What are shin splints? According to information published by the Faculty of Harvard Medical School, shin splints are injuries that commonly occur in runners. They cause pain along the inner side of the shinbone (tibia). Shin splints develop because of overuse of the posterior tibialis muscle in the lower leg near the shin. In most cases, this overuse is related to a sudden increase in the intensity of an athlete’s training program, such as running faster, farther or for longer periods than before. When shin splints first appear, the leg pain tends to start near the end of a training session. However, if the athlete ignores the pain and tries to “run through it,” symptoms eventually will begin earlier and earlier during training, until they start to affect the athlete’s overall performance.
Although shin splints are most common in runners, they also can occur in basketball players, soccer players and other athletes in sports that require periods of intense or prolonged running. Even walkers are at risk if they walk too fast or too far. Pain usually continues after exercise ends, and you may even feel it when you are resting and not putting weight on the affected leg.
Your doctor can usually diagnose shin splints based on your symptoms, your history of athletic activity and a physical examination. He will examine your shin area to confirm that the pain and tenderness are located in your leg muscle (or its tendon), rather than in the shinbone itself. This is because symptoms of shin splints can be confused with the pain of a tibial stress fracture, which is a small stress-related break in the shinbone. A tibial stress fracture is another type of overuse injury that is common in athletes who run. Under normal circumstances, a doctor does not need special diagnostic tests to confirm that you have shin splints.
What is the expected duration of shin splints? Well, doctors say that if you rest your legs and take a temporary break from running, the pain of shin splints will likely disappear within 1-2 weeks. However, once your pain is gone and you resume training, you should start at a low intensity and then gradually build up. Otherwise, your shin splints will return!
To help prevent the incidence of shin splints, you can:
* Follow the 10% rule: Don’t increase the time or intensity of your workouts more than 10% per week.
* Warm up before participating in running sports.
* Follow an exercise program aimed at stretching and strengthening your leg muscles, especially muscles in your lower legs and around your ankles.
* Wear customized shoe inserts, such as arch supports or heel wedges. These may be helpful if your doctor determines that your shin splits are partly related to an imbalance in the way you walk.
As far as treatment goes, if you have shin splints, your doctor probably will recommend that you follow the RICE rules:
* Rest the injured muscle! Take a break from running for 7 to 10 days.
* Ice the injured area to reduce swelling.
* Compress the muscle with an elastic bandage.
* Elevate the injured leg.
To maintain your overall fitness level while you rest your legs, try swimming, using an exercise bike, rowing, or other athletic activities as recommended by your doctor. As your pain gradually goes away, your doctor may suggest that you start with a walking program before you begin running again. If your shin pain returns when you walk, then you will need to rest your legs again until you are pain-free for two or three days. As part of your rehabilitation, your doctor also may recommend an exercise program to strengthen the muscles in your lower legs and around your ankles. If the issue is that you have a mechanical imbalance in the way you walk, and this increases your risk of shin splints, your doctor may recommend that you use arch supports or heel wedges in your shoes to correct the imbalance. Call your doctor if you have severe pain, tenderness or swelling near your shin, especially if this pain makes it hard for you to walk. Also call if you have milder shin pain that has not improved after two or three weeks. If you faithfully follow the RICE treatment and resume your training gradually, then the outlook is excellent!
Have you had an experience with shin splints? If so, tell us about it in the comments section, and share your tips for recovery.
Today’s Workout:
Buy In – 2 block jog; make sure you are nice and warm before starting the WOD
WOD – “Filthy Fifty”
50 Box Jumps, 20/24 inch box
50 Jumping Pull-Ups
50 Kettlebell Swings, 20/35lbs
50 Walking Lunges
50 Knees to Elbows
50 Push Press, 30/45 pounds
50 Back Extensions
50 Wall Ball shots, 14/20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double Unders
ARE YOU READY FOR THE FILTHY FIFTY?
Zone 3: scale weights as needed
Zone 2: complete 25 reps of each exercise; scale weights as needed
Zone 1: complete 15 reps of each exercise; scale weights as needed
Cash Out – Instructor led stretch
I’ve been waiting for this WOD, can’t wait!
Oh my God. That looks AWESOME. I’ll be there!
Wish I could be there :-(. Hope you guys kill it.
P.S. Loved the Flip It WOD today. Team Scotland the Brave destroyed :-).
Two CRAZY videos… number one is a vid of two very strong and fit women doing the Nate workout (Gillian was at the BIG games last year)… amazing
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_GillianJeannieNate.wmv
Here’s one of the Filthy Fifty workout… goodtimes!
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_PittFilthyFifty.wmv
See you all tomorrow
turts
Great post Shannon. I’m lucky that I have only experienced one shin splint ever (just after the CIBC 5km run recently).
Today’s WOD was fun!
Looking forward to everything EXCEPT the wall balls and the burpees (Goat followed by Yuck)
Ditto what Sean said…Stupid school…
I really wanted to make the Flip It WOD, it looked like a lot of fun! See you guys tonight though, my 1st time doing the Filthy 50. As for shin splints, this post hits home for me on many levels. I’m the poster child for not taking time off and not listening to my body, so please don’t make the same mistake I did.
While playing basketball for UVic, I not only gave myself severe shin splints, I also gave myself chronic compartment syndrome. Because my coach and the athletic staff thought it was just shin splints, I kept pushing and never took time off. Needless to say, it got so serious I had to ice 7 times/day to play, could barely walk at 20 yrs old and it ended my basketball career early. Shin splints are serious and I wish I had taken them more seriously.
The end result for me was shin surgery (‘fasciotomy’) where they cut the fascia (knee to ankle) of 6 out of my 8 lower leg compartments. Crutches for over 2 months, extremely painful active release and rehab (that I still need to get to this day), and having to learn how to run again. So, moral of the story- listen to your body because ‘pushing through’ isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be 🙂
See you guys soon!
Jenbot
That’s a crazy story Jenbot! Glad that you overcame all of that and are now rocking it on a regular basis 🙂 See you tonight
cam
Wow! Thanks for sharing, Jen. Valuable advice from someone who has experienced the worst of shin splints. I’m glad you’re better now, and have managed to push through all that discouraging trouble!
Yeah, it is kinda crazy looking back. I just wanted to share so no one makes the same mistake I did! Thanks for the kind words Cam 🙂 see you tonight!!!
Thanks Bones!!
Note to self: Don’t get shin splints. Jen, thanks for sharing the story. Pretty sure you’re doing exceptionally well for someone that still needs rehab. See you guys tonight. I am stoked!
You’re welcome Felix and thanks very much 🙂 See you soon, Team Big & Small in the house!!!
sorry dee! i said i would come unless i got some shots. i got 3 and a tb skin test so no filthy fifty for me. we shall have to do it again soon!
Wow, that was fun!
definitely was filthy! knees to elbows took me the longest time – in order to get my knees up that high I had to break them up into 3’s and 5’s!
Nice work all today on the WOD, special mention to Paul and Kathy who soldiered through and came out relatively unscathed on the other side! Awesome.
Turts
Sorry I missed it guys! Once again got stuck in a work meeting well past 5pm 🙁
It’s an amazing post in support of all the internet users; they will get benefit from it I am sure.
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