Pain in Shins

little lady

I started in the gym at the beginning of January and last week my program was increased by the gym instructor. Part of the program is the treadmill; this has been increased to a speed of 7.7 and an incline of 7. The only problem is that I get really bad pains in my shin bones when I try this. I have never been affected by this before and if I decrease the speed its fine.

I will say it to the instructor he just wasn’t around last night and I was wondering if anyone might know what is causing this.

Thanks

rubadub

It is shin splints, VERY common so dont worry. They will go with time as you get used to walking faster. I would stop when you feel them, actually I wouldnt bother using a treadmill at all, but thats a whole other discussion. You could probably just switch to a bike when you get sore if you still want to work the legs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_splints

Melion

Yeah, shin splints definitely. I used to get them when i was younger but not anymore. Incredibly sore though.

Roper

Yeah, definitely absolutely shin splints. No doubt. I can tell because of the way you're typing....

It could be a great many things of which shin splints, the actual condition, is not likely, as it is a vague description for a great many problems. If someone tells you you have shin splints and they're not a sports physio, just ignore them.

OP if I were you I'd first look to my footwear. What sort of shoes are you wearing when you run? Secondly, I'd look to my stride, or gait as I was running. Treadmills are easier to "plonk" (technical term there!) on than when you're running on a stable surface. You're more inclined to lift straight up and slap down onto the surface rather than rolling your foot through, heel to toe. To be honest, the chances of your gym instructor knowing how to analyse your stride would be very, very slim so I'd go with the footwear choice first.

How much distance/time are you doing?

little lady

I'm not doing that much; about 20 mins on threadmill, it's only since the speed was increased that it has started to hurt, but it is quite painful.

I don't wear any special footwear, just a normal pair of runners.

Roper

20 mins is a good bit. Quick experiment, take your hand, and slap it off a solid surface repeatedly. How long before it gets sore? Not 20 minutes I bet. If your stride is bad, and it is easy to be bad, you may be doing that slapping except your body weight is coming down on it. The impact is taken by your shins because they're first in line for the punishment!

Normal runners might need some definition, as unless you're willing to pay big bucks, runners are a bit of a lottery. Some are good some are bad.

Canis Lupus

Get proper "running" runners

The support they offer is much better than ordinary trainers.

I'm no expert as well but doesn't the incline affect things as well?

rubadub

Go to www.amphibianking.ie to get runners fitted properly.

Trev M

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Get proper "running" runners

The support they offer is much better than ordinary trainers.

I'm no expert as well but doesn't the incline affect things as well?

+1 was suffering the exact same problem with the aul shins and a decent fitting running shoe has me sorted.... now the only part of me that doesnt hurt are my shins!:D

Lockstep

I had the exact same problem until very recently. I was doing running wearing army boots:eek:

I bought some runners (Oasics I think the brand name is) and things starting getting better much quicker.

Racing Flat

Roper wrote: »

Yeah, definitely absolutely shin splints. No doubt. I can tell because of the way you're typing....

Big +1

'Shin splints' is a layman's term. There are 3 main causes of shin pain or 'shin-splints'. The two main ones are classic shin splints which is microfractures in the internal bony architecture (you know the way the inside of the shin bone is honeycomb structured? - well the some of the tiny bits of bone making up the honeycomb structure may fracture/break). The treatment for these is rest from impact activities for about 2 months the time it takes to repair (ask Sonia O'Sullivan, who apparently suffered a lot from this, would do lots of running in the pool (where the impact is greatly reduced) during periods of this). But unless you are osteopenic/osteoporotic or have risk factors for these, or are doing lots and lots of mileage on hard surfaces, it is unlikely that you have this. To reduce the risk of getting this running on softer surfaces such as grass are recommended.

More likely, in my opinion (from the way you type your r's;)) is one of the other forms of shin splints 'anterior compartmental syndrome'. This is where the muscles on the anterolateral aspect of your shin - the front and outside - fill with blood during exercise and because the fascia (skin inside your body for want of a better description) in that area is quite tight, the compartment fills with blood so that everything gets squashed, blood can neither get in nor out, so the blood inside the compartment gets stripped of its oxygen, the muscles use this for the exercise and then they can get no more so they cramp up. The muscles in the anterior compartment are responsible for dorsiflexing the foot (lifting the foot and toes upward, but not the heel). So running you do a lot of this and IF THE TREADMILL IS ON A SLOPE you have to dorsiflex a lot more so these muscles have to work a lot more, so you are more likely to get anterior compartmental syndrome. Typically with this, it builds up with exercise until the point that the pain gets so bad (often after about 20mins) that the person has to stop exercising. It tends to happen in response to unaccustomed activity (sounds like you) or a change in something like different shoes, or training on a different surface to usual.

For a very crude self check, tap the shin bone itself and then press the muscles on the front and outside. If the bony tapping is more sore than the pressing on the muscles it is more likely to be classic shin splints than ACS and vice-versa. But as I said very crude. Another check for ACS - sit down and alternately raise the toes and the balls of your left foot off the floor (but keep the heels on the floor) followed by the right foot - keep going for about a minute and if the pain is similar to your treadmill pain ACS may be your man. If so I would just put the TM on the level for now - just put the speed up instead to maintain the difficulty level.

Best of luck.

An Citeog

Racing Flat wrote: »

Big +1

'Shin splints' is a layman's term. There are 3 main causes of shin pain or 'shin-splints'. The two main ones are classic shin splints which is microfractures in the internal bony architecture (you know the way the inside of the shin bone is honeycomb structured? - well the some of the tiny bits of bone making up the honeycomb structure may fracture/break). The treatment for these is rest from impact activities for about 2 months the time it takes to repair (ask Sonia O'Sullivan, who apparently suffered a lot from this, would do lots of running in the pool (where the impact is greatly reduced) during periods of this). But unless you are osteopenic/osteoporotic or have risk factors for these, or are doing lots and lots of mileage on hard surfaces, it is unlikely that you have this. To reduce the risk of getting this running on softer surfaces such as grass are recommended.

More likely, in my opinion (from the way you type your r's;)) is one of the other forms of shin splints 'anterior compartmental syndrome'. This is where the muscles on the anterolateral aspect of your shin - the front and outside - fill with blood during exercise and because the fascia (skin inside your body for want of a better description) in that area is quite tight, the compartment fills with blood so that everything gets squashed, blood can neither get in nor out, so the blood inside the compartment gets stripped of its oxygen, the muscles use this for the exercise and then they can get no more so they cramp up. The muscles in the anterior compartment are responsible for dorsiflexing the foot (lifting the foot and toes upward, but not the heel). So running you do a lot of this and IF THE TREADMILL IS ON A SLOPE you have to dorsiflex a lot more so these muscles have to work a lot more, so you are more likely to get anterior compartmental syndrome. Typically with this, it builds up with exercise until the point that the pain gets so bad (often after about 20mins) that the person has to stop exercising. It tends to happen in response to unaccustomed activity (sounds like you) or a change in something like different shoes, or training on a different surface to usual.

For a very crude self check, tap the shin bone itself and then press the muscles on the front and outside. If the bony tapping is more sore than the pressing on the muscles it is more likely to be classic shin splints than ACS and vice-versa. But as I said very crude. Another check for ACS - sit down and alternately raise the toes and the balls of your left foot off the floor (but keep the heels on the floor) followed by the right foot - keep going for about a minute and if the pain is similar to your treadmill pain ACS may be your man. If so I would just put the TM on the level for now - just put the speed up instead to maintain the difficulty level.

Best of luck.

Nice post Racing Flat!

Are there any particular excercises to strenghten these muscles? I used to get it quite a bit when training for football. The muscles seemed to seize up, making it very difficult to kick the ball/get any proper contact.

Racing Flat

An Citeog wrote: »

Are there any particular excercises to strenghten these muscles? I used to get it quite a bit when training for football. The muscles seemed to seize up, making it very difficult to kick the ball/get any proper contact.

Because it's a 'compartmental' problem, ie there's not enough space for the muscles and the blood needed for exercise (because the fascia restricts the volume in the compartment) strengthening these muscles (namely Tibialis anterior, Extensor hallucis longus and Extensor digitorum longus), which would make them bigger might in fact compound the problem, as there'd be less space again for blood, so the cramping/pain may start sooner/be more severe.

So usual management is aimed at altering the causing factors such as inappropriate footwear or surfaces. Usually though it's only transitory - you get new shoes and because the rubber on the soles is at its thickest when they are new you have to dorsiflex more, but after a few wears the rubber is worn down a little so you no longer have the problem. Or winter kicks in so you move from grass to astro so you get it the first time or two but then after that you don't get it any more.

That and activity modification - ie if it comes on after 20mins, exercise for 15, after a few days of that it may not come on until 25mins so exercise for 20 and so on until you are symptom free.

If it persists, stretching the dorsiflexors and calves may help...

If it still persists, surgery may be an option - a fasciotomy - which basically involves cutting the fascia so that the compartment is no longer restricted in volume.