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MTSS/Shin Splints/Nuclear Bone Scan Results - Thoughts?
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Hi All,

I've shared the below on someone else's thread, but figured I would make my own. Please see me bone scan results below. All images are same, however the lighting and sensitivity settings have been adjusted to help show the injury areas.

I began running in August of 2019 and wound up injured the beginning March of 2020. I would consider my injury to be medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), defined as diffuse pain along the posterior edge of both tibias (i.e. pain felt along the inside of both shins, just a few centimeters above the ankle). I drastically increased my weekly kilometers in January where I would run a half marathon on a treadmill every weekend or every other weekend. I ended up getting pain in one shin in the area I mentioned above at the end of February, took three weeks off, returned to running and decided to run through the pain as it hasn't healed and then the other shin hurt as well. The pain progressed until middle of June where I decided to quit running altogether to let myself actually heal. between June 1 and Aug 25, I ran short test runs to assess healing progress, for over 40km total. August 25th was my final run before strictly no running until my nuclear bone scan on Nov 9th. The radiologist confirmed that there were no stress fractures and that the imaging pointed toward shin splints. I've attached multiple images of my bone scan results, so please feel free to comment. The last few months I've been supplementing with Calcium and D3. I've been biking since April without pain and have incorporated lower leg workouts and hip work.

The below images were taken Nov 9th, 2020, whereas my shins were at their absolute worst June 25th, 2020. So it is important to note that 4 months of various levels of rest have gone by. I'm sure my bone scan results would have been significantly worse if taken in July, 2020.

Any advice, comments, interpretations or concerns surrounding my results would be appreciated. I went for a 2k run last night and had little to no pain. I am thinking that as long as the "breaking down" of my bones as a result of running does not exceed the rate at which they are rebuilding/healing, then I should be fine. (Note the arrows in the images are metal clips the nurse put on me, please ignore)

Thanks!

Currjam


Last edited by: CurrJam: Dec 9, 20 10:10
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Re: MTSS/Shin Splints/Nuclear Bone Scan Results - Thoughts? [CurrJam] [ In reply to ]
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It would be interesting to know how old you are. Shin Splints are quite common in young runners who are still growing. I’ve worked with many high school runners:

Common Cause: Runners just starting out tend to over stride. I’m just going to say that you are over striding. Go on YouTube and search “Running Form Drills” You want to concentrate on A Skips, B Skips and Butt Kicks. Before every single run, do 2 X each of those drills. Then go for your run. You will naturally begin to land with your center mass (hips) over your foot rather than your foot landing out in front of you. Don’t try to think your way into midfoot striking. Let your body find it naturally through drills.

Common Fix: First off you need to make sure your calves are not overly tight. Use a foam roller or percussion gun to loosen the calf then stretch it. Make sure you stretch both upper and lower calf muscles. Next when you sit down to watch Netflix or work at your desk, extend you leg out in front of you. Start with 10 but work your way up to 20. Move your foot to plantar flexion (Point your toes) then pull it back to Dorsi flexion. Do 10 rounds. You will feel this in your shins and at first you may not like it. Over time you’ll find you really like the movement.

If you have questions. I’d be happy to answer if I can.

Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

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Re: MTSS/Shin Splints/Nuclear Bone Scan Results - Thoughts? [SDJ] [ In reply to ]
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Hi SDJ,

Thank you for your reply. I am 26 years old. It wasn't until after my injury that I worked on my form. Up until my injury, I was heel striking, over-striding and bending at the hips rather than at the ankles*. As such, I am confident that I will not be plagued with this injury once it's healed as I've been able to correct the running form issues you mentioned. I also believe they were contributing factors. I also believe I ramped up too quickly. I plan to very gradually get back into running, increasing my mileage slowly and incorporating "down" weeks. I'll also place an emphasis on the exercises you've mentioned.

I appreciate the help! I'm excited to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm hoping other new runners with similar issues to myself will be able to gain valuable insight from this thread.

I'll post periodic updates on my progress going forward.

Cheers!

CurrJam
Last edited by: CurrJam: Feb 17, 21 8:13
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Re: MTSS/Shin Splints/Nuclear Bone Scan Results - Thoughts? [CurrJam] [ In reply to ]
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CurrJam wrote:

Thank you for your reply. I am 26 years old. It wasn't until after my injury that I worked on my form. Up until my injury, I was heel striking, over-striding and bending at the hips rather than at the waist. As such, I am confident that I will not be plagued with this injury once it's healed as I've been able to correct the running form issues you mentioned. I also believe they were contributing factors. I also believe I ramped up too quickly. I plan to very gradually get back into running, increasing my mileage slowly and incorporating "down" weeks. I'll also place an emphasis on the exercises you've mentioned.

CurrJam

You just described what I went through in college. From doing nothing to running for the Army. Ramped too quickly. Had to learn how to run - over strided to try and get faster. Heal strikes galore. Fought them for years! Bone scan back then showed nothing. But I could not stand still due to leg pain for years.

Began running after 20 years. Researched form and worked hard at the stride. Now I can just keep running. Every once in a while, I get a twinge, but goes away quickly.

now you know what happened - you know how to fix it. Wish I had back then.
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Re: MTSS/Shin Splints/Nuclear Bone Scan Results - Thoughts? [prefersdirt] [ In reply to ]
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Glad to hear you were able to improve your situation! From what I've read, form is incredibly important in combatting this issue.

CurrJam
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