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You describe the pain as being in your left calf. Shin splits will not be in the calf muscle but is bruising on the inner part of the tibia.
People get shin splints for a variety of reasons. The main reason is due to shoes. You need to buy shoes that handle you form of pronation. The best way to do that is to go to a running shoe store where they analyze your running. You are more likely to get shin splints the heavier you are.
Even if you have the right kind of shoes, they will wear out even if they look like they are in good condition. 3-400 miles is probably the most you should run in a pair of shoes. I find it helps to ony use my running shoes for running since I develop different wear patterns on the shoes from walking, etc.
You might have to rest for a few days or more, ice after every run, get the proper shoes, take NSAIDs and only run on trails. Stretching of the lower leg and running barefoot help some people.
I agree with everything you say except for going to a doctor. Unless you are going to a podiatrist who is prescribing orthotics, there is nothing that a doctor can do except tell you to stop running until the pain goes away.
Shin splints will not become a permanent problem. They go away if you stop running.
Thank you for this. I'm not sure what the pain is but I did ice it yesterday after the gym (I didn't run, just elliptical) and I put iceyhot on it. It seems a little better this morning. I guess I'll continue to lay off of running throughout this week, which stinks because it really throws off my training. Do you think its ok to continue doing the elliptical?
My advice is don't try to run through pain. Take a little time off, and then try it again. Better to rest and heal than to risk a chronic problem. Also, avoid running on pavement as much as possible. Run on grass, dirt, or treadmill. The hard pavement transmits a lot of shock to joints, feet, and legs.
I will definitely try this. I was running on pavement a lot, up hills and such, I think I will try to run on the grass (next to the pavement) and trails or treadmill for now. I will start slow maybe a mile or two and see how my leg does. It is hard to describe the pain, sometimes it feels like its my shins other times it feels like its the muscle on the inner side of my leg. Its weird because I have never had this kind of pain.
I use to suffer from shin splints while jogging. I decided to focus most of my stretching on my shins and discovered this one stretch that eliminated my shin splints.
Thanks to everyone that responded. I iced my leg last night and then put some iceyhot on it and today it feels a little bit better. I'm not sure if I'm going to go see a doctor or not. I'll try to do lower impact exercises and when I get back to running I will run on the grass, trail or treadmill like one of you said to try. I was running on pavement and that could have made it worse.
Thanks again for your help!
I had minor shin splints when I upped my running regimen and back when I ran mostly on pavement. A little change to my form actually eliminated them and improved my pace a bit. Make sure there's nothing goofy going on with your form.
My problem was that I landed pretty hard on my heels with every stride. I read some material that said the two things to remember are to not let your gait get way ahead of you and run quietly.
I had minor shin splints when I upped my running regimen and back when I ran mostly on pavement. A little change to my form actually eliminated them and improved my pace a bit. Make sure there's nothing goofy going on with your form.
My problem was that I landed pretty hard on my heels with every stride. I read some material that said the two things to remember are to not let your gait get way ahead of you and run quietly.
There's probably a lot of goofyness going on with my form. I'm an ugly runner LOL.
I will check my form and see if I change it if it helps.
Thanks for the suggestion.
First thing I'd do is get new shoes! That will take care of the problem 99 percent of the time.
I have a new pair that I should have worn. I wore old ones that weekend because it had been raining and I didn't want to get my new shoes dirty. I know better now.
Thank you for this. I'm not sure what the pain is but I did ice it yesterday after the gym (I didn't run, just elliptical) and I put iceyhot on it. It seems a little better this morning. I guess I'll continue to lay off of running throughout this week, which stinks because it really throws off my training. Do you think its ok to continue doing the elliptical?
If you don't have pain with the elliptical, then I would continue with it. I would not run (except in bare feet) again until you have the right kind of shoe, which means you have determine if you are an overpronator, which you probably are.
The Iceyhot is just a placebo. It is not absorbed though the skin to get to where the pain is.
If you read the Running Times article that someone posted a link to, it is a good article but I think it assumes you are running in the right kind of shoes.
Years ago I had shinsplints that were so painful it was impossible to run. I got custom orthotics. Later I realized I was running in the wrong kind of shoes. The proper shoes provided the same correction as the orthotics.
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I know better now.
