what is the recovery time for shin splint injury. i have tried resting it a full week without any running
however first 5k back was brutal 3 hours later. any tips from ST users always appreciated.
andrew
depends on the actual injury i guess, but i had luck with some deep tissue massage and ice. combining the two, another technique i used was to freeze a dixie cup full of water, peel away the cup then massage the area with the ice. seemed to work well.
I was constantly battling shin splints until I got the McDavid shin sleeves. Make sure you buy the smallest size which would fit, because they do stretch a bit. When I feel like my shins are starting to feel odd I wear them for my runs and under my normal cloth over the day. When I first bought them, I did trail running for about a week and then phased in the road running, and I used the sleeves for every single run for a month, even afer they did not hurt. Time off never worked for me, as they just came right back. I think it is really helpfull to keep the shins warm during running, it is always worst during the winter. Also, you need to do some strength exercises, which you can easily find online. As always, you need to figure out the cause of the problem, my shins usually start to give me trouble about 300 miles into my shooes. Trail running is great, and so is ice. Stretching seems to be useless. There are many more suggestions if you just do a search on ST. Most of the time it is either increasing mileage too quickly or poor form (in my case it was poor form).
Arch supports. Get big arch supports. It cured them for
me.
-Jot
Arch supports. Get big arch supports. It cured them for
me.
-Jot
I agree. I used Sole insoles (the kind you put in the oven) and changed my foot strike to a mid-foot style (ala Chi Running) and haven’t had a shin splint since, even with marathon training loads. I think the mid-foot striking helped so much that I don’t even need the insoles anymore.
what is the recovery time for shin splint injury. i have tried resting it a full week without any running
however first 5k back was brutal 3 hours later. any tips from ST users always appreciated.
andrew
You need to allow several weeks for full recovery. Don’t run at all if you have any persistant shin pain.
There are 3 main causes
- tibial stress fracture
- anterior compartment syndrome
- tendinitis
After adequatre rest, it helps to rehabilitate you shins by strenthening the tibialis anterior. There is a specific exercise machine that will isolate the muscle.
I have also found that training with powercranks helps to strengthen the tibialis anterior.
here is the machine:
Or, instead of buying a machine just find a table or couch or something like this…
Something you can stand next to with your feet underneath it and lean backwards a few degrees and use your shin muscles to hold you upright. That is a good one. Also do ankle circles every morning when you wake up… even when they aren’t injured.