Shin Splints

Evl316

Axe the treadmill for a few months. Use the eliptical or bike instead or some other form of lower impact aerobics. Your shins will continue to be tender to the touch for a few weeks and probably take 2 to 3 months to totally heal up but probably start feeling fine in any activity other than running within a few weeks. Once they start feeling better you can test them out on the treadmill but now you know when you start feeling the pain....STOP.....otherwise it just gets worse.

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Gangof4

If you've never really run before, it takes some time to condition your body to handle the impact. One way to condition your shins for running is to do toe raises where you draw your toes up toward your shins. As they strenghten you can add resistance using a big rubberband or similar. The only other way is to condition them through gradual running intensity. I still get shin splints from time to time and I've been running for about 6 months. You can expect them when you take little breaks from running. Anyway, once they start feeling okay, you can gradually get back on the treadmill. Start with walking until they no longer hurt, then jog, then run, etc. From there you can start doing inclines gradually. I would go with what evl says and try something else in the meantime. Try HIIT on a bike or do some spin classes and you will get a similar cardio workout to your incline runs. I've used this stuff called bigeloil... It's kind of like ben gay, but far better. They use it on race horses. It's the bomb and really takes away muscle ache.

Rockadee

what exactly are shin splints? the name doesn't really fill me with much confidence, i'm imagining shards of bone lodging into my muscle... obviously my jogging routine is out, i'm barely walking properly. Is a exercise bike workout ok?

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NightStrike

Its a pain in the front or inside aspect of the lower leg due to overexertion of the muscles. The pain usually develops gradually without a history of trauma, and might begin as a dull ache along the front or inside of the shin (Tibia) after running or even walking

And Tristi, do you do any type of Streching for your lower legs? A good one that helps is "tow taping". Sit in a chair, extend your leg straight out and point your tows downwords to the ground. You should feel the strech in the muscle that's really bugging you. Just do that over and over again for about 30 seconds to a minute.

Evl316

The term does conjure up images of shards of bone but that's not what it is. It's a tendon and it runs from the bottom of your foot to your mid calf area basically. Just like any other sore tendon it can get quite painful but it's not the bone itself splintering. Tendons can take a while to heal and they can also take a while to adjust to a more stressful routine. Proper shoes are key in preventing shin splints. Another thing to to understand is that the more your tendon gets warmed up, in other words the longer you run through the pain the less pain you'll have. The problem with that is you are still doing damage to your tendon, you just don't feel it as much while your running. Riding a bike is fine for shin splints, certainly no more stress than walking. Running or some form of repeated jumping is about all that's going to aggrevate the condition. Something that causes a lot of repeated high impact on the foot should be avoided while recovering from shin splints.

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Rockadee

Thanks for that Evl316. I'm happy to say that i have overcome the dreaded shin splint. At first i attempted to run through the pain, yet that caused the pain to get worse. So bad in fact that i couldn't walk properly. So, on i hopped onto my trusty excercise bike and i only experienced the slightest discomfort. The pain dissapeared within a week, and i is as good as new!

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Rixtar

I used a treadmill for 20 minutes, two times daily, 5 days a week when I was on a very low calorie diet. I not only got shin splints but also damaged the two main tendons in both my feet requiring me to use orthonics for the rest of my life. I still use a cardio machine 4 days a week but now I use an eliptical trainer. There is no impact to the legs and you can work your arms and shoulders while you go.