Chronic Shin Splints

Shin Splints

I have struggled with shin splints and here is what helped me.

1. Get the proper shoe, what is good for 1 person may not be good for another
   depending on your feet.
2. 180 steps per minute, this is a big one for me and made the most difference.  Shorten your stride, be sure to get the 180 steps per minute in.  Also run on bent knees.  If your knees are locked while running, you will land on your heels. Get someone to video your run and see if you are a heel striker.
3. Get a foam roller or “the stick” and roll your calves out.  This hurts like all get out but the “hot
   spots” have to be loosened up.
4. Start over and only increase mileage gradually, start with 2/10’s mile if necessary
   and run that distance for a couple of weeks, then increase to 3/10’s for a
   couple of weeks etc etc. Be patient.
5. Avoid hills if possible during your recovery and do not do intervals.
6. Run a little every day, unless you are hurting, if you are hurting take a few weeks
   off.
7. Stretch your calves before and after running.
8. I got the little 4 or 6 oz. Dixie paper cups and filled them with water and put in
   the freezer to freeze.  After running take one out of the freezer, and really massage it into the side of your calf next to the shin bone until it has melted, again this hurts a LOT.
9. Get a deep tissue or sports massage if you can.

I am not a doctor but this is what worked for me.  Good Luck!

All great comments. I definitely agree with the drill to strengthen the muscles. 

I also found that slowly incorporating barefoot running helps out. I started with just doing a couple of strides in a field and built up to finishing my easy runs with a mile or two barefoot at the park nearby. Strengthening all the muscles down there will help with pain and injuries.

86-91 Marines.  Shin splints all the time.  Left with and due to some knee, hip and back injuries that prevented me from running.  Every year or so I got sick of being a couch potato and bought new sneakers and went for a run.  Every time i last a week before knee, or back killed me.   2 years ago (19 after my last long run) I read Born to RUn and decided to give barefoot style a shot.  Vibrams on I focused on 180 bpm cadence and keeping my stride short.  Focused on forefoot/midfoot landing.   Now up to 13 miles and have zero pain or injuries. I wish I made the switch in the early 90s.  Heck, if I made that switch in the 90s I'd be retiring soon with a 2/3 pension.

Slow transition to prevent stress fractures and to let the muscles in your feet develop.  I lost a full size in my shoes and went from flat footed to normal arches in the last 2 years.

Shin splints, or shin pain, is a general symptom of a specific problem. Some of the suggestions here may help alleviate this symptom. It's extremely important that you identify the cause.

How many years have you been running on most days? What's your running schedule been (how often, how far/long, whether there's any structure to your runs) for the last year or so?

Do you get shin pain immediately upon running, no matter how slow or short the run is? Or is there a specific time in the run they tend to set in? Do you keep running despite the pain? Does the pain, once it's set in, ever go away during a run? How long after the run does it last? Do you ever get shin pain NOT running?

Struggled with this for many years. All advice above looks good - remembering that your individual bio-mechanics are at the core. I found changing shoes to a much more supportive one worked - I had been using very light ones - almost racing flats really which didn't correct for my pronation at all.

Calf flexibility is important as others have said - they are the antagonist muscles that the shin muscles have to fight if they are tight. As much as it will hurt, using "the stick" on the shin muscles (anterior compartment) also works to loosen the fascia.

Icing after every run on the shins is crucial too.

Good luck.

My guess would be it is the way you run.  Improve your technique and avoid repetitive use injuries.  The Pose Method will probably help.  It is a running technique that helps avoid repetitive use injuries such as shin splints.  And I never run two days in a row.

-Mark