Shin Splints

Shin splints are one injury that can stop you in your tracks. We posted about these injuries recently and an anonymous user shared this great injury-prevention workout in the comments.

One Summer, I trained with my sister's track team. Here's what the coach would have us do:

• Walk one way on our heels with toes turned out
• Walk on our heels with toes turned in
• Walk on our toes with feet turned in, heels out
• Walk on our toes with feet turned out, like a ballerina

We did this all a few times. Then, at the end, we would take off our shoes and socks and walk across the grass, pulling up grass with just our toes. Sounds weird, but it helped — and felt great after a workout.

I have done similar moves after a track workout. I would walk in each position for 20 to 30 feet, then switch positions and repeat the series for a total of three reps. It does feel great!

Shin splints are the bane of many new runners. The tight calves that accompany mileage increases can spell pain for the lower leg. If running causes any discomfort, take time off to allow your shin splints to heal. But you need not sit idle on the sidelines while you recuperate: ice massages help, too. A serious runner, my Equinox trainer reminded me of the healing combo of ice and massage to decrease the inflammation around the tibia (anatomy speak for shin), caused by this overuse injury. The technique is simple, but first you need to make the ultimate tool: the icing cup!

Make Your Own Icing Cup
Used in gyms and physical therapy clinics, an icing cup protects your fingers from freezing and provides a perfectly sized contact point for massaging troubled spots. Take six Dixie cups, fill them with water, and freeze. When it comes time to ice, peel back the paper and begin the massage.

The Massage
Starting by your foot, place your icing cup on the outside of your shin, on the tibialis anterior muscle. Making long strokes toward your knee, massage the muscle with an amount of pressure that feels good. Mix up your massage strokes and try small circular patterns, once again starting at the ankle and working up toward the knee. After five minutes of massaging, finish your 20-minute icing cycle with 15 minutes of static icing by placing an ice pack (or frozen peas or corn) on your shin. Aim to massage and ice twice a day.

If you're not up for an ice massage, you can always show your shins some foam roller love. Do keep stretching your calf muscles, and once the pain diminishes try these easy exercises to strengthen the tibialis anterior.

It's marathon season, and FitSugar reader isureamheather has caught the bug. Unfortunately, she's a few weeks into her training program and experiencing those dreaded shin splints. She posted this question about how to deal in our RunningSugar group.

Hi all! I'm new to the group (hello!) and hoping some of you might have some advice. I've recently kicked up my running to start a 12-week half marathon training program. I'm really jazzed about it and the first two weeks went well (I'm up to the point where I'm running about 4 miles, but lower distances staggered throughout the week). However, I've started having terrible shin splints (which I haven't had since I first started running over a year ago) and they're awful. I even went so far as to pick up a new pair of sneakers (I was due), but it's barely helping. Any advice? Pre- or post-workout stuff I should be doing? Thanks for your help!
— Heather

Training for a marathon with shin splints? Ouch! Shin splints are the bane of runners everywhere — the injury frequently occurs in runners just starting out or those who make a change to their routine too quickly (like moving to a different surface, or starting out too fast after a period of inactivity). The crippling, shooting pain you feel around your shins can make it hard to do high impact activities, especially running. We're glad you went and bought supportive shoes already, since the correct pair of running shoes can go a long way in making sure you stay injury-free. Here are some more tips for you for managing your shin splints and preventing them from happening again.

I know that I should embrace the incline while I'm running, but most of the time the thought of running hills and trudging along an angled treadmill fills me with unease. The more I think about it, though, the more I realize I should be loving the hills — and why you should, too. Here's why:

1. You'll burn more calories. There's a pretty big difference between a totally flat treadmill and one with a five percent incline — almost 100 calories in difference. Running uphill can burn major calories, and anything helps, so the next time you're on a run, try upping the incline on your treadmill a little bit, or finding a not-quite-flat route.
2. They help prevent shin splints. Running on flat or downhill ground can make you more susceptible to painful shin splints by putting pressure on your shinbones, but running uphill can alleviate that stress (just make sure you're careful when you're on your way down!)

More benefits of hill running after the break.

If you run or hike, chances are high that you're familiar with shin splints. These micro tears in the lower leg muscle that attaches to the tibia (shin bone) most often occur from overuse — when you push yourself too hard, too soon. A calf muscle that's stronger than the muscles on the front of your shin makes you prone to this injury too.

We recently wrote that Jennifer Aniston pumps up the incline to maximize her treadmill time. The post prompted a reader to ask: "At what point or incline does this cause shin splints?"

Learn the answer when you read more

I've officially said goodbye to my treadmill for the season and have been loving bringing my runs outside. My shins, on the other hand, have not been too psyched. I've been experiencing this shooting pain in my right shin when I run on the roads in my neighborhood. I assumed it was shin splints, since I've experienced them before in the Spring, but since I was only feeling it on one leg, a marathoner friend of mine suggested I see a doctor to rule out a stress fracture.

I freaked out a little, worried that I'd have to sideline my runs for a while, so I saw my doctor and learned the difference between the two running injuries. To find out if the pain you're experiencing is shin splints or a more severe injury, a stress fracture, read more

Since the weather is getting chillier, many of you might be moving your runs indoors. From my experience, switching running surfaces always takes some time to get used to, and shin splint pain has often been a symptom of adjustment. To prevent soreness in the front of your lower leg, here's an exercise recommended by Runner's World you can do any time you're sitting to strengthen your shins and increase flexibility.

The photo just demonstrates one exercise so to see a variation of the toe lift read more