Silly Shin Splint Question (Read 1491 times)

Okay, I see the term shin splints a lot and I look it up and find it is shin pain but there aren't a lot more details usually (seems to be a bit of a blanket term). Here is what is going on with me. The last two runs I have had really bad cramping up in my shins at (at the front of the leg just to the "outside" of the bone at the front of the shin. It feels like someone pumped up my shin muscle with a pneumatic pump and like the fascia are going to explode. Once I stop running there is a bit of pain with fast walking but little pain after the workout is done. Now at home later, only the memory of the pain and a little left over tenderness. Is this shin splints? I am a new new runner. I just did my last C25K run today (well had to walk part of it due to the shin pain). The shins bothered me earlier in the program but I bought new shoes and it resolved. Now it is starting again. The only thing I can conceive of that would do it is that I've upped my walking mileage quite a lot, from no more than 5K a week to, this week, between 3.5 and 7.5K a day. The other thing I realized is that today at least hydration might have been an issue and now as I sit here my toes are cramping if I flex them and I've been told by a PT in the past that cramping toes (while lifting) means I need more water. I really want to keep going with the walking AND the running but do I need to back off. What other things can I do?

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I've had problems with shin splints too. Recently I read that strengthening the muscle over the shins will help. The article talked about exercises that have you flex your foot upward against a weight of some kind. One suggestion was sitting on a countertop with paint cans hanging from your toes and raising the can by pointing your toes up. Gradually you can add sand to the cans to increase the resistance. That seems a bit much to me but it did help me get the idea. Another more practical suggestion was walking on your heels as a way of strengthening the muscles. Good luck and take care with the shin splints. You don't want to wind up with a stress fracture.

That sounds a bit like compartment syndrome too. Loosen the laces. Your feet will swell like 20% when you run and tight shoes will cause that problem. I had that too and it went away when I loosened my laces. Also, toe taps before running can help your shins too. Good luck.

I was thinking compartment syndrome but I don't think he has been running long enough, or over training. Two kids on my school track team have had issues from compartment syndrome but it was either from running too much distance, or a foot problem which caused them to run incorrectly. But that is just my experience from it.

This sounds 100% like compartment syndrome. It is not exclusively for high mileage runners - everyone can have a bit - sort of a communist type injury. I would recommend going to a doctor who knows a bit about running. Stretching the muscle and doing toe taps should help in the meantime. (Try to get is sorted out sooner rather than later as this problem can result in minor surgery)