Shin Splints - Still!

Hello

As you can see from the Thread title I am still getting shin splints after trying so many things. I was hoping that someone out there may have had the same problem and would have some advise for me. Here are the things I have tried so far:

• I have had my running analysed for specialist shoes. This doesn't appear to have made any difference.
• I ice pack my shins after every run. This seems to help but the shin splints still come back eventually
• I do 3 sets of 10 (holding for 10 seconds) calf raises and toe raises every day. ( I have only been doing this for a week or two now so I realise it will probably take longer to see any effects)

After all this it still feels like I am putting unnecessary strain on my shins. I worry that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way that I run, in which case all of the above things I am doing are pointless. Has anyone had the same problem with shin splints? Can anyone suggest something else I can try?

balance board to strengthen the ankle muscles helped me (strangley). if you go to the gym then i would consider adding weight to the leg workouts. ask an instructor which one would help the splints. 

have u actually rested?

when did the pain first start etc?

still sounds abit like the shoes but like you said they should have been well advised to your style.

i too had REALLY bad splints, to the point where i couldnt walk properly and stairs were a killer .

Similar to me then, although I have learnt to stop before it gets that bad now. how much rest would you recomend? I took a month or so off and they were fine but then got steadily worse again.

I must admit I do get the impression maybe its my ankles, I will try the balance board out. Thanks for your advise!

I'd go and see a Physio and get professional advice.

When you rest, how do you decide when you should start exercising again? Completely pain and symptom free?

Also, when you start back excerising again - do you ease back into it (I.e. build up slowly?) or just go back to running as often, as hard or as long as you did before?



How do you know you have 'shin splints'? Do you think it could be something else?

I got 'shin splints' and was diagnosed with it by a Physio - he said shin splints is just a term used for all sorts of injuries and is not the actual diagnosis. (what I actually had had a long name - medial tibia something or other). I started back running too quickly, built up too quickly and they came back. I was training for a marathon and my body couldn't take the increase in training. I then had a break and listened to the Physio and got better. Not had it since.

How long has this been happening to you?

At the moment I tend to stop running as soon as I feel my shins starting to ache which dosent take long. Before, when it was painfull to walk I waited until they stopped herting all together.

I suppose because its a common complaint I have assumed its shin splints. Maybe I should speak to a physio for confirmation.

Have you tried looking at your running form?  I'm no expert but I read Chi Running after reading that Barefoot Running Book, and have changed my running form from a heel striker to a forefoot lander (plus all the other gubbins), and it feels much better and the only injury I've had is a pulled hamstring from where I just threw myself down a hill (no form at all).

Prior to which I had PF (which seems to have cleared up) and had suffered with shin pain.

I don't know if changing my running form was the 'magic bullet' - it's hard to say what causes what and what cures what - but it's worth a try.

I will give those books a read. Thanks!

Sounds like you could have a stress fracture. I too had a physio telling me it was shin splints over and over again. When i was pain free and started running again it would be back with a couple of weeks or so. I had an x-ray at hospital as i was almost unable to walk it got so bad and they showed me i had a stress fracture. And they also showed me where one had previously healed, which may have been one before when i thought it was splints.

All your sysmptoms sound the exact same as mine, i would recommend seeing a sports therapist rather than a physio. They tend to work more on correcting the issue that gives you your injury rather than just dealing with it there and then and sending you on your way like a physio does.