Does anyone know why you get shin splints, also how to stop the pain and aching?
Whats best way to prevent them?
Garry
shin splints are small tears in the connective tissue on the front of the shin. the pain is caused when the connective tissue heals, causing small adhesions between the layers of tissue, and those layers are torn each time you begin exercizing.
you usually get them from the shock of running on pavement. if you are overweight or you have bad running form, this exacerbates the problem.
as far as stopping the pain, ice your shins immediately after working out and take some sort of anti inflammatory such as motrin or naproxen.
to avoid making them worse, use good running shoes, run off road, and maybe even get a gait analysis at a shoe store that specializes in running.
there are some simple exercises you can do to strengthen the muscles around that area and warm those tissues up before exercising.
This pain is on the inside up from the ankle like 3-4 inches up a long the bone?! I havent run for a long time so maybe that is why its sorry, i have run on the treadmill before but havent on pavement for yrs and now its sore,.
Thanks
'Shin splints' is actually a very vague term that can mean any one of 3 primary conditions;
-Normal shin splints like ashleigh talked about.
-Stress fractures, or
-Compartment syndrome.
CS is pretty rare, I think, but very serious. You prolly have either one of the first two. The thing is though, they are very different, but both can be helped by not running (if this is possible).
Shin splints usually won't cause excruciating pain. Stress fractures will gradually start to hurt worse and worse if you don't let them heal properly. The thing is, if you already have real stress fractures (can be diagnosed by x-ray), then it will take MONTHS to fully heal.
Be very careful. Cut back on the running. If you can run a little bit before they hurt, then stop when they hurt.
I'm not a big fan of taking anti-inflammatories on a regular basis. There's starting to be a decent amount of data that this has some pretty serious downsides.
You need to cut back, regardless of your deadline. If you don't, you might be looking at a stress fracture which WILL put you down for months. What's the deadline?
Deadline is 5 weeks, submission comp!
OK, then, I'm not quite understanding why you NEED to run for a submission comp. There are PLENTY of other cardio exercises that you could do that would prolly be just as effective and you wouldn't have to A) be in pain, and B) risk getting stress fractures.
If you haven't checked it out yet, go to SCRAPPER's home page www.trainforstrength.com and look into Taku's intervals. You can do these on a stationary bike and they will kick your ass like nobody's business.