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Fit Momma Joanna sent this one to my inbox recently:
What can be done about shin splints?
Oooo, shin splints. Yuck. I remember way back in my other life when I was dancing 15 hours a week shin splints were a constant thorn in my side. Along with the blisters and bloody toes. Nope, I don't miss ballet one bit.
Shin splints can hit you for a variety of reasons. It usually acts up when you are first starting to workout, or changing your workout. Often, when I add more distance, speed, or a new terrain to my workout, I'll feel those shins start yelling.
The symptoms of shin splints are:
- Pain on the lower, inside of the shin
- Pain on the upper, outside of the shin
- Pain you feel during and after your workout
- Pain you feel when you point your foot downwards
This annoying little set back can be dealt with in a few ways:
- Ease into your workouts a bit more slowly. Make sure you get a good 5 - 10 minute warm up.
- Perhaps take your workouts down a notch for a few days.
- Check out your shoes. If they are over 6-8 months old and you've been using them for a while, it's time to invest in new ones.
- Change the surface you are running on. If it is street, then try the treadmill or trail running for a while. This alone helps me a lot.
- Cross train. Mix it up with other types of cardio that are lower impact in order to rest your shins. Biking and swimming are great alternatives.
How to treat shin splints:
Ice:
Throw some ice on your shins after your workout. This reduces pain and inflammation.
Medicate:
Take some IB Profen to reduce pain and swelling.
Massage:
Have the husband jump in here and massage your shins. It may feel a bit tender at first, but worth it. Just don't hit your husband too hard for causing you pain.
Stretch:
Stretch those lower leg muscles as best you can by rolling your feet outwards, inwards, and by pointing your toes and flexing your feet. Hold each stretch for 15-20 seconds.
Strengthen:
Make calf raises a regular part of your weekly strength training workout.
Wrap:
Often athletes who struggle with shin splints will wrap their shins and calves in order to take some of the pressure off of the muscles.
If this is something that chronically plagues you, a trip to a sports injury clinic or your doctor may be in order.
Over a period of a few weeks or even days, you should see some improvements. Most importantly, don't let this stop your ability to exercise at all -- there are a million options out there!
Hey, Fit Mommas, have you ever dealt with shin splints? What are your tried and true remedies? Comment below!
As always, I welcome any and all questions. Send them my way any time -- I love this stuff!
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5 comments:
Ug! When training for my half marathon this spring and moving from the treadmill to the street... I got them! I switched shoes and the guy at the running store told me that when you run in the street as I do, one foot is often lower than the other in the "gutter slope" area of the street. So he told me to switch sides of the street to alternate which leg was "lowest". I iced the heck out of it and used BioFreeze constantly. They were gone in 3-4 days and haven't had trouble since.
I think you wrote this just for me. I'm 62 and have been trying to get fit and eat healthier this year. I've been going to the gym regularly now for the past 3 months and this week my lower legs and feet started to have some problems. I think I need to become friends with a bike and take a break from cross training on the treadmill. Your excellent post reaffirmed that. Thanks for sharing your training and knowledge it is so helpful.
I have a remedy that works like a charm! It worked for me all the years that I ran cross country...go to this website:
http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/0161-shin-splints-treatment.htm
for the exercises. Shin splints are the result of not enough strength in the ankle dorsiflexors and poor control of plantar flexion. The exercises on the web page above are what we did in track to prevent shin splints, and I still do them on a regular basis- THEY WORK! They are HARD at first, and you will want to quit, but keep at it! I promise you will be glad you did!
Many thanks, gals! As always, you all have great resources to share.
I just moved to the treadmill on Monday (previously walked outside.) Now my shins are killing me! Your post came at the perfect time. Thanks so much.
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