Shin Splints
I have been having shin splint issues for the past 5 years.
I've had a running gait analysis done so I'm pretty sure I'm in the right shoes and have the proper adjustments to keep my foot/knee in the proper position when running. I'm a mid foot striker.
My shin splints occur on my left leg. When I push my right index finger on the bone along where my calf muscle joins the bone usually abour 4 inches above my ankle, it hurts to the touch. I have very, very thick calf muscles. If I stop running for about a week the pain disappears. When I hard foam roll my calfs when my foot is straight up in the air at the spot about where the pain is I can feel the pain, usually after using the foam roller the pain either disappears or lessens severely. I don't have any serious plans racing this year so I have time to figure this out but want to get this issue straightened out this year.
Anyone have any ideas, recommendations, coaching/doctors (I'm in Denver) they would be greatly appreciated!!!
Comments
Have you looked at your run volume and intensity? I hate getting injured just as much as the next person, but for me it's a good opportunity to examine my training and see if I'm making any mistakes in terms of how hard I'm working. Sometimes getting injured is a good indicator of how hard we can realistically work our bodies before stuff starts to break down.
I've also recently become a big proponent of proper strengthening. After visiting a PT for shin splints about 1.5 years ago, I was told that I had some sort of muscle imbalance in my lower leg that made me more prone to shin splints. I've been able to increase my running durability and volume since then, but I feel that doing things like heel walks to strengthen the shin muscles pay off in the long term. It might not offer your any immediate relief, but it helps and preventing these sorts of issues in the future. I've recently started running again after a month of severe IT band issues, and I think part of the reason I was able to recover was due to my diligent routine of strengthening exercises.
I still feel shin splints are some form of black magic. Everyone gets them at some point, but so hard to understand and fix...
Fast forward several years and I'm in a tri store walking around in my bare feet as I was trying on some cycling shoes and one of the employees saw my stability shoes and asked why I wear those as I had a neutral stride. He had me hop on a treadmill for 10 seconds and confirmed it. I then went to a Fleet store to have them do a gait analysis and this time they said I was neutral. I started wearing neutral shoes at that point and my nagging running injury issues stopped. My n=1.
I have a similar story to Bob's.
I am a "big guy" at 6'4" and 190lbs. The running stores would tell me I need so and so shoe because of my size and gait. For the longest time, I wore Asics and suffered from shin splints, hip issues, and knee problems. One day while in a tri store, I saw a pair of Zoot and picked them up. They felt so light compared to my Asics. The store employee said "guys your size should not use those type of shoes or you will get hurt". So, I purchased a pair and then ran 10 miles. Since buying the shoes the running store "experts" told me not to use, I have had ZERO issues with shin splints, hip issues, or knee problems. It has now been two years and I run all my training runs, IM's, and marathons in my Zoots.
Not saying you have to buy Zoots. This was simply the case with me. What I am saying is that something is not working for you now and what the running store folks have recommended does not always apply to everyone. Good luck
Are you on a TM? If so you might want to get off. Here's an older string on the topic. Best of luck to you!
http://members.endurancenation.us/Training/TrainingForums/tabid/101/aft/7673/Default.aspx
Hi Jenn:
Thanks for the thread. I was on TM at the beginning of season, about 1.5 percent grade, didn't notice my shins that bad back then but I wasn't running up to 60' until the very end, as I was building up through the OS at 10% increase each week. I've been doing drills the whole time, heel walking, walking on toes, walking in insoles/outsoles, pigeon and duck walking 30" each and doing dynamic stretches before starting to run. I've added back in some calf/shin stretches and calf strengthening, one foot hops side to side and round the world hops each direction 3x's a week and adding back 1 running day a week at a lower time frame, gonna slowly build back up to 60'. I did notice that my cadence was 90 on the treadmill, but when I went outside it was 85, so I've been working to get that back up to 90 outside. I'm thinking my foot may be on the ground to long, IE more force impacting my shins?? Just my thoughts, always looking for more input.
Thanks everyone, John S.
Thought I'd update this thread with a status. I'm back to running, found a great Physical Therapist - Dr Michale Kearns in Colorado. For my situation it seems to be that my inside calf muscles are stronger than my outside calf muscles. So I'm doing the following exercises to balance the strength out. Sitting on the floor using a therapy band I am curling my my small toe in towards my big toe. Also doing calf raises on a step, start with feet level, starting on my small toes and as I raise myself up roll up onto my big toes at the top. I do 3 x 12 sets of these. One more thing when I walk I have to walk on outside of my foot and then roll in towards my big toe, pushing off of my big toe. I'm finally back to running outside over 30 minutes and no pain, wahoo! Hope this helps someone else out.