Shin splints

mloc123

Like most people that started running I suffered greatly with shin splints, my first season of racing tris consisted of shin supports, anti inflammatory gels/creams and general discomfort. Below are some causes and solutions that worked for me and might help some others.

Common Causes

-Poor running form
-Low cadence
-Heal strike
-Running on tired legs
-Too much, too soon

How can I avoid them

The first three common causes can pretty much get bundled in together. From what I see out on the roads each year most new runners fall into the same trap. They run with an overlong stride which results in heal strike and poor form. The single biggest change I made was to reduce my stride length and up my cadence.

This is not easy and will take time, you will feel like its a shuffle and your pace will no doubt suffer at the start. Aim to hit a cadence of 90 footstrikes per foot a minute, easiest way to check this is to count your footstikes for 20 seconds and multiply by 3. Check this a few times throughout your run.

The last two are pretty straight forward. As I found out on Sunday when my legs are tired at the end of a training block my form goes to ****e, I resorted to thrudging along and woke up on Monday in alot of pain.. first time in about 18 months that I have had 'shin splints'. So if you have to run on tired legs form should be your number one concern.

Too much too soon? I think most new runners will know about this. Take it easy to start with, your times will come down and you will get better but it won't happen overnight.. injury on the otherhand can and will. Its a long term plan, enjoy it.

Solutions

The best solution is to avoid them but the usuals will also help:

Ice, stretch and roll..
When stretching and rolling also pay attention to your calves.


All of this is just my experience but it might help other people out. I am not a fan of Physios approach to shin splints. The common theme seems to be to get you to either change your shoes or buy expensive insoles off them. I started out as an over pronater but now run in neuteral lightweight shoes, mainly becuase I looked at what I was doing wrong and tried to correct it.

donothoponpop

Update 17th Feb:
mod
The Admins have discussed our medical/injury advice dilemma, and have suggested a compromise:

Rather than a "how do I stop my shins hurting" thread, have a thread entitled Common Complaints.
Saying stuff like: "a common complaint is shin splints and you can avoid it by doing the following before running".

So there is no change in the status quo, anyone seeking advice about their specific pain or injury will continue to be told to get a professional diagnosis, and probably have their thread locked.

However, a thread about, say shin splints, under a "Common Complaints" heading, would list the common causes of shin splints, etc.

Currently: Poster asks how to treat pain in shins. *Thread gets locked* reply they want- Hi, I had shin splints, and had my gait looked at, was wearing the wrong runners, now in new runners, and running on grass a lot more, pain has gone away.

Compromise suggestion: A thread of common causes of shin splints is listed, common remedies are discussed. That way, anyone with a pain in their shins looking for advice, would be told to get a professional diagnosis. They may also be directed to read the list of Common Complaints.
This way, no-one is giving/getting specific medical/injury on the forum, instead reading about causes of shin splints, and ways to avoid getting them. Similar for other common sports injuries.

Before we do this thread, can we discuss it here a bit, there's obviously going to be limits and queries. There has been a fair amount of work and discussion behind the scenes about this, so its not up for renegotiation, its take it or leave it. But there's a decent opportunity to provide a service about common injuries that will be of benefit to many on the forum.

Anyone want to ask/answer questions, fire away.
/mod

donothoponpop

mod

As posted elsewhere, the Admins have agreed that we can do up a list of "Common Causes" for usual running/athletic/Tri injuries. I've restored mloc's post above, we can use this as a template. Bear in mind medical/injury advice is still off-limits, so people who add to this template thread may still find there posts cut or deleted.
We're in uncharted territory here, so there is bound to be a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, so on that understanding, fire away.

/mod

cwgatling

My shins are killing me. What should I do?

Only messin'

Good post mloc

kingQuez

Great post mloc. Some additional stuff I've learned along the way that may be helpful:

Something else to keep in mind when you start running is the surface you're training on. If possible stick to grass; there is much less impact on your legs than the alternatives: Sand (not enough support), Tarmac (next best thing to grass), Concrete (to be avoided where possible). I often drop back to running laps of the UCD sports pitches, the phoenix park trails and some random other parks near where I live.

Core strength is generally considered important for running form; the two variations of the plank are great for this, even though I still hate doing them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I990Wbr1JE

A contributing factor to the one time I had some problems with shinsplints after getting through the beginner phase of running was a lack of balance. This can be improved by standing on one leg or standing on your tip toes on one foot (starting out for 30 seconds), and then swopping to the other leg/foot. I was quite surprized when I was unable to stand on my toes for more than 5 seconds, as I *assumed* my balance was fine. Increase the time if this is too easy, and then complicate it some more (close your eyes, do it while brushing your teeth, bend over to pick up things from the ground etc.).

shels4ever

Shin splints is a good one to start this with, a very general topic and shin splints tends to be a catch all term for any pain in the shin that can be caused by many reason.

Found this post very good a couple of years ago

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=59225732&postcount=6

Mac Cormaic

donothoponpop wrote: »

mod

As posted elsewhere, the Admins have agreed that we can do up a list of "Common Causes" for usual running/athletic/Tri injuries. I've restored mloc's post above, we can use this as a template. Bear in mind medical/injury advice is still off-limits, so people who add to this template thread may still find there posts cut or deleted.
We're in uncharted territory here, so there is bound to be a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, so on that understanding, fire away.

/mod

As a matter of interest can we give an individual account of how we got medical advice regarding shin splints and what the doctor prescribed to solve them?

donothoponpop

Mac Cormaic wrote: »

As a matter of interest can we give an individual account of how we got medical advice regarding shin splints and what the doctor prescribed to solve them?

There's a man with his thinking cap on.
This comes under the "bridge too far" heading I'm afraid, its specific medical advice, but of course as you say, its only specific to your situation. In the context of, say, you telling people about it in your personal training log, obviously no problem. But in the context of a generic thread about avoiding shin splints- which is what we have been given permission to do- you'll surely understand that specific medical advice in your instance, can't transfer generically. At least, not worded as you have it above. There may surely be some way to contribute to this thread though.

Bear in mind that we're forming parameters here, so I'm not discounting totally what you say, only that as worded above, its outside what we can do.

Mac Cormaic

donothoponpop wrote: »

There's a man with his thinking cap on.
This comes under the "bridge too far" heading I'm afraid, its specific medical advice, but of course as you say, its only specific to your situation. In the context of, say, you telling people about it in your personal training log, obviously no problem. But in the context of a generic thread about avoiding shin splints- which is what we have been given permission to do- you'll surely understand that specific medical advice in your instance, can't transfer generically. At least, not worded as you have it above. There may surely be some way to contribute to this thread though.

Bear in mind that we're forming parameters here, so I'm not discounting totally what you say, only that as worded above, its outside what we can do.

What about if one posts a link to a running blog, where the issue of shin-splints was discussed.

donothoponpop

Mac Cormaic wrote: »

What about if one posts a link to a running blog, where the issue of shin-splints was discussed.

MacCormaic finds himself in the Garden of Eden, surrounded by naked beauties, a sumptious feast, palm trees and sandy beaches.
God says "do anything you want, except eat from the apple tree."
MacCormaic lobs three apples into a blender and drinks.;)

Again its a bit too specific, although its along better lines. Here might be a way to reference your own case (this may be very close to what you intended anyway):

ElectraX wrote: »

Between all the regularly posting runners/triathletes/adventure racers etc. here,there is a wealth of knowledge on this forum regarding common injuries, recovery, subsequent prevention.

It strikes me that this would be a very good way to discuss specific personal injuries. "Doc said I had plantar facilitis, caused by <whatever>. I prevented a reoccurance by <insert better practice>"

Ryder

kingQuez wrote: »

Great post mloc. Some additional stuff I've learned along the way that may be helpful:

Something else to keep in mind when you start running is the surface you're training on. If possible stick to grass; there is much less impact on your legs than the alternatives: Sand (not enough support), Tarmac (next best thing to grass), Concrete (to be avoided where possible). I often drop back to running laps of the UCD sports pitches, the phoenix park trails and some random other parks near where I live.

Core strength is generally considered important for running form; the two variations of the plank are great for this, even though I still hate doing them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I990Wbr1JE

A contributing factor to the one time I had some problems with shinsplints after getting through the beginner phase of running was a lack of balance. This can be improved by standing on one leg or standing on your tip toes on one foot (starting out for 30 seconds), and then swopping to the other leg/foot. I was quite surprized when I was unable to stand on my toes for more than 5 seconds, as I *assumed* my balance was fine. Increase the time if this is too easy, and then complicate it some more (close your eyes, do it while brushing your teeth, bend over to pick up things from the ground etc.).

Do a core circuit twice a week. Within that I do single leg squats, with bending to touch the toes of the supporting leg with the opposite hand. Good for leg stength, supporting muscles and core.

Great thread

BeepBeep67

When I went back running as an overweight 28 yr old, I suffered from 'shin splints' for about 6 months. I agree with alot of the points that mloc123 makes.
When I look back I feel the primary reasons were:

• Increasing the mileage too quickly - being a previous runner I was over ambitious and too eager to improve quickly.
• Was incorrectly put in the wrong runners - this is 15yrs ago, so more expensive was seen as better.
• I enjoyed running on hills and most of my runs were hilly - my calves developed faster than my shins could cope with.
• I neglected to stretch

Now I take a balanced approach to training, rotating shoes, surfaces and sessions and although I've had other niggles and stretch regularly, shin spints seem to be a thing of the past.

groovyg

I'm just wondering is this thread all about shin splints or is going to be changed to common complaints/ injuries thread. Can people discuss other injuries and complaints that are common to runners/triathletes etc?

donothoponpop

groovyg wrote: »

I'm just wondering is this thread all about shin splints or is going to be changed to common complaints/ injuries thread. Can people discuss other injuries and complaints that are common to runners/triathletes etc?

mod

It's specific to shin splints- I had intended using it as a model for our new-found freedom to discuss injury prevention, but anticipated more weaning problems. To be honest, there doesn't seem to be any, so if you want to open up another thread on how to prevent a different common injury, go right ahead. It's still fluid rules at the moment, so don't be surprised if anything gets cut, but this thread is a good example of what you can do. We'll sticky or collect all the threads in some way in a little while.

/mod

shazkea

Does anyone know of any good specific stretches or exercises for prevention? For example I heard that toe tapping and calf raises are good.

Mac Cormaic

shazkea wrote: »

Does anyone know of any good specific stretches or exercises for prevention? For example I heard that toe tapping and calf raises are good.

Running up and down stairs/steps. It works the muscles in the shins very well, but is a killer on the tendons above the achilles heal.

RandyMann

I have the beginnings of shin splints after starting back running 4 weeks ago. Had them bad before so I know the signs. I have a sports massage booked for Monday so hopefully that will arrest the problem before its gets out of hand.

Desire.

What are the symptoms of shin splints? Is pain in the bone right under the knees a possible symptom of shin splints?

(Am I allowed ask that?)

shels4ever

Desire. wrote: »

What are the symptoms of shin splints? Is pain in the bone right under the knees a possible symptom of shin splints?

(Am I allowed ask that?)

It's a bit of a catch all term for any pain in the shin, but usually its a point of pain somewhere along the shin. Best to get it checked out.

Clearlier

Rather than start a new thread I thought that it might be useful to add to this one with this link.

It gives an overview of some of the theories as to the cause of shin splints and makes a number of suggestions as to how they can be treated. mloc's original post covers a fair portion of it but there's a little more in this article.

Briefly, you could try:

Increasing your cadence by 5-10%
Widening your stride
Focusing on your posture by running tall
Strengthening your calf
Running barefoot or with minimalist shoes
Using orthotics or taping (short term quick fix but unlikely to solve the root of the problem)
Changing the surface that you run on (even to uneven, hard to soft and vice versa depending on what you're already doing)