Shin Splints

[borikensalsero]

I see, me is late...

Here are my two cents on shin splints. I played lacrosse in college, we were named the track team instead of the lacrosse team because of how much we ran.

Well, it seemed like everyone in the team had shin splints at one time or another during my 4 years there. What I got out of shin splints was that the clalf muscles are usually stronger than the shin muscles, hence, causing a down pull of the foot. The weakness of the shin muscle will cause it to hurt because it can't balance the un-common pull of the foot caused by the calf muscles. I never looked into how much truth there was to it, but seems reasonable as there was no balance between the 2 interacting muscles.

We had no choice but to run through it no matter how much it hurt. But we were given a little excercise to strengthen the shin muscles. We were told to do the A B Cs (the alphabet) with our feet. Whenever I feel shin splints I start doing it. I do it twice a day if I remember, unitl they feel better. Write out every capital letter of the alphabet with the tip of your toes on the air, stretching them all the way up and down from A to Z... That should took care of all the shin splint cases I saw in college, it should help those shin splint caused by weak muscles.

But there is really no one better than a doc to tell you what is wrong. And to comfirm if the above mention is the way you should go. Glad to see you are feeling better..

 

[SwinginBoo]

How did the lesson go Stephanie?

For an answer to this question plus more stuff than you even wanted to know, please visit the Yuval and Nathalie thread under the Swing Discussion Boards.

 

[SwinginBoo]

So since my shin splints are still causing me problems I made an appointment to get a gait analysis done. It involves running on a treadmill for an hour while being observed and videotaped. My podiatrist will then tell me what's going wrong to cause the pain. Though my form is good when I run I think I'm using my right foot incorrectly to compensate for the permanent injury sustained to that foot 5 years ago. Well, it's a step in the right direction of my new year's resolution.

 

[SDsalsaguy]

Glad to see that your finally seeking some professional help with this Boo... injuries and pain shouldn't be negelcted!

 

[Swing Kitten]

WOO HOO!!! I hope it's very helpful!

 

[slavisa]

Hi, i've just joined the forum as i was researching stuff on shin splints. Now i'm playing college soccer and for those that play sports know how much running is involved. I developed the shins problem in fall of 2002 but did not take any real measures to treat this problem as i was not in big amount of pain. Well i;ve worked through the pain through the 2003 year till the fall when our season started and thats when it really got bad. Usually after each practice i could not walk because of the pain. It was so bad that i had to medical redshirt the year to get healthy. I've did physical therapy for about 4 months, which mostly involved weightlifting to make the shin muscles stronger so they can balance the big calf muscles. One would think after 4 months it would heal, so i started playing again and all over again they started hurting. and since we play year round i cant take off any days. I've been dealing with it by icing, and using anywhere between 1500-2000mg of ibuprofen, but even after all of this they hurt so much that its getting harder and harder to get through the trainings, even the light ones.

I've looked for compression sleeves but they do not work at all for me, next thing i'm going for is the insoles to see if that will help some. SwinginBoo i want to ask you about the analysis you are doing, about going and running on the treadmill to see what is wrong, can you email me or post here a web site with more info or phone number of this place since i'm nyc, not that far from ct.

 

[SwinginBoo]

I'd love to help. The only thing is that I had it done in RI, where I just moved from. However, most podiatry offices have a doctor who specializes in sports medicine and can give a gait analysis. It really helped me a lot. He gave me a list of shoes to purchase and since then my shin splints are gone. However, now i have achilles tendonitis and plaintar facieities from doing too much too soon. Oh well, it's a delicate balance I suppose.

 

[pygmalion]

Hi, Swingin Boo! 8) Long time, no see. :?

 

[Sagitta]

Welcome to df slavisa!! I really can't add too much to what has been said, but just wanted to welcome you to df!! You might want to post your question at www.thefitnessforums.com also. Are you into any sort of dancing?

I have had shin splint problems in the past, often caused by running on really hard surfaces with worn out shoes, or after not running for a long time. I would gradually build up to your expected regular average foot stress after taking so much time off. Perhaps if you build up at a slower pace it may not be an issue.