I think I might have developed shin splints from my marathon training. I am getting a bit of discomfort in both legs about 1/3 up from the ankle and on the inside front of the leg. Got a feeling that this could be shin splints, but I have never had them before so don’t really know what to do about it.

Anyone had them before and got any good advice? My marathon is in 3 weeks!

Cheers

I’ve had them a couple of times. I got them sorted by a combination of rest, stretching and physio. It took longer than three weeks to sort though.

I had shin splints after over training, I think the thing that really set it off was running downhill on tarmac.

Pain in exactly the place you describe.

I had to rest up completely for the condition to go away, tried running after a week or so and it just reoccured.

Check with your GP, take their advice. Three weeks to a marathon you need qualified advice if you’re going to make the start line.

Shin splints hurt to the point you have to stop running and can be more painful when you stop.

Calf stretches really help (prevent) but to be honest if you have got them bad now the only way to get rid is rest and 3 weeks probably not long enough.

If it is shin splints, they often occur due to overtraining or incorrect footwear. The best thing you can do for them is to stop training. Mix hot and cold treatments with some gentle massage. THey don’t just go away and can get worse. The shin area doesn’t have a great blood supply so can take longer to heal too. If your marathon is in three weeks (and it is your first) you should be looking to reduce your mileage soon anyway. Rest your legs for a bit, eat and seep well and see how they are a week before the race.

It might be worth making sure they are shin splints though.

Also to add, they can sometimes appear to go away whilst yo are running. Don’t belive it, when the muscles cool down they will come back worse.

Yep, I’d agree with the above, having also suffered from them in the past. Rest and physio sorted it.

Also, could be worth revisiting your shoes/running style, as there may be some potential to have an impact on things there.

this is usually a problem with the alignment of your tibia in relation to your femur causing inappropriate strain on the muscular attachments to the periosteum (covering of the bone) this causes the periosteum to pull away from bone causing inflammation and pain…. so rest for a week using a combination of cold and hot (2mins of each starting and finishing with cold) to reduce the inflammation and promote healing, very gentle and importantly painless stretching of the anterior leg muscles, and get an osteopath or other manual professional to check and realign tibia/femur/ankle. if you need any specific guidance feel free to ask I’m happy to help good luck!

My masseur tells me massaging with a bar of soap in between the muscle and the bone sorts it – so may be possible in weeks? Oddly I’ve only had them hurt when not running, and am too chicken to do the massage bit, I’m squeamish about my tibias for some reason!

In any event not running between now and the run won’t be a killer IMO – I did my first with a longest run of 10 miless 2 weeks before the race and only did about 30m in the last 3 weeks (inc. the last week off).

I felt really well rested and was surprised with my pace – it felt easy, at the start at least.

I’ve found that massage as Al describes works quite well (never used a bar of soap though, but each to their own!). I also find stretching helps a lot – both calf stretches and trying to stretch where the pain is too (bringing your heel up to your bum and gently pulling on your toes, as if doing a quad stretch works for me).

Don’t try to run through it either, you just make it worse and it takes longer to clear up.

With 3 weeks to go to a marathon, I’d be making an appointment with a specialist sports physio ASAP. Don’t go to your GP, waste of time. See if you can get a recommendation from one of the running forums on-line.

My work private health insurance apys for my physio tho I need a referral from the GP (which they seemingly give automatically)

I’d say get to a physio asap. I’m prone to shin splints in the same area and last year, had pain there and assumed that’s what it was again as the pain felt exactly the same. It didn’t ease as usual despite my self treatment (massage, ice, calf stretches etc) and i eventually went back to physio where i was told i’d damaged a tendon. So don’t automatically assume its shin splints, even if its sounds like it.

Complete rest from running, ice, physio/massage treatment (acupuncture and massage) and bags of calf and shin stretches, were the only things that fixed me.

My physio gave me exercises to strengthen my shins and calves which have been great. I try to massage my shins on a regular basis as i can feel where the muscle gets tight/sticks to the bone, but its really horrible, and painful.

I would say that if anyone gets shin splints regularly then there is an issue with the mechanics of the body! its great to massage and stretch to get rid of the symptoms but do yourselves a favor and look to the cause of the problem! We weren’t designed with shin splints they are acquired through mechanical problems. most of my patients with knee and lower leg problems are fixed by sorting out the pelvis and mechanical alignment of the lower limb. Make sure whoever you see looks further afield than just looking at the lower leg.

I’ve suffered with this on and off since I started running over 25 years ago! Ignoring them can lead to stress fractures and they are an injury that you cannot “run through”

Good advice above on the whole. I would summarise the following things that I do and these have largely kept them at bay or helped when I have had them.

Ice regulalrly.
Stretch calves and hamstrings several times a day.
Ibruprofen if you can take them, soluble aspirin if not
Stand on a stair with your heel hanging down and do 3 x 15 raises
Run slower than usual and stay off hard surfaces.
I have found a foam roller to be a good investment for general calve pain.

If it is painful however you need to stop and rest until completely gone. Then:

Try to run on soft surfaces
Build up mileage slowly
Add interval/faster runs gradually
Continue to stretch

Good luck with the marathon

We weren’t designed with shin splints they are acquired through mechanical problems. most of my patients with knee and lower leg problems are fixed by sorting out the pelvis and mechanical alignment of the lower limb. Make sure whoever you see looks further afield than just looking at the lower leg.

I agree largely and as someone who (in my veteran running career) has suffered a few problems related to lower back and hip problems its true that you need to concentrate on this area and there are some specific stetching routines that have helped me to get to the bottom of refered pain in my lower legs.
Shin pain is not always a biomechanical issue but often a case of stressing the body before it has had a chance to adapt to increased training loads.

osteo1 – Member
I would say that if anyone gets shin splints regularly then there is an issue with the mechanics of the body!

This!

I had similar problems. My pelvis was very slightly out of alignment, which had caused the muscles on one side of my spine to compensate, leading ultimately to shin pain on my right leg.

Don’t treat the symptoms – get the causes looked at.

Physio cracked my pelvis back into shape and gave me lots of targeted core strengthening exercises to do and it only cost £50.

Really great advice there people, thanks a lot!
Think I will go and see my physio who sorted out my prolapse in my lower back a couple of years a go as he really seemed to know what he was doing.
Its my second marathon and I am pretty sure its my last, even though I am only 30; I just needed a challenge to get into shape, but running just isn’t the same as being on a bike.

Thanks again.