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Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints
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Hi everyone, I had stress reactions in both tibia that healed according to MRI, but for some reason I still have shin splints which are pretty persistent. MRI showed slight increase in signal in the muscle but ultimately no findings. I am supposed to return to my waitressing job in a week and half and really want to make sure I'm good. All the doctors I saw said I'm fine, nothing to worry about. Which is hard because I know something is still going on. When I press on the bone there are tender areas. I tried to get tested for compartment syndrome, no findings. PT is helping slightly but nothing significant as of yet. I have been resting for a little over 4 weeks now. I have not run in a quite a while and don't plan on it soon, because the job is my main concern right now.

I use my Nike Free Runs for waitressing, since they are the only shoes that give me enough support and don't cause foot pain. Also I am 23 and female if any relevance. Thank you for any insight. :)
Last edited by: cranberry12: May 18, 19 4:08
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [cranberry12] [ In reply to ]
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Following this with interest.
I have been struggling since December....had a month off running, started back and pain straight away, more time off, MRI showing things are healing and no stress fracture but still get sore after most runs but settles by the next day.
I have just decided in the meantime to put up with it as the MRI(s) has been very reassuring that things are heading in the right direction.
Would be useful to have a rundown of your symptoms...ie when do you get pain, are you running, what makes it better, who has been looking after you etc?
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [pbnz] [ In reply to ]
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I'm in the same boat. Diagnosed with a 'grade 1 healing' post tib stress fracture over the winter via bone and ct scans.
I took 3 months off running, sports doc confident that it is healed. Started back running easy a couple months ago, but I am still getting what feels like soft tissue post tib pain. Not on the ankle, but about 3 inches above it, sometimes travels a bit further. Have orthotics, been to physio and have been getting ART and Graston over the past couple weeks. So far nothing has helped.
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [cranberry12] [ In reply to ]
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I haven't read through the other replies but my PT taught one way to help with shin splints is to do wall squats with one of those bigcore balls on your back and point your toes up. Meaning you're on your heels. That will help strengthen the muscles that help prevent shin splints.

I always seem to get shin splints when I have extended periods of time off from running then returning to it. Asked my PT for advice on that while I was in for stuff for knee pain issues. Seemed to help out for me incorporating that since I was prescribed to do wall squats anyways.
Last edited by: loxx0050: May 18, 19 22:29
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [SBRcanuck] [ In reply to ]
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SBRcanuck wrote:
I'm in the same boat. Diagnosed with a 'grade 1 healing' post tib stress fracture over the winter via bone and ct scans.
I took 3 months off running, sports doc confident that it is healed. Started back running easy a couple months ago, but I am still getting what feels like soft tissue post tib pain. Not on the ankle, but about 3 inches above it, sometimes travels a bit further. Have orthotics, been to physio and have been getting ART and Graston over the past couple weeks. So far nothing has helped.

That sounds like peri-ostitis, which is inflammation of the periosteum around the bone and would be expected after your injury. It can be bloody painful, easiest to see on an MRI (CT scan or bone scan won't show it). It can take a long time to settle down. Have you tried using simple anti-inflammatories?
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [cranberry12] [ In reply to ]
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Shin splints are an overuse issue where your tib post tendon is not sufficient to cope with loading and exacerbated by lack of calf length, strength and ankle stability. You should be able to do heel rises without flaring your ankle (ie ankle bone tracks over big toe as you rise up and down) with your toes elevated up on about an inch height folded towel. So toes up on the towel, then single leg only heel rise up and down, x 40 each leg. Stretch calf gastroc and soleus muscles and golf ball rolling under your foot. Also probs need global hip abductor strength for glute meds and VMO at the knee... correct the whole chain biomechanically, it’s more than just local treatment options - get strong!
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [pbnz] [ In reply to ]
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I've used advil, but not daily I don't mind using it, just wasn't sure if a simple anti-inflamatory would make much difference.
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [noodlecat77] [ In reply to ]
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noodlecat77 wrote:
Shin splints are an overuse issue where your tib post tendon is not sufficient to cope with loading and exacerbated by lack of calf length, strength and ankle stability. You should be able to do heel rises without flaring your ankle (ie ankle bone tracks over big toe as you rise up and down) with your toes elevated up on about an inch height folded towel. So toes up on the towel, then single leg only heel rise up and down, x 40 each leg. Stretch calf gastroc and soleus muscles and golf ball rolling under your foot. Also probs need global hip abductor strength for glute meds and VMO at the knee... correct the whole chain biomechanically, it’s more than just local treatment options - get strong!

I think this is where I'm headed - I need to do exercises to strengthen everything. I have glute atrophy on one side, same side as my cam/fai in the hip, glutes on that side just don't work and the hip doesn't glide properly, so a pretty bad pelvic imbalance on the bike and run.
Given that rest alone never solves any of it, I think I need to really get to doing more exercises for it.
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [SBRcanuck] [ In reply to ]
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If you can’t find a physio skilled in pelvic and SIJ issues, next best is an osteopath.
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [cranberry12] [ In reply to ]
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+1 on the Osteopath......tell them the entire history bring your shoes your waitress in and give them your history...my osteopath is wonderful she has helped me so much. For example I had an issue with pain my shin (not the bone) and we talked about it and she did something in my back and it was gone...input back output front of the calf....fixed in 15 seconds. Mind blown!!!

"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [cranberry12] [ In reply to ]
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It's great to get so many responses, thanks to all you guys. I am not running right now and saw at least five orthopedic surgeons.

Just this week I found a toe raise exercise that has really been helping, and also the calf stretches are really good too. I started the PT.
One thing sometimes I wonder is, does moving around some actually help, because it starts to seem like never walking starts to be bad. I ordered a pair of Brooks Adrenaline, I heard they have a lot more support than Nike Frees.
The osteopath idea sounds really interesting, I am going to look into that asap. Thank you for that. Shin pain and lower leg pain in general is one of the most mind boggling things
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [cranberry12] [ In reply to ]
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It takes time to heal, and with shin splints that's often on a time-scale of (many) months, so have patience. Mine took almost 3 years to completely heal, and that was with a forced 8-months of complete rest (achilles tendon rupture). But during that forced rest I gained some weight, so when I started exercising the shin splints were back in no time.
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [TriStart] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, it certainly does seem that way. I'm just hoping when I go back to waitressing next week I'll be ok, really don't want to lose my job and they'll get mad if I keep taking more time off. It will only be 2-3 days a week, so hopefully ok. When your shin splints were healing were you still running?
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Re: Stress reaction healed, still have bad shin splints [cranberry12] [ In reply to ]
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Even though it took years to completely heal, there were only a few periods of weeks where they were painful even when sitting. Most of the time it didn't bother me during work, but I was was sitting most of the time. I gradually build up the running from 1x per week to 6x per week. At some point when I was doing 4 runs per week I realized all the pain was gone. I had gotten so used to it, that I barely noticed it wasn't there anymore. Dry needling seemed to give me relief as well, and I ran with compression socks for a long time. I'm not sure if either actually helped speeding up the healing process, but they seemed to give some relief.
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