Cheat Sheet for Shin Splints (in Layman’s English)

Shin splints are the bane of so many a runner’s (or any athlete that runs) existence.  It’s one of those nagging injuries that will not force you to stop right away but if left untreated can get serious and not to mention is a very popular excuse for so many of us not to workout or be active.  There are some serious names out there that most of us would not recognize like periostitus and medial tibial stress syndrome but basically shin splints is the term all of us have come to be the most familiar with.

Courtesy of Mayo Clinic

What are Shin Splints?

Basically, shin splints is an inflammation of the tissue between the muscle that runs down the front of your shin (also called the tibia).  It can hurt in a number of different places but usually the pain is in the area between your ankle and below your knee.  The pain can be acute and sharp like to the touch or each time you step.  It can also be dull and continuous during the workout and after the workout.  There can be in some extreme cases mild swelling on the inner most side of the shin as well redness (but not always evident).

What Causes Shin Splints?

Unfortunately, shin splints can be brought on by a number of different things.  Fortunately, almost all of them are pretty straightforward to fix and can be done with some proper self adjustment in how you do things.  I won’t claim to list everything but I will try and list the most common ones.

• sudden increase in training or working out – this means that all of sudden you drastically do more running or a higher intensity workout.  Do you just increase your distance?  Try interval training for the first time?  Slack off during the winter and punish yourself out of guilt during the spring?  All are examples of a sudden spike.
• poor running form – running is a very complicated thing as we talk about in Running 101 and it’s important we pay very special attention to our form and how it pertains to our bio mechanics.  There are some tips on how to figure out what your tendencies are when it comes to running in the article Mythbusters: Is Running Really Bad for your Knees.  Just remember that you can start subconsciously altering how you run to accommodate a slight pain and this can aggravate the problem.
• running on a hard surface – pavement is no joke and it has no give.  Simply put, that translates into impact.  Without getting into physics that a lot of force each time you hit the ground and with each strike of the ground, you are pulling the muscle off the bone and that puts stress on your connective tissue.
• old or bad shoes – it cannot be overstated the importance of a good pair of running shoes designed for the type of running you do and for how you run.  Finding a good pair of shoes is a process and if you don’t know what suits you – go to your local running store or work with a coach (a lot of running clubs have them on a part time basis).  Logging them is a good idea.  We built a shoe tracker to log mileage on www.fivi.com just for that.  Replacement schedules for sneakers should be anywhere between 300-500 miles.
• weak or unbalanced muscle conditioning – muscles do more than just make your frame move and do things, they also keep you aligned and the original blueprint for how we were built called for some pretty tight specs things like flexibility, tension, strength, etc.  We have muscles in the front of the shin and we have calf muscles (there’s more but for the most part, those are the easy ones to recognize) – now these muscle groups work together.  If there is any kind of imbalance between the major muscles, that also can bring on shin splints.
• being overweight – a few pounds extra, never mind the 10-20% a lot of us carry can also bring on shin splints.  Namely because the excess weight will throw off your running as well as increase the impact factor (even worse on hard surfaces).

What’s the Impact of Shin Splints?

The impact can range from mildly annoying to pretty serious (on the order of surgery).  But the major ways it can affect you are as follows:

• ruin a good workout and make it unenjoyable
• delay your schedule in preparation for a very important
• force you to run in a sub-optimal way that will throw off bio-mechanics and create an injury somewhere else (like your knees or your back)
• shin splints can turn into a very real problem the most severe being an actual stress fracture of the Tibia (or shin bone).  Yes, let them get bad enough and you can cause a break in the bone!

What to Do About Shin Splints?

First and foremost, DO NOT IGNORE THEM.  Be reasonable with your body.  Think about what may have brought on your shin splints and try and rectify the situation.  When was the last time you replaced your shoes?  How are you running?  Does it feel right?  Where are you running?  Did you warm up properly?  Did you change your training?  Did you increase your distance?  It is your body and it is your responsibility to take good care of it.  Think about your habits and what it can be.  Keeping a log is one of the best ways to figure these out.  That’s why we put the Fit Blog right on your profile in www.fivi.com.  Try something new or change up and enter it into your fit blog.  Log your mileage and see if the problem gets better or worse when you change your routine.  It’s like an online journal you can access from anywhere and you don’t have to worry about losing it.

Some suggestions to remedy the problem:

• first thing is take some time off – usually on the order of 2-4 weeks.  You can do other cardio workouts (swim, stationary bike, etc) in the meantime.
• icing the sore shins and taking some ibuprofen to reduce swelling
• taping the shins is an option (it keeps connective tissue in place to counter the impact of the foot striking the ground)
• trying warming up slowly first (brisk walking) and then do a thorough but gentle stretch before and after the workout
• lose a little weight
• try incorporating some lower body strength training (this means light squats, calf raises, and what I call toe curls where you sit down and pull an exercise band in with your toes to flex that shin muscle)
• if the problem does not get better and definitely if the pain gets worse, go see a specialist.  There is no glory in causing damage!

Here is some additional information on shin splints:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/shin-splints/DS00271

http://www.medicinenet.com/shin_splints/article.htm