How To Eliminate Shin Splints

Recently, I have had some repeated questions about shin splints. What do you need to do to get rid of them? I thought I would devote this article on how to get rid of shin splints.

I first became aware of shin splints when I was a freshman in high school (a mere 4 years ago - I'm pretty advanced for my age). Several of my teammates had shin splints varying from them tolerating it throughout the season to causing problems to the point where they couldn't run. One of the remedies I would see would be them wrapping athletic tape around their shins tightly. I have no clue if that worked, so if you want to try that, it is on you. I have a couple other solutions that I know will work so why don't you read on to find out what they are.

Here is a quick video you can watch that will demonstrate everything I'm about to discuss:

Shin splints are when you have a dull or constant ache in your shins. Usually, it is in the front of the leg either in the muscle or on either side of your shinbone. The pain varies from hurting during activity and/or after the activity. The muscle could be swollen and painful to the touch.

Why do you get shin splints? For a myriad (I know, big word for me) of reasons, but here are a few:

1. A weakness in the tibialis anterior. This is the thin muscle on the front of your shin. This is the muscle that could be tender to the touch if shin splints occur.
2. Your foot wear isn't great and doesn't provide much arch support.
3. Your running form stinks, excuse me, your running mechanics are flawed.
4. You have the beginning of a stress fracture. This would be the worst-case scenario. Ugh!

Usually, your issues are any of 1 through 3. I start by strengthening the tibialis anterior. You can do this with 2 exercises. The first would be to stand on a step with just your heel and let the rest of your foot hang over the step. You then want to pull your toes up as high as you can towards your shin (this is called dorsiflexion) then lower them back down. Repeat for 2 to 3 sets of 15.

The other exercise would consist of an exercise band wrapped around a pole. Make the band into a loop or if it has a handle place that over your foot as you sit down away from the pole. When you sit, the band should be around your foot and the pole and no slack in the band (so you should be 2 or 3 feet away from the pole). Pull your toes towards you (dorsiflex your foot), then return. Repeat for the same number of sets and reps. At some point, I will make a video for Youtube to show you how to do these exercises. I will let you know when that is completed.

Those two exercises will strengthen the muscle you need to get stronger. The other thing you could do is take paper cups, fill them with water, and freeze them. You then will ice massage your shins for 15-20 minutes definitely after your activity, but possibly twice a day. As the ice melts, you tear away the paper. Piece of cake! And if you need to, take some ibuprofen or some other anti-inflammatory.

In my experience with my athletes, this usually does the trick. You should start seeing signs of relief within four weeks, possibly a little longer. Severe conditions have been known to take up to 6 months. I would recommend seeing a doctor if it is lasting this long, just to make sure it isn't a stress fracture.

Well, I hope that helps you out. Oh, just to make sure it isn't your running mechanics, you might want to have those looked at by a particularly studly speed coach that I know. And yes, he is only 4 years removed from high school (multiply that by ... I'll let you guess the number).