shin splints. Whats best to do

crang

Hope one of you fellow boarders can help me. I have shin splints in my rights shin for the past 3 months and i can't get rid of them. I have been told that rest is the only option for me but unfortunetly it is not an option as i play a lot of competitive sport and would go out of my mind if i just stopped. Is there anything else i can do to get rid of these whilst still remaining active.

Nuttzz

shin splits need rest, there is no other way about it

a stop gap solution, apply ice to the shin of 15 minutes at a time for up to 1-2 hours a day for about a week if you see any visable inflammation.

Use heat pads and look at your footware, but you have to rest up

Eoin

Nuttzz wrote:

shin splits need rest, there is no other way about it

a stop gap solution, apply ice to the shin of 15 minutes at a time for up to 1-2 hours a day for about a week if you see any visable inflammation.

Use heat pads and look at your footware, but you have to rest up

What Nuttzz said - I had them for a while, and there is little that can be done about it. If you play field sports, then this is a bad time of year for you as the ground is hardening up, meaning less give underfoot and therefore more impact up the leg.

Checking your footwear is a good place to start - Orthotics (custom insoles) can provide support that may ease the shin splints. If you are in the South Dublin area, check this guy out - he specialises in sports physiotherapy, and does custom insoles.

But, as Nuttzz has said, the only sure way to get rid of them is to rest - although I am sure there are aerobic exercises you can do in the gym that may not make things worse (rowing machine perhaps). I would recommend you post in one of the sports forums for more advise about this.

The Smircher

This way worked for me and you can do it sitting at a desk.
Curl your toes towards you until you start to feel the strain....hold it for a few seconds and then push them in the opposite direction and hold again for a few seconds. Repeat as needed.

I had terrible problems and this helped me.

por

crang wrote:

Hope one of you fellow boarders can help me. I have shin splints in my rights shin for the past 3 months and i can't get rid of them. I have been told that rest is the only option for me but unfortunetly it is not an option as i play a lot of competitive sport and would go out of my mind if i just stopped. Is there anything else i can do to get rid of these whilst still remaining active.

Had the same problem a year ago, physo told me that they are caused by 'falling arches' in you foot, which can be genetic but is also caused by wearing shoes too loose.
I got a rolling pin and rolled the arches of me feet twice a day for 5 mins on each foot to strengthen the arch support, worked a treat.
Any foot exercise that strengthens the arches could help.
He also mentioned rubbing the shins with ice after exercise.
.

Ham Slicer

It can do no harm to strenghten your calf muscles as they are antagonistic.

Also an old wives tale I heard before was to get in the bath with some malt vinegar. Have tried it and did nothing for me but maybe worth a go.

Evil Phil

Rest is the best cure. Go see a physio too though.

crang

Thanks for all your help guys. I think i hjave a bad gait which is causing me the problem as i have a bad knee and hip joint to. Who do i go to to get my step checked. I am in Galway. I heard that there is something that you can have specially made to put inside your shoe to correct the gait.

Eoin

crang wrote:

I heard that there is something that you can have specially made to put inside your shoe to correct the gait.

I think that is Orthotics (see my earlier post) - basically, they are custom made insoles that are designed based on your gait. You walk over an electronic thingy on the ground and it measures your foot print, and weight distribution etc.

<edit>
If you are quite involved with sports, then your club should be able to recommend a physio or suitable professional
</edit>

gsand

had this

it was a real nightmare when trying to play rugby as obviously rugby boots on hard ground=awful for shins...

only thing i can say is i now avoid road running, training with anything but the best supported shoes on hard ground and anything which puts inordinate pressure on the shins...

worst case scenario i found that if i just kept going the pain would subside say in a competitive environment and i cud usually make it through a match but afterwards...ooooch.

WhiteWashMan

crang wrote:

Hope one of you fellow boarders can help me. I have shin splints in my rights shin for the past 3 months and i can't get rid of them. I have been told that rest is the only option for me but unfortunetly it is not an option as i play a lot of competitive sport and would go out of my mind if i just stopped. Is there anything else i can do to get rid of these whilst still remaining active.

suffered from shin splints for ages before i found the easiest answer ever.
tighten your shoes.
wear extra socks, get extra insoles (sorbothanes rock) and make sure your shoes are on nice and snug when playing sports.

i used to get incredible pain up and down my shins every time i played hockey until someone told me to do that, and the pain went immediately.
the problem it seems was because my shoes werent tight enough, i was curlingling my toes to compensate and keep my footing. this pulled all the muscles down the front of my shins and gave me problems.

just try it out, and let me know how it goes.

zap

i can't get rid of them even with rest they come right back.

Eoin

zap wrote:

i can't get rid of them even with rest they come right back.

The point is that you first have to rest to get rid of them, and then address the underlying problem - be it fallen arches, bad posture etc.

As has been said several times, see a professional about it - if you don't know who to go to, try a local sports physio. If needs be s/he can refer you on to the appropriate person.

apeking

I suffer from same problem and physio told me it was due to weak ankles.

I have to stand on one leg and build up the strength in the ankle. Repeat with the other leg.

Also told me to make sure my calfs are stretched out well too.

Still getting them though.....but it has only been a week

RuggieBear

Evil Phil wrote:

Rest is the best cure. Go see a physio too though.

Do what Phil says....!!!

I had shin splints and was in agony all preseason...more or less missed this entire season with the bloody pain.... ****ing collasped arches and hard hockey fields are a ****ing bad combination

went to physio and he gave me a heap of exercises to do....some of which are mentioned above

Squirrel

Are you sure they're shin splints? I've had two stress fractures on my right shin this year, it could be that, the answer for either is rest and look at your shoes and posture, along with everything else that has been said

Gordon

Moved from PI.

Transform

Much of shin splints is caused by tight calf muscles. Stretch them lots, get them massaged and allow a physical therapist to work the probelms out

bohsboy

I'm a referee and this season has been absolute torture with most weekends having 3 junior games on a saturday and 2 senior on a sunday, resulting in up to 6 hours running over the two days. I remember one game collapsing in agony and being helped off the pitch by the kids!

I have tried everything with little success including rest but they just come back.

My technique at the moment which has helpd quite a bit is to do plenty of stretching. I never ever stretched before a game but now nearing 30 the joints are'nt what they used to be. Focus on the calves and ankles, really stretch the calves....push deep into the stretch. Get on your knees and lean back as far as possible, you will feel the stretch on the shins and ankles. Try and hold as long as possible. Get Oruvail Gel (pharmacy 6 euro), far better than Deep Heat, rub it in prior to activity and at half time or any break in your sport. It should keep the pain at bay.

I also have recenly began using a support bandage on my ankles which has also helped and I'm beginning to get through games with minimal pain.

I've heard insoles are good but I'm going to spend the summer stretching and trying to lose a few pounds to take the pressure of the joints!

Good luck

Funkstard

I had them a few weeks ago from athletics, and I just had to stop doing anything for a few days and they gradually went away.

poobum

Funkstard wrote:

I had them a few weeks ago from athletics, and I just had to stop doing anything for a few days and they gradually went away.

days realy? i had them and it took weeks!

Sangre

Tighter shoes definitely helped me out immediately

copacetic

when you come back to anything involving running on hard surfaces they sometimes come back as your muscles have weakened.
a lot of the advice above makes sense, i had them from astroturf for 3 years on and off and controlled it with streching before every game and sorbothane insoles.
when i started back running I suffered again until i changed shoes to mizuno wave riders/asics kayano. at the same time I was working on stretching my calves to even
out the stress and strengthening my shins, walking around the house on your heels is one good one.

The main points are to take it easy as you build up the strength in your shins, run in the best shoes and softest surface you can find and get yourself checked out by a physio to be sure there isn't a stress fracture on thw way

copacetic

by the way, tighter shoes will help, but only if your shoes don't fit quite right to begin with, your toes naturally tend to grab at the shoes each step (a bit like they do in flip flops) when shoes are a bit too loose - putting more strain on your shins...

SparkyLarks

I had bad shin splints last year. Now no problems

First I went to the physio, got bout 3 sessions,

I cut back the intensity and duration of my running, I jogged but no sprints. I did a lot of swimming, and watter running, which really helped

I got a pair of shoes for flat feet( I went to a running shop as opposed to a sports shop), as my physio said my feet were a little flat, but not too flat, I got extra spongy insloles for my rugby boots.

I only ran on grass and the thread mill( a little incline helped .

and I stretched an awful lot, bout 10 mins on my calfs before training
with all that I manged to keep playing sport and got rid of them in about a month

GreeBo

Rest for 2 weeks, ice your leg for about 20 mins a day and make sure that its elevated above your heart when icing, shin splints have inflammation so you need/want this to go down.
When you are pain free (without exercise) try these stretches:
1) calf muscle, needs to be strong to control foot, do 4x10 heel raises holding for 5 secs
2) calf stretches, the usual stretch, against a wall, foot to stretch straight behind you
3) ankle stretch, like calf stretch except foot is bent
4) walk on your heels for about 5 mins before any running, this will warm up your shin and should prevent the tearing that causes shin splint pain.
after exercise continue with the Rest, Ice and Elevation and a slight Compression if you have a bandage.
RICE is your friend for any new sports injury.
Heat is also your friend but ONLY after all swelling has gone down, with shin splints if it hurts you have swelling.

crang

Thanks for all your help guys. I have started building up the calf muscle by stetching and reduce the swelling with ice. It seems to be ahaving a good effect so i'll have to wait and see. Thanks again.

Maddylicious

Hi guys.. Thread is quite old so was wondering if any one has any more suggestions? I've been suffering with shin splints the past two weeks. Been doing football training on an astro pitch which is very flat and hard. Shins start paining me the second I start my warm up and pain lasts throughout the training session but e secondi walk off the pitch it's fine and it doesn't really pain me afterwards. I never suffered with these before but a lot of what has been said by other posters rings true - I too have flat feet and wear insoles but my insoles are the cheap type you buy from boots or the like and not proper made to fit orthotics.. Even wearing insoles its still at me.. Don't want to have to give up football but the pain is unlike anything else and I've really not been able to enjoy the last couple of sessions because of it! Any more advice/help would be really appreciated :-)

Kadongy

plenty of good advice already on this thread tbh

JennaJameson

I can be in agony with my shin splints, I've nearly been in tears coming off the pitch a few times, and of course getting tackled into the shins is not a pleasant experience, and rest isn't an option for me either.

When I went to a physio I was told it was actually caused by tight calf muscles pulling to one side. I do have shin splints, but with regular rub downs on my calves, the pain is much more bearable. I was told I'd need to see a sports massage therapist every month, but I just get my boyfriend to rub them down for me before and after games, and although I do still have some pain, and I can't do any road running, it's nowhere near as painful as it used to be.

I have flat feet, which were causing knee problems, I got a pair of orthotics off my physio for about €50, I wear them in my regular shoes, in my runners and in my rugby boots, and there's no pain at all in my knee, but if I take them out, the pain comes back within an hour or so. They make quite a difference to my shins as well.

A physio is definitely the best person to talk to about this. If you get a sympathetic one who is more accustomed to dealing with athletes than inactive people who happen to have injuries, they should understand that rest isn't an option and should be able to work around that. If your team has a physio you can see, go to them. I've always found team physios much more sympathetic and understanding and eager to get me back playing, but not recklessly so.

I've also found taping my shin splints like this before a game makes a big difference. I don't bother with the underwrap/pre tape, but that's just my own preference.

tankbarry

Im just back from a bad leg break and getting into the running side of things again. Guess what " shinsplints" I must add first that before I broke the leg I was up to about 14 miles running and still played soccer 3 times a week with out any "shinsplints" really what I wanted to know was do I do the same things as you guys.

cheers

Burkatron

For everyone asking about shinsplints (if properly diagnosed), like ANY other injury rest is key, combine this with a gradual excercise programme to target the muscle imbalances you have.To quicken the process/if it's not clearing up/to get said programme a manual therapist (what ever form aslong as the practitioner is reliable).

If it's accompanied (most likely) with fallen arches:
For someone with STRUCTUAL flat feet custom orthotics will be the way to go.

For anyone else(mechanically) Orthotics,motion control runners & the like are only a short term fix & will generally lead to more problems down the road. I can't recommend morton's PCI's enough as I've seen them work. Read the site for the info http://www.mortonsfoot.com