Front part of lower right leg is not at all happy – think this would be known as a ‘shin-splint’?
Been 48hrs now, hurts to walk and I think the left one is flaring up now as well…
How does one go about easing said discomfort?
Ta

Rest, basically. Stop running on concrete, get more cushioned footware.

It took several years in my case (bastards still haven’t gone actually).

Icing for ~10 minutes is helpful post-run. Do toe raises, stretch your glutes, hip flexors, calves, achilles and piriformis, make sure you engage your glutes when you run.

Ta!
Makes 100% sense really – was pondering if there were any stretches / massaging to do as well…
Best tell the dog he’s walking himself the next day or two :

Yep – rest is the only real cure – took me years to get over them after one afternoon of running around in a frozen field in walking boots (paintballing). Put paid to my footballing for ages 🙁

I found toe raises and stretching my calves helped the best. And obviously Rest you really need for the attack to go right down before you can get better.

Rest, basically. Stop running on concrete, get more cushioned footware

Im guessing you started running/playing footy(or something similar) which started this problem ?

Personally Im not a fan of the get more cushioned footwear unless you’ve been running/doing the activity for many years.

If you’ve only just started the activity its likely you muscles/legs in general just need time to adjust to the new activity.

As above.

If you can take them NAISD’s will help but its important to stop running/walking until they ease up. Massage does help although you may find you have very tender areas between the muscle and the bone particulalrly on the inside of your lower leg.

Finbar I suffered with them a lot in my younger days and even had stress fractures at one point (all down to my own stupidity) they did eventaully just disapear.

Go to a specialist running shop. Get a gait analysis done. Try the shoes they reccommend for you and pick the pair you find most comfortable.

If you’re in need of max cushioning, best you go for something like a Nike vomero 4, Asics Gel nimbus or Mizuno wave creation.

Go and get your gait analysis done first though. These shoes are great for cushioning but would not suit someone who needs support.

Not sure that running shoes are a solution 😕 – who would be running with shin splints? When I had mine I sometimes couldn’t even stand quickly, couldn’t run across a road without my legs giving way under me after a few strides…

The solution is to rest followed by a gradual training programme surely?

In fact, on thinking back, I ended up going to the docs who referred me to an NHS physio and was given several stretches to do (toe raises being one of them). It was that that got me back on the road to recovery. (Quite quickly too – by the end of the first session I was actually able to run from one side of the hall to the other – something I hadn’t been able to do at the start).

Had mine for years and still trying to shift the damn things. Tried most of the above, but apparently mine are ‘special’ – read into that what you will.

it’s caused when high impact heel strikes cause the front of the foot to ‘slap’ down immediately afterwards – it’s the rapid extension of the muscle at the front of the shin that causes the injury we call ‘shin splints’.

(like it or not, we haven’t evolved to run with a heel strike, the muscle at the front of your shin is only designed to lift the weight of your foot. landing with a heel strike violently loads this muscle with your full body weight every time)

so, either;

plan A) stop running with a heel-strike.

or plan B) learn to control the ‘slap’ – really concentrate on holding your toes up as your heel strikes the ground (you’ll still be loading the muscle in a way nature never intended, but by holding your toes up the loading will be less violent.

you could buy new shoes with LOADS of heel cushioning, but that will only mask the problem, not make it go away.

Shoes with lots of heel cushioning cause their own problems anyway – loss of stability for one.

i have no formal training, i’m just very very clever.

Go to a specialist running shop. Get a gait analysis done. Try the shoes they reccommend for you and pick the pair you find most comfortable

Again if the chap has just started running his gait will most probably be terrible.

You obviously need to time for the muscles in your legs strengthen and time for you to develop your running style.

If you still have problems after that maybe think about going to get a gait analysis.

But running is a skill and like any skill it needs time to practise it. Which doesnt mean going out for stupid long runs it means do short sessions and improving your technique and really think about how your running.

As other people have suggested one way of forcing good technique is to wear no shoes as obviously bad technique will be very painful without shoes and will be quickly ellimated. Although personally this should overly masochist to me.

Cheers all – really hope this does not end up a long term thing…

Wish I could say I’d taken up running or similar but no – just walking and standing around (a lot) at weekend – I offered my services as official photog for the Marsden Jazz Festival so spent a goodly amount of time on my feet – including pounding the streets between venues with heavy camera bag over my shoulder and just ‘fashion’ trainers on i.e. not padded / supportive in any way shape or form so, only meself to blame…. 🙄

Does this mean staying off the bike as well – I’ve finally just shifted a cold so was hoping to get out on the bike again…?

I would say pain is your guide if you can do some activity without aggravating it then imo you will not be making it worse. Be carefull that you dont get pain later.
In my experience it tends to be the force of your foot hitting the ground and the impact that creates. Is suspect cycling may cause you no problems but I would suggest give it a go and stop if it hurts,

Again if the chap has just started running his gait will most probably be terrible.

Training doesn’t change your gait – over pronators will over pronate and under pronators will under pronate. Its the way your body is built. Choosing the right shoes can help with this.

Before getting the right shoes I couldn’t run more than a couple of KM without shin splints. With the right shoes and a slow bulid up of distance I’m running a half marathon next week, I have no pain at all any more.
I don’t just wear running shoes for running – any activty that requires me being on my feet for any length of time means that I wear shoes with sufficient cushioning.

Got mine courtesy of The Army..

Still got them now, 18years after joining up..

They never go away, you just grow to love ’em..

🙂

like it or not, we haven’t evolved to run with a heel strike

and yet 75% of runners (or thereabouts) do so with no real consequence at all. There’s surprisingly little research about it. It’s not clear whether forefoot running makes you faster or in order to run faster you have to run on your forefoot. If speed isn’t an issue or a goal, then as long as it’s comfortable then there’s no real issue with heel striking

you could buy new shoes with LOADS of heel cushioning, but that will only mask the problem, not make it go away

As long as your running pain free, it doesn’t matter, I’ve no real understanding why some folk have such an antipathy to running shoes that have cushioned soles…

Anyway, it could be anywhere from your hips downwards, not necessarily anything to do with your feet

Not relevant in your case (perhaps), but my sis used to get really bad shin pain from running even short distances.

She eventually went to a physio who looked at her running & said it was cause by her running style. I can’t remember the specifics, but she was told to alter the way she ran (her running style) and it cured it almost immediately.
She’s doing a 10k this weekend.

Well she’s a girl. Girls run, well, like girls.

@ Nickc

Where did you get the 75% figure?
I dont have any evidence to back up my assertion however which is that the vast majority of runners land around some part of their forefoot/outer forefoot as oppose to the heel.

nickc – Member

as long as it’s comfortable … As long as your running pain free, it doesn’t matter …

but Marsden is neither comfortable or pain free, he’s complaining of something that sounds a lot like shin splints.

he has suggested that he’s ‘not a runner’ – but we all run, even my mum and she’s 65, she runs for the bus, runs across the road, runs after my 4yr old nephew … etc.

you don’t have to run 50k a week to get shin splints, running for the bus will do it if you land badly.

shoes with heel cushioning allow you to land in a way that violently loads a group of muscles in the front of the shin that really aren’t designed for it.

that ‘fact’ that 75% (?) of runners can do this without problem is a proud demonstration of the resilience and adaptability of the human body.

I dont have any evidence to back up my assertion however which is that the vast majority of runners land around some part of their forefoot/outer forefoot as oppose to the heel.

From my running days & only from memory, I thought the majority of people were heel strikers. Seeing people run who landed on the balls of their feet was always a rarity & looked really awkward (unless it was sprinting).

Had shin splints a couple of years back, went to have gait analysis, got new trainers, sorted shin splint problem. A year and a half of good running until problems with ankle tendons.

More cushioned trainers isn’t really an answer, as brain isn’t sure when the foot is striking the ground (proprioception).

Physio is now getting me to awaken the important running muscles that have gone to sleep due to footwear compensating for proper running style.

Barefoot running inspired. Read this book: Born to Run

Training doesn’t change your gait – over pronators will over pronate and under pronators will under pronate. Its the way your body is built.

Bollocks.

IanMunro – Member
Training doesn’t change your gait – over pronators will over pronate and under pronators will under pronate. Its the way your body is built.

Bollocks.

Any evidence to back up this insightful comment?

Got mine courtesy of The Army..

Still got them now, 18years after joining up..

They never go away, you just grow to love ’em..

The TA ‘developed’ mine. 🙁

Mine are also on the inside of my leg caused by over-pronation which so far nothing (physio, podiatry, bio-mechanics, gait analysis, orthotics) seems to have touched. Deep massage helps lots, but hasn’t cleared it up completely.

My quest for injury free running continues!

Heel striking doesn’t necessarily cause shin splints. Could be lots of things. The 75% thing came from an article in runnersworld

Training doesn’t change your gait – over pronators will over pronate and under pronators will under pronate. Its the way your body is built.

I wouldnt disagree with this. I know a number of runners who had more problems when they tried to combat their biomechanical deficiences such as over pronation.
Over a period of time and a sensible mileage build up your body will adapt to poor biomechanics but trying to change them quickly can lead to injury.