What’s weird is, I just had my shins in compression sleeves and taped up for like the past 5 days, and they just feel 10x better. I have a possible theory that the reason why I have impact pain is because I always have constant dull pain, and everytime I alleviate the constant dull pain(wearing the comp. sleeves) til it goes away, the impact pain improves as well. I dunno, just a theory I recently came up with…
I don’t even run anymore man. I’ve been out of running for so long I wouldn’t even know where to begin again, and how to get back into it. That’s probably why I end up making everything worse again. I’m also scared to try running again, because I just know the shins are going to hurt again. It’s probably hard for anybody here to believe, but I have an insane fear to do anything that might aggravate the shins, especially running. I try as much as possible to leave them alone, hoping they’ll heal.
You think running is the way to get them better, not resting anymore?
I found a track that’s built much better than the one I’ve been going to for the past couple years. The one I’ve been going to has tons of cracking, and it’s just a very hard track in general . The track I ran at today is a good one, easy on the joints. I did an easy paced 3/4 mile with no pain, and my footsteps were veryyy quiet. Either its cuz I ran very easy, its the new shoes which i like, or its the track. dunno. I’m probably only gonna run once or twice a week…to avoid overload.
I KNOW my body is CAPABLE of healing, because I just strained my other hamstring and got noticeable pain, and it only took 10 days to almost fully heal up and doesnt feel like any scar tissue is there tbh. This leads me to believe I just suck at treating shin splints
i got a nice exercise from my physio, take a rubber band and place it around your foot. For example take ur right foot. The rubber band should be around the inside of your foot thus perpendiculair to your legs, attached somewhere, at the right side of your body.
Just twist your foot to the inside. make it 10 x 1minute. you will feel it !
Another thing I’m just thinkin about. When a muscle gets stronger, it forces the opposing muscle group to relax if I’m right. Well, if tight calves are a problem, wouldn’t training the shit out of my tibialis anterior help that? But then again, wouldn’t strong calves help absorb shock from impact?
Keep running. Continued running is essential to getting rid of your shin splints and making sure they don’t come back. If you just wait it out for the 3-4 days it takes for shin splints to go away on their own, then start running again, you’re almost guaranteed to get another round of shin splints right away. Of course, you don’t need to (and probably shouldn’t) continue an intense regimen of running with your shin splints; opt for a slower run on soft surfaces instead while you wait for your shin splints to heal.
So perhaps running on sand is a good idea.
Also, why the hell does my pain vary so fucking much
??? Seriously, it’s tough enough living with the pain. But not understanding what the hell is wrong with my body is extremely pissing me off. Now the dull constant pain is really alleviated, even without having to wear compression sleeves, and pressing directly into the bone pretty much doesnt cause pain anymore, even in the most tender spots, but I have impact pain still. But then again, I did some deepppp ass massage a couple days ago and the muscle tissue there is still feeling it.
I guess the only positive thing I have going for me is my upper body continues getting stronger and stronger. I’ve already surpassed a ton of my old upper body lifts. Added about 25lbs to my bench already(pressing 300+ now) in a span of WEEKS upon returning to lifting.
I just gotta say, for anybody reading this who DONT have shin splints: YOURE EXTREMELY LUCKY AND I HATE YOU.
I’m posting because you won’t hate me… I’ve been having left shin issues and now my right one started bothering. I think I might have to give orthotics a shot. I’ve heard that they help, with certain cases at least.
Go see a foot doctor. Maybe your foot mechanics are causing shin disfunction. That’s very often the case.
Good job on the upper body and stay positive (I understand your frustration, trust me!)
Hahaha you’re right I won’t hate you, until you get better that is
Nah seriously thanks though for the post. I have a strong feeling my orthotics just suck. I dunno to be honest. I’m almost due for another pair actually…
Yup, X-rays and MRIs and bone scan all led to a final conclusion: It’s just inflammation. Now personally, I’d like to believe its a bit more than that.
So far, absolutely avoiding any impact, and moist heat therapy is working wonders. I’d give my shins a 7.5 for how good theyre feeling…where 10 = perfect. Though, I might have to wait out the rest of the summer just to see if I’m actually on the right track, or if my shins decided to just randomly feel better lately. Of course, then when I go back into running(if i do =/) I’ll probably get shin splints again anyways
edit: but if I get your point, you had shin pain, yes. BUT, you continued running on grass with adjusted volume, and your shin pain went away?
I have a lot of experience with medial shin splints. This is a highly misunderstood injury.
Generally, the problem is traction of the deep crural fascia at its interface with the bone. The fascia is “yanking” too hard at the point where it attaches to the bone, and the interface is not strong enough to tolerate the stress.
First, I recommend that you throw away the orthotics. Orthotics are crap. They are for obese middle-age women, not athletes. Doctors and PTs just give them to everyone by default because they don’t know what else to do. From the sounds of things, they’re not doing you much good anyway, so get rid of them. Don’t jack up your mechanics with orthotics.
The best rehab activity for this injury is walking. I know that’s lame, but it’s a necessary intermediate between running and sitting on your ass all day. Stupid little PT exercises aren’t gonna cut it. You need to put your feet and legs through the gait cycle in order to begin the process of conditioning the relevant structures. For this purpose I strongly recommend that you use a flexible, lightweight shoe with minimal cushioning or support. Better yet, go barefoot. There is nothing better than barefoot ambulation for strengthening your feet and lower legs.
Next, stretch the shit out of your plantar flexors (calves, soleus, achilles tendon). This will do more to prevent overpronation than your shitty orthotics.
yeah i was doing tempo on the synthetic track, it was getting chronic and would irratate me, it became uncomfortable. So i went on grass after 4-6 weeks its gone (however if deep message with my fingers i can feel slight discomfort) it doesnt bother me anymore.
My only problem now its my calves as i started running barefoot and my calves feel sore like a day after doing seated calf raises. Maybe shoes and spikes dont give me much ROM of the ankle who knows, all i know is its sore, my left side being sore as hell.
YOU GOT IT, on the button, my injury is medial shin splints, my very first injury when i started track seriously on my first year, i however wear orthotics but i havent gotten a new one in over a year. I am however starting to do tempo barefoot see how that goes.
Dude, I did a light barefoot run on grass 3 days ago, only 10 minutes and it was a jog, and my calves are STILL mad sore!!!
How often and what intensity did you do your runs? The shins are BACK to the point where they feel pretty good, but still some pain. I dunno where to go from this point
edit: i dont think just taking off the orthotics for good right away is a good idea IMO. the orthotics were helping to alleviate a condition, so itd probably be wise to start easing off of them, no?
i go faster when im barefoot, I ran 200m aprox on grass and i PBed on the grassfield running nice and easy, and that left me gassed the rest of the workout. I dont even notice but im going fast sometimes barefoot.
(I understand your frustration, trust me!)
id love to see what I could do on a road bike.