Shin Splints?

histronic

Hi all,

I've recently begun training for a half-marathon in late October. I started running today and made it about 2 miles when I started getting a sharp pain in my right leg, specifically low on my shin more to the inside of my leg then the front. I hate to self-diagnose and I know a lot of advice is going to be to go see a doctor, but I really think its a shin splint. I've started icing it tonight, but I'm not sure what else to do to help it recover. I think I may start running less and swimming more until it goes away. What advice do you guys have for me on here? If its really necessary I suppose I'll go see a doctor, I just don't think it is at this point as it only really hurts when I run on it. Thanks in advance.

Dr. Frenchenstein

is it still hurting? if it's shin splints, there is nothing a doctor can really do i think. you just need to let it heal, and then get back out there. if you tweaked something, that's another story.

i get shin splints really bad when i try to run. there are some excercises out there that are supposed to help strengthen those muscles. i started doing them, but my back decided to explode, so i don't know if they did anything to help.

histronic

Yea, it still hurts a little when I walk. If I touch it, it hurts like I'm touching a bruise, but the skin looks fine so I know its something underneath.

puffycow

I have a buddy I play soccer with and he tapes his legs tightly the day before and after we play and he says it helps mitigate the pain pretty well. I cannot vouch for this since I am lucky enough not to have them but I can say it's worth a try.

Heir

It sounds like Shin Splints, though obviously without a dr to look at it you won't know 100%.

My advice is to take it easy at first, you shouldn't just be up and running a few miles right away if you haven't been running already. It takes a while to build up those muscles. I'd suggest starting with a series of run/walks to kind of get into it. Maybe run 10 minutes, walk 5, and repeat. Do that for a week, then next week up it to 15 or 20 minutes of running per 5 minutes of walking.

Good luck.

Deadfall

I coached high school track for a few years, and ran track myself back when I was in school. I got awful shin splints. I'm not a doctor, but I have a bit of experience, and here are some things I did or taught to my runners to help with their shin splints.

Warm up and cool down by running in the grass rather than on a track or street.

After a run, slowly jog a cooldown lap backwards (running toe to heel). I wasn't sure if you ran on a track or not, so this might be tricky.

Jog 15 minutes slowly up some stairs after a run.

Before a run, stretch by doing a lying quad stretch. I used to stretch both at the same time (sitting on your knees, toes pointed behind you, and lay back on your heels.) I've been told this is terrible for your knee joints, but I've been doing it for years.