UKC

My Running partners had a flare, worse on one side.

Any advice for treatment for a quick recovery?

In reply to goldmember:

Only that going for a quick recovery is a recipe for heartache. If it were me I would rest for twice as long as it's being playing up, then return slowly cutting right back on intensity and distance and increasing distance slowly.

Ice the area, stretch the tibialis muscle and foam roller it. Check running gait as I think over striding would exacerbate the problem.

Shin splints knackered my athletics career, even after surgery, so I speak from a position of bitter experience.

In reply to goldmember:

Ps - there is a rehab programme in a book I have which I can photo and email to you if you would like. PM me if so.

In reply to goldmember:

I had shin splints for the first time 2 years ago, after quite a few years of running. Got them 4 weeks before a marathon. I went to my physio and she recommended acupuncture. I'd never had it and thought it was one of those things you had to believe in for it to work... 4 weeks later I was fine and ran my best marathon time.

I did rest for two weeks on her advice then just ran on grass.

Maybe worth a try?

In reply to Uluru:

You didn't have shin splints.

In reply to adamtc:
Correct...that's not shin splints.

I've found that ice can really help. But long term rest and then reducing intensity of running, that's speed, distance and frequency, the only thing that eases the pain for me.

It's not a great injury to get.....

In reply to goldmember:

Compression socks both during and after running. Made a huge difference for me.

In reply to goldmember:

I had it bad some time ago in my right leg. It was horrendous and was only helped by lots of frustrating rest. I don't run anything like I used to.

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:

In general, shin splints will be a symptom of something else e.g. heavy heel striking during running. It's OK to sort the symptom but also worth looking into the cause e.g. gait analysis, good physio.

Otherwise, as above: I found compression socks post long or hard sessions to be really beneficial. Ice/ massage post runs. And tib ant stretches/ strengthening. Depending on severity, complete rest needn't be necessary but always listen to your legs --- if getting worse, stop.

Good luck!

In reply to goldmember:

Check your trainers

In reply to Uluru:

Shin splints tend to happen with heel strikers when you run. If you land on your heel instead of further up your foot, it sends shocks right up your leg and can cause shin splints. Get her to check her running gait and watch a couple of YouTube vids on how to do this. I had terrible, making me cry and want to stop running shin splints until I changed my running gait and foot fall

In reply to goldmember:
The link below gives some ideas on treatment.

http://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/the-ultimate-guide-to-s...

In reply to RockAngel:

I think it's more to do with where your foot lands in relation to your centre of gravity, than whether you're a heel, forefoot or mid foot striker I.e don't over stride.

In reply to goldmember:

Yes, footstrike should occur vertically below or behind the knee joint of the same leg - never in front. Fore/mid/hindfoot strike less important.
Ask someone to slowmo video you running on a treadmill from the side, link it and I can take a look.
Would always recommend to see a good physio/sports doc for proper assessment though - there are multiple causes of shin pain in runners. Some can be particularly nasty.

In reply to adamtc:


Shin splints is a catch all term.. it can mean pretty much anything from stress fractures to muscular pain.

See a physio and get a diagnosis, and try to work out what caused it.

In reply to RockAngel:

They did absolutely kill. Even walking was painful.

I definitely heel strike. I tried for a few months to mid foot strike without much success and I picked up some different injuries instead.

Instead concentrating on increasing my cadence seemed to work as it made me strike the ground with less force. I haven't had them again thankfully.

In reply to Uluru:
Hi,
Sorry if my earlier response was a little terse. It's just that after spending 15 months with the problem I'm starting to wonder if the end is ever in sight....

I've certainly been experimenting with increasing cadence myself and hoping it may help.

In reply to goldmember:

I had problems with shin splints on and off for a couple of years, usually when trying to increase training intensity. Someone told me to look at pose running technique, which I did. Took a bit of getting used to but really helped me by reducing heel strike. I haven't had problems since. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing how it works.

In reply to wobble:

That's okay it wasn't your response..

I did find increasing my cadence to between 178 and 180 and running on grass and off road for the majority of my runs (about 90%) really helped.

Good luck I hope you can find a way to fix them.

In reply to Uluru:
Thank you....

I'm back at ParkRun which is certainly cheering me up.
I've found that icing the shin really does help.

In reply to wobble:


Yes, I ignored symptoms years ago and ended up with a stress fracture, and then when that got better, knee problems (probably from all the limping creating a muscle imbalance).

Now I'm really aggressive with treatment like ice, ibuprofen gel (no idea if it works) and foam (nobbly one) roller on my calves and hamstrings at the slightest hint of pain or tenderness. Seems to keep me out of trouble, though the thing that seems to make it flare up is probably too much tarmac slapping with the wrong or worn out footwear and overstriding, particularly when tired and losing form.

In reply to mountainbagger:

ibuprofen early on in an injury is being reported as being detrimental to healing on quite a few running sites. Sure helps when you are sore though!

In reply to SouthernSteve:

Uh-oh, perhaps I need a rethink on the ibuprofen - I'll do some reading on it, thanks for the heads up.