that you buy new running shoes every 300-500 miles. The shock absorbing ability of your shoes will decrease over time (and over miles) - so even if they feel really comfortable, replace your running shoes regularly.

Running on softer surfaces is definately recommended, but I would caution against running on soft sand or mushy grass (which both cause excessive pronation). Stay away from concrete altogether - but try to run on trails, dry grass, packed sand - even asphalt is better than concrete that has no give what-so-ever. I know runners who try to run on as many different surfaces as they can each week (placing different stresses on the lower leg each time).

ProWriters' suggestion re: keeping your feet closer to the ground is a good one. Something else you may want to try is also shortening your stride length. Both of these things will definately help to make a high impact activity easier on the body. You may also get an unexpected benefit from doing these two things - keeping your feet low to the ground and increasing your foot turnover rate both help to increase your overall running speed. A very good thing!!

If it is becoming too painful to do your normal runs consider trying one of these:

1. pool running
2. take a break from running altogether and do other aerobic-type activities for a while - biking, swimming etc.

Once you have recovered from this bout of shin splints (also known as medial tibial stress syndrome) consider adding other cardio activities to your workouts (cross training) - instead of ONLY running. Placing different stresses on different muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments will definately help to alleviate some overuse injuries.

Ice really helps to alleviate some of the pain and discomfort - I have a bag of frozen peas in my freezer (labelled, so no-one tries to cook them up, because they have been frozen and thawed multiple times). The bag molds around my knee, covers a good length of my shin - can be reused over and over again.

Shin splints are usually fairly easy to deal with if you address the issue early - if you try to ignore and work through the early signs of discomfort, the pain over time will predictably become worse. Don't ignore pain - it is a very sure sign that something is wrong. Dealing with it right away will mean that you are only off the roads (or trails) for a short period of time.

One last thing. If you try all this stuff and the pain is still there (or just continues to get worse), have the injury professionally evaluated just to rule out a stress fracture.

Stay safe.

[usmcski]

thanks for the advice....Im going to try a combination of Ibuprofin stretching and exercise. My legs hurt so bad this morning that i walked like frankenstein!!!! I just cant give up on my dream!!!

[coppilot]

If you got use of a road bike I would suggest using it. When I started biking seriuosly my shins would hurt. After biking for a while I noticed that my shins stopped hurting and the muscle on the front of my shins to be extremely developed. I went running today for the first time in a year and had no shin pain at all. Godd luck and don't quit. I to had shin problems while in recruit school years ago. I just stuck it out because I knew it wouldn't last forever. Now I am getting ready for SWAT Team tryouts and have to start running all over again. Take care.

[rebbryan]

i've only experienced shin splints once in my life, may be b/c i've played soccer and basketball since i was a wee little boy and have balanced strength in my legs. i got em when i first started playin school soccer. i went home, tied some weights to a string, put the string around my foot, put my foot in a chair while sitting in a chair, and lifted the weights from my eleveated leg to strengthen the muscles in my shin. not exactly sure if that did anything, but didn't have em anymore

[retdetsgt]

My expartner was a runner and got shin splints badly. He came to work one day with a cast on one leg. I asked if that would for the shin splints. He told me indirectly. He was so addicted to running that he wouldn't stop long enough for them to heal. The doctor put the splint on so he couldn't run! It worked. A little rest and they went away and he gradually went back to running.