Shin Splints-What are my options

I had shin splints earlier this year, I took 2 weeks off running and focused more on Biking and swimming. Even with biking I had some pain so I tried to keep it light, high RPM intensity.

Did you ramp up your mileage or add speed work recently?

I've had TERRIBLE shin splints for the last 3 year and this is the answer. Discipline is a must in adherence to shin splints prevention methodologies. Don't get lazy about your stretching and icing. Get the right shoes. 

Shin splints are awful, not as bad as stress fractures though (I've had 3 in my shins). With the help of some friends (fellow college cross country athletes) I was finally able to beat the pain.

First lots of stretching and ice cups for your shins (also anti inflammatory medicine)! Now trying to prevent this, they slowly had me start doing recovery barefoot runs after all my runs. I started off with like 300 meters and slowly built my way up and was doing 2 miles barefoot at the end of my runs. The idea to this is running barefoot allows your body to workout everything down there and reduces risk of injuries. Shin splints, I imagine you read, are caused by inflammation and the workout of these muscles helps strengthen them. The next thing they had me do is a little more painful, after working out or running feel along your shin bone, right under it you will notice the tendon swelling up some. You are going to slide your hand down the edge of the bone and push down on this tendon. Do it a few times to help massage/ push away from causing pain. Hopefully this helps you as it did me. 

Long term, if it continues bothering you, you might want to look at custom orthotics.

As others have said, the ice in the dixie cup thing is amazing.  It actually felt so good for my shin splints I nearly gave myself frost bite a few times!  

Mine got really bad because I stuck with the "I'm just sore, it'll go away" thing and just kept running.  So yeah, don't do that.  It got to the point that I could barely walk.  I wrapped them w/ace bandages and that helped a lot.  I also used Tiger Balm which helped them feel a lot better.  

Beyond that I went the custom orthotics route and have never regretted it.  Expensive, yes, but so, so worth it.  

Oh, and I spent tons of time on the elliptical to make up for runs.  I learned during that time that I absolutely despise ellipticals (ellipti-hell) but it seemed to be great fitness-wise.  Granted I was doing much shorter distances at that time than you are.

i had shin splints a lot in high school. the only way i found relief was to wrap plastic bags around them when I went to bed and tape them on my legs. I would sleep with them wrapped. the heat from my body was enough to heal.

I also took it easy when I got them but this gave me relief. I have not had them since thru military college and running now.

Take a look at what kind of surfaces you are running on. Try to run on softer stuff.

No- it's not regular athletic tape, it's this stretchy stuff.  Just go to their web site (you can find it).  They have videos and directions on how to put it on for each type of injury.  Works better for some than others- YMMV.  I've tried it on my achilles- but it doesn't seem to help at all.  However- it cured my shin splints.  Made a huge difference, and I did a test with one leg taped and the other not.  pretty cool.

Some of the big sporting goods retailers sell it, or you can buy it on line.

YMMV

I suffered a lot in high school and was afraid they would come back when I started upping my mileage. 

One thing that really helped me was rolling out the muscles around my shin bone with a cylindrical object.  I usually start with a small stainless steel water bottle and then move down to something the size of a highlighter.  I worked this into my foam roller routine after the shin splints started coming back and haven't had an issue with them since.  It hurts a lot at first, but once that muscle starts to soften up your shins will be in much better shape. 

I had a bad case of Shin Splints this time last year. After every run it felt like someone hit me in the shins with a baseball bat. I went to a DR. and got XRays and ended up getting an MRI and the MRI discovered a stress fracture so I had to shut it down for about 6 weeks. During that time off I read up a lot about running and watched a lot of training videos on running. When I started back up it was very slow and tedious. That 6 week layoff brought me back right before Christmas and the Holidays but looking back at my log I started back up on 12/27 with a 1 mile run. Time was 10:33/mile I am now running 2-4 times a week and have been since Dec and I am up to 6-8 miles a run. Time 8:50-9:10/mile. Comments from the posters above are all on the mark but here is what worked for me.

I tried new shoes and compression sleeves. New shoes didn't do a thing but the sleeves did help. But when I started back up I ended up going the barefoot method. Vibrams Five Fingers. I am back to regular running shoes now by choice but What I found out going barefoot was that I was a major heel striker. Just look at one video on You Tube of what heel striking does to your body. OUCH!!! It's like putting on the brakes every step. I also realized that my stride was way too long and my turnover was awful. I shortened my stride to a more choppy mid foot stride. My stride per min was at about 78 and I have gradually gotten it up to 89-91 range. (Per Foot) Go out and run a 1/8-1/4 mile or just 100- 200 yards  barefoot and see if you feel something wrong. Going barefoot for me MADE me change my form. It hurt too much running barefoot and being a heel striker. Hell I changed after about 200 yards. I loved the VFF and still use them but I went back to my old running shoes because I just can't see running a tri in VFF. THey would be a major pain to get on in T2

After my stress fracture healed I ramped my running up from a 1 mile run  up to 6-8 miles over several weeks. I went up about 1/4 a mile per week for a while and then up 1/2 a mile per week. Knock wood but I have had ZERO shin splint pain since I made my changes (But still have the same running shoes as before, Two pairs I alternate them) . I hope you find a way to get rid of those shin splints. Good Luck.

To get the mileage in I am short on options other than a baseball field and park nearby but I don't want to run 6 miles on a baseball field.  I also run early in the morning or at night so dirt paths are out of the question when i have a lighted neighborhood. I know that running on a track would be ideal then grass then dirt are my next best options but does it make that big of a difference if I run on either concrete or asphalt? They are both pretty dang hard surfaces.

I'm going to give the barefoot running a shot in very small increments.  Also I will probably do a compression sleeve rather than the KT tape. The tape seems like a pretty big hassle to mess with every day. Unless those that have used it disagree?  I am also going to a running store to get new shoes. Right now i am taking off of running until I can't feel the splint anymore. I have been icing and massaging the leg every night.  Thanks for the insight BT.

This is pretty much how it went for me too.  I went from shin splints just about every run to zero in one run just by shortening my stride.  Instant relief and it never happened again.