Posterior Shin Splints vs. General Soleus Pain (Read 5289 times)

I'm interested in hearing the replies on this. What you've described is almost exactly what I've been dealing with for the last couple of months in my left leg. Mine will hurt at the beginning of the run and eventually will go away. Post run, it's negligible until I've cooled down, sat around and I guess gives the leg a chance to tighten up. If I ice it after the run, it's not so bad the next morning but it's still there...especially like you said going down stairs first thing in the morning.

I would still welcome any advice/suggestions from other RAers though...

Well, I've had posterior shin splints and your description is similar to what I felt. Mine was more on the side of the shin bone where it meets the calf. Technically, I was disgnosed with periostitis. And the pain can worsen. Mine would go away as well. I’d feel it until I warmed up and then it would be gone only to return that night or the next day. Eventually, the pain worsened and grew to where I couldn’t run. Even hurt to walk. When it gets that bad, you’re in the danger area for a stress fracture. You said there is an isolated spot that hurts more, that could just be the weakest point of the connective tiissue to the shin; I felt that too. I was negative for stress fracture but certain spots hurt like hell with applied pressure. I did the frozen Dixie cup ice massages on the inside of my shins - right where they meet my calf. That helped but my problem was biomechanical. I was treating the symptom but not curing the problem. I over-pronate but stability shoes were too supportive. Neutral shoes didn't support my arch enough. After a trip to an orthopedic specialist (who happened to be a very experienced marathoner) and much experimentation and running store visits, I now run in neutral ASICS with Superfeet arch supports. First time I’ve been able to run pain free in about a year and I’m now training for the Boston Half Marathon in the fall. See an ortho if it doesn’t get better or gets worse. Go to a running store and get your gait analyzed. But be careful, I was improperly fitted in a running store a couple times. So, I guess the bottom line is to find out why you’re getting the pain. You could have a biomechanical issue, you could be over-striding, you could be running too fast, you could have the wrong shoes. Since it's after hard runs, really look at whether you're over-striding. Your heel with hit harder and your footstrike could be louder. That's a dead giveaway. But don't run through it. It could be a simple problem to fix and you may subject yourself to a lot of unnecessary pain if you try to just run through it. Good luck.

Sorry Jenner, I'm just seeing this now. I don't have much new to offer, just to sympathize. Last July I suffered a soleus tear that came on without warning and was like a stinging sensation whenever I lifted my foot. It was horrible. I was in denial though and kept taking rest days and trying to run on it and eventually it was so intense I couldn't walk without pain. At one point I actually used crutches for about a week to stay off it so it would heal. The pain was so isolated I was convinced it was a stress fracture. When I finally dragged myself to an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine the diagnosis was the tear. All in all I was off my feet for 10 weeks and traditional RICE and massage did the trick. Bottom line: soleus pain is nasty and tricky to heal. I'll never try to run through it (or in spite of it) again. I hope your situation is more cut and dried and clears up with increased rest days.