Shin splints. One of the most common injuries that plague runners of any experience level. What causes these shooting pains in your lower leg? Shin splints are usually due to the inflammation from injury to the tendon and adjacent tissues in the front of the lower leg. Severe shin splints, if untreated, can even lead to a stress fracture in the tibia.
You may be asking yourself, “Why am I getting shin splints?” Shin splints can be caused by several reasons:
- Long runs on downhill or slanted surfaces
- Lack of calf muscle flexibility
- Weakness of anterior lower leg muscles
- Running in worn out footwear
- Training too hard, too fast, or too long
The most common treatment for shin splints is rest, but what if you don’t have that luxury? What if you have a race coming up in a month and you can’t miss important training runs? Is rest really the best treatment? Unless treated, shin splints can come back as soon as running continues.
I recently developed shin splints early this year from training too hard for the El Scorcho in Fort Worth. I knew that unless I was proactive in treating my shin splints I would be living with them for the following races. Plus, I had already signed up for several races in the following months that I needed to train for. A long time off was just not an option. Here is how I beat my shin splints. I think these tips can also help you too.
- Check your shoes: What kind of shape are your running shoes in? If you have logged over 300 miles in your shoes it is probably time to start looking for another pair. If you haven’t been properly fitted for shoes, you should go to your local running store and have your gait analyzed. If you are like me and are in the DFW area, you should check out Luke’s Locker.
- Ice Massage: This is my most effective technique for treating shin splints. You can utilize ice cubes for this or there is a great product that I use called the CRYOCUP. You should massage the affected area for up to five minutes at a time, four to eight times a day. The goal here is to get the “cold” deep into effected area to help reduce inflammation. Avoid utilizing ice massage for more than five minutes at a time to reduce the risk of blistering.
- Take an over-the-counter pain reliever: Easy enough right? My choice is Aleve.
- Increase lower leg strength and flexibility: Some choose to focus on the shin area, but I would suggest focusing on the entire lower leg. Excellent exercises are the common toe raise or toe flex and calf raises.
- Stretch, stretch, stretch!: Make sure that you are properly stretching your lower legs day and night. Here is a site for a couple of great lower leg stretches: www.sportsinjuriesclinic.net
- Compression bandages: While running with shin splints and for longer distance runs, I always make sure that I tape up my lower legs to help prevent further injuring my shins. My favorite product for this is KT Tape. This stuff is a miracle worker. Here is how you can use KT Tape to properly tape up your shins.
That’s it…now get out there and run!
